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Abstract
Solar desalination is a renewable energy-driven method that produces freshwater from saline/brackish water. Conventional solar desalination units are equipped with an inclined transparent condensing plate placed over a feedwater basin containing saline water. The process is limited to a small quantity of production because of scattered solar irradiation and the unavailability of solar heat due to intermittent cloudy weather. In this study, a Fresnel lens has been used to concentrate solar energy onto a spot to increase the local temperature of feedwater and the evaporation rate. Flat Fresnel lenses on a double sloped passive solar still were used, where the focal points were adjusted to fall directly on the feedwater. The experiments were conducted for two different geometries and alongside the comparison between the conventional and the modified solar still; the number of Fresnel lenses was also varied. Saline solution with a concentration of 20,000 ppm was used as the feedwater. The research is aimed to be implemented for producing freshwater in the natural weather conditions of Malaysia. It was found that using two Fresnel lenses instead of a single large one gives a boost to the production of freshwater per unit solar irradiation by 39%. The produced water has a TDS value of 37 ppm, which is well within the drinking water standard range according to the World Health Organization.
Highlights
Solar desalination is the process that involves evaporation of a saline solution utilizing solar power, either directly or indirectly, followed by condensation of the generated vapor
The sensitivity study conducted by Chhatbar (2011) showed that Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI) is the parameter with the highest influence on the energy yield of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, the solar power meter provided the data for Solar Irradiation (SI) only and it was the base for calculations of total productivity
The major objective to conduct this study is to analyze the performance of a passive solar still equipped with Fresnel lens experimentally in the tropical climate of Malaysia, calculations of DNI has not been considered in this study
Summary
Solar desalination is the process that involves evaporation of a saline solution utilizing solar power, either directly or indirectly, followed by condensation of the generated vapor. Solar distillation is a combination of humidification and dehumidification within a solar energy-driven setup (Belessiotis et al, 2016). This process is described as similar to a naturally occurring hydrological cycle, where the formation of the vapors from surface of liquids gets transported by wind to buildup and precipitate, and in the case of solar stills, vapors condensate on the colder surfaces inside the still (Lal et al, 2017). Conventional solar stills are basic devices that use the concept of a greenhouse by trapping heat during solar exposure and in turn, heats the stored feedwater within the device and increases its evaporation rate.
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