Solar-enhanced freshwater generation in arid coastal environments: A double basin stepped solar still with vertical wick assistance study in northern Gujarat

Abstract

Harnessing solar energy for water distillation is a significant method for obtaining freshwater from saline and seawater, especially in remote areas. The primary objective of this research is to assess the performance of a novel double basin stepped-type solar still combined with the vertical wick-assisted unit in the northern part of Gujarat. Experiments were conducted during non-summer months at Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute, (Location −21°45′32″N 72°8′39″E). The set-up was designed, fabricated, and investigated for freshwater production, efficiency analysis, and exergy analysis. Accordingly, in-depth thermal analysis was carried out for the entire unit in terms of predicted water generation and efficiency of the system. The maximum potable water production as 5.2 kg/m2 and 1.9 kg/m2 was attain from double basin stepped solar still and vertical wick unit respectively followed by cumulative overnight productivity of 1 kg/m2. This being said that the average freshwater production from the system is realized to be 8 kg/m2 day which was a significant output in the domain of solar still. Furthermore, 48 % and 26 % maximum thermal efficiencies were pursued for the double basin set-up and wick-assisted set-up respectively. Accordingly, 30 % and 21 % average exergy efficiency for double basin and vertical wick units respectively. The customer end cost for one litre of fresh water from the designed set-up is 0.0048$/L, this effective evidence is built-up to suggest an efficient and superior option to implement this kind of set-up near coastal and salt farming regions where scarcity of potable water is observed.