Abstract
The shortage of freshwater is increasing with the rapid growth of the human population, industry and environmental pollution. This water scarcity can be overcome by using solar stills to turn sea water into freshwater. In this study, the productivity of fresh water was increased by using oil palm shells as a sensible heat storage material. There are 4 solar stills built, namely conventional solar still (SS1), solar still with 5 kg of oil palm shells (SS2), solar still with 3 kg of oil palm shells (SS3) and solar still with 1 kg of oil palm shells (SS4). Four solar stills were examined with regard to temperature, freshwater productivity, energy, exergy, and economic analysis. The research was conducted in the city of Medan, Indonesia (Latitude: 3° 47′ 3.4908” N, Longitude: 98° 41′ 39.1956″ E). The results showed that the use of oil palm shells have better performance. The fresh water obtained was 2.082 L/m2/day with an increase of 10–39 %, an energy efficiency of 41.71 % and an exergy efficiency of 2.994 %. Solar stills with the use of oil palm shells have lower freshwater productivity costs than conventional solar stills, which are 0.043 $/L/m2.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
