Thermal performance enhancement of the wick-type solar still using titanium dioxide nanoparticles embedded in paraffin wax as a phase change material.

Abstract

In this study, the performance of the wick-type solar still was investigated using phase change material (PCM) with titanium dioxide nanoparticles as a storage material. Therefore, two solar stills were fabricated one of which was operated with pure PCM and the other one was operated with PCM incorporated with Tio2 nanoparticles. The use of the nanoparticles was to enhance the thermal conductivity of the PCM and hence improve the productivity and the efficiency of the studied solar still. The proposed design was investigated with jute and cotton as wick materials. The results revealed that the addition of the nanoparticles increased the thermal conductivity of the PCM by 9.6%. Moreover, the daily productivity was found to be 1058 and 1226ml/m2 day for cotton and jute, respectively in case of the presence of the PCM-nanocomposite.