article · Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Enhancing solar distillation systems can provide reliable, low-cost access to clean drinking water. An experimental investigation examined the performance of a pyramid solar distiller integrated with a trapezoidal hang wick and advanced thermal energy storage materials across three configurations. The initial setup used pure phase change material within the hang wick, the second incorporated phase change material enriched with copper oxide nanoparticles, and the final setup added four external flat reflectors. Compared to a conventional single-slope distiller, freshwater production rose progressively by 59.87%, 107.52%, and 154.38% across the three stages. The most advanced configuration achieved a daily freshwater yield of 8.14 litres per square metre, alongside increases in thermal efficiency by 152.1% and total heat transfer by 68.59%. Economic assessments revealed a freshwater production cost of 0.0089 dollars per litre, representing a 41.06% cost saving while simultaneously reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions.
Access to affordable, safe drinking water is a pressing global challenge, especially in off-grid and arid areas. Improving solar distillation designs by integrating thermal storage materials and simple optical reflectors substantially enhances water yield without adding high operating expenses. This offers a practical, decentralised water purification method that simultaneously lowers reliance on fossil-fuel-powered purification systems and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
The work addresses low-cost decentralised water desalination and purification for communities in water-stressed, off-grid regions. The technology is applied and tested at an experimental stage, demonstrating verified operational metrics and cost evaluations. Manufacturers of small-scale solar water treatment equipment could adapt these passive enhancements, such as hang wicks, nanoparticle-enriched phase change materials, and external reflectors, though scaling up nanoparticle handling and long-term durability testing remain essential steps prior to commercial production.
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The role of using nano-based thermal storage material filled into trapezoidal hang wick in a pyramid solar distiller is under study. The study underwent three stages of examination; after the material preparation. First, the pyramid distiller had a trapezoidal hang wick with pure phase change material (PCM) inside the cavity of the hang wick structure. Secondly, the pure PCM was replaced by PCM enriched with CuO-nanoparticles (NPS) based. Thirdly, four flat reflectors were established around the distiller in addition to the hang wick and the CuO-NPs based PCM. The water yield increase for the three investigated cases compared with the conventional single-slope solar distiller was 59.87%, 107.52%, and 154.38%, respectively, as the third case had daily productivity of 8.14 L/m2. Furthermore, the thermal and exergy efficiencies and the heat transfer coefficients have been carried out and showed that there is an increase in the thermal efficiency, energy efficiency and total heat transfer coefficient of the third case (the best case) by, 152.1%, 281%, and 68.59% compared with the conventional distiller. Moreover, cost and environmental analyses were carried out. The liter of freshwater costs 0.0089 $ with saving ratio of 41.06%. For the environmental requirements, the third case reduced the CO2 emission by 10.27 ton-CO2/year, which corresponds to cost-saving by 148.96 $/year.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2022.101856
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