The Performance of Different Sand Beds Solar Stills

Abstract

The amount of distillate water from a solar still depends on different parameters. The heat storage bed and water depth are the most effective parameters. In this work, different sand beds solar stills have been studied experimentally. The influences of sandy bed height (0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.05 m), type of sand (black and yellow), and the water height above the sandy bed level (0.0, 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 m) on the solar still performance have been investigated. The performance of developed sand beds stills was compared with the conventional solar still. Results showed that the heat storage bed (sandy layer) enhances the solar still productivity. The maximum increase in daily productivity of sandy solar still was achieved at sand beds height of 0.01 m and zero height of saline water above the sand beds level as compared with conventional still. A theoretical analysis has also been carried out, in which the results coincided with experimental results.