article · International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer
An experimental investigation evaluated the impact of adding different numbers of square fins to double-slope solar stills to enhance evaporation and freshwater output. Four designs were evaluated: a conventional reference still, and three modified configurations incorporating 6, 12, and 15 fins. The 12-fin configuration produced the best overall results, yielding a daily freshwater output of 3.01 kg/m2, representing a 54.50 percent increase over the conventional still baseline of 1.95 kg/m2. This design also achieved an energy efficiency of 76.8 percent and an exergy efficiency of 0.53 percent, corresponding to improvements of 54.11 percent and 78.43 percent over the standard still, respectively. Economic evaluations showed that adding fins reduced investment recovery times, with the 12-fin still cutting the payback period to 36 days compared to 50 days for the unmodified design.
Solar distillation offers a simple, sustainable method for generating fresh drinking water using sunlight. Demonstrating that adding internal fins significantly raises water yields and improves energy efficiency while shortening the financial payback period provides a practical, low-cost route to making decentralised solar purification units more effective and economically attractive.
The work represents applied and tested design adjustments for solar desalination hardware. Fabricators and suppliers of small-scale solar stills could adopt the 12-fin layout to boost water output and shorten customer return on investment. Although physical prototypes were tested under ambient weather conditions, the abstract does not indicate manufacturing partnerships, large-scale production costs, or immediate pathways to commercial market rollout.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
This experimental study examines the effect of incorporating different numbers of fins in solar distillers for enhancing the evaporation rate and boosting productivity. A series of experiments were developed and tested to investigate the impact of varying number of fins. Four configurations were designed: a conventional double slope solar still (CDSSS) used as a reference, and three modified stills equipped with 6 fins (DSSS-6F), 12 fins (DSSS-12F), and 15 fins (DSSS-15F), respectively. The results demonstrated a significant increase in productivity for the fin-enhanced systems, particularly the DSSS-12F, which achieved the highest daily water output of 3.01 kg/m 2 , representing a 54.50 % improvement over the CDSSS, which produced 1.95 kg/m 2 . In terms of energy efficiency, the DSSS-12F reached 76.8 %, marking a 54.11 % enhancement compared to the baseline design. Exergy efficiency also saw notable gains; DSSS-12F achieved an efficiency of 0.53 %, a 78.43 % increase over the conventional system. The economic analysis of the systems further highlighted the advantages of the fin-enhanced designs. Notably, DSSS-6F, DSSS-12F, and DSSS-15F achieved payback periods of 46, 36, and 41 days, respectively, in contrast to the 50-days payback period for the conventional CDSSS. This faster return on investment was especially pronounced for DSSS-12F, which demonstrated the highest performances.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2025.108660
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
