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Experimental investigation on dish solar distiller with modified absorber and phase change material under various operating conditions

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Abstract

The shortage of potable water is a global problem. One of the techniques used to participate solving this problem is the solar distiller. The main demerit of solar distiller is its low output yield. So, this work aims at improving the freshwater productivity of a dish solar distiller by enlarging its absorber surface area and increasing its evaporation rate. As a result, the effect of using three different shapes of absorber liner was investigated: convex dish absorber, stepped absorber, and corrugated surface over the stepped absorber. In addition, the absorber of dish distiller was covered by a cotton wick to enlarge the wetted surface area. Also, different water depths (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 cm) in dish distiller with stepped absorber were investigated. Moreover, the distance below basin liner was occupied by energy storing medium (paraffin wax + titanium oxide nanoparticles). The performances of dish distiller, dish distiller with stepped absorber, and dish distiller with corrugated absorber were evaluated and compared to that of a conventional solar distiller. Experimental results revealed that the performance of dish distiller with corrugated absorber, wick, and energy storing material was higher than that of dish distiller with stepped absorber, which was better than that of dish distiller, which was higher than that of conventional distiller. As well, the highest improvement in productivity of dish distiller with stepped absorber was 125% compared to conventional distiller and took place at 2-cm water depth. In addition, the productivity of dish distiller with corrugated absorber and wick was improved by 160% compared to that of conventional distiller. Additionally, the highest performance was obtained for dish distiller with corrugated absorber, wick, and energy storing material, where the productivity was augmented by about 183%, and the thermal efficiency reached 69.5%.

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Abbreviations

DSD:

Dish solar distiller

SDSD:

Dish solar distiller with stepped absorber

CrSDSD:

Dish solar distiller with corrugated surface over the stepped absorber

CSD:

Conventional solar distiller

PCM:

Phase change materials

TiO2:

Titanium oxide nanoparticles

Al2O3:

Aluminum oxide

CuO:

Copper oxide

SiO2:

Silicon oxide

\({\mathrm{h}}_{\mathrm{fg}}\) :

Vaporization latent heat, \(\frac{kJ}{kg}\)

W:

Uncertainty

\(\dot{\mathrm{m}}\) :

Hourly yield, \(\frac{kg}{{m}^{2}.h}\)

\(X\) :

Independent parameter

\(R\) :

Dependent/result parameter

\({\upeta }_{\mathrm{d}}\) :

Daily thermal efficiency, %

A:

System area, m2

I:

Solar radiation, w/m2

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Funding

The authors would like to thank Taif University for funding this research work through Researchers Supporting Project number (TURSP-2020/260), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Bassem F. Felemban & Bahaa Saleh

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, 33516, Egypt

    Fadl Abdelmonem Essa & Zakaria Mohamed Omara

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, P. A. College of Engineering, Mangaluru, 574153, India

    Asif Afzal

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology, Glocal University, Delhi-Yamunotri Marg, SH-57, Mirzapur Pole, Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh, 247121, India

    Asif Afzal

  5. Mechanical Engineering Department, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80204, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed Hamza Ahmed

  6. Mechanical Engineering Department, Government Engineering College Patan, Patan, Gujarat, India

    Hitesh Panchal

  7. Research Center for Solar Energy, Department of Physics, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Green Fields, Guntur District, Vaddeswaram, Andhra Pradesh, 522502, India

    Sengottiyan Shanmugan

  8. Department of Production Engineering and Mechanical Design, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Ammar Elsheikh

Authors
  1. Bassem F. Felemban
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  2. Fadl Abdelmonem Essa
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  3. Asif Afzal
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  4. Mohamed Hamza Ahmed
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  5. Bahaa Saleh
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  6. Hitesh Panchal
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  7. Sengottiyan Shanmugan
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  8. Ammar Elsheikh
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  9. Zakaria Mohamed Omara
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Contributions

Bassem Felemban, Zakaria Omara, Asif Afzal: conceptualization, review, and editing.

Sengottiyan Shanmugan, Hitesh Panchal, Mohamed Ahmed, Ammar Elsheikh: formal analysis and investigation, and explanation.

Fadl Abdelmonem Essa, Bahaa Saleh: writing—original draft preparation, methodology, editing, and reviewing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fadl Abdelmonem Essa.

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Felemban, B.F., Essa, F.A., Afzal, A. et al. Experimental investigation on dish solar distiller with modified absorber and phase change material under various operating conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 63248–63259 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20285-z

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