article · Desalination and Water Treatment
This study experimentally investigated how different natural sand types, used as thermal storage materials, could enhance the performance of conical solar distillers. Researchers tested four sand types with varying compositions and colours to reduce heat loss, improve evaporation, and increase daily water production. Three distillers were compared under identical climatic conditions. The findings showed that a distiller incorporating a golden sand bed achieved the highest yield and overall performance. This configuration significantly improved daily water production, energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency compared to other sand types and a reference distiller. The use of sand beds also led to reductions in the cost per unit of water produced and the payback time for the distillers.
Improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of solar distillers is crucial for providing clean drinking water in regions with limited access to conventional purification methods. This research offers practical insights into optimising these systems, potentially making water purification more accessible and affordable for communities.
This applied research demonstrates a method to enhance the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar water purification systems. The findings could inform the design and development of more effective conical solar distillers for communities or small-scale operations requiring potable water. The focus on yield price and payback time suggests a pathway towards commercially viable, near-market products for water purification.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
In this study, performance enhancement of conical distillers was investigated with various natural sand bed types. Four sand types with different colors (compositions and concentrations of chemical compounds) were tested and used as thermal storage materials to reduce heat loss, enhance evaporation process, and daily production. Three similar distillers were designed and investigated experimentally under the same climatic parameters over two consecutive days. Performance parameters of the proposed distillers, including yield, energy, exergy, and exergo-economic were analyzed and compared with those of reference distiller and other related studies. Results showed that the highest yield and performance values were achieved by the distiller combined with a golden sand bed. The utilization of golden sand bed achieves a daily production of 7.38 lm−2day−1 with enhancement of 10.31 %, 22.79 %, 35.91 %, and 60.43 % compared with yellow sand, red sand, white sand, and reference distillers, respectively. The daily energy and exergy efficiency of conical distillers combined with golden, yellow, red, and white sand beds 59.59 %, 44.84 %, 30.33 %, and 17.85 % and 143.52 %, 103.44 %, 64.73 %, and 36.39 %, respectively, higher than that of the reference distiller. Integrating golden, yellow, red, and white sand beds with conical distillers reduces the yield price and payback time by 60.43 %, 45.43 %, 30.65 %, and 18.04 %. The annual energy and exergy output of conical distillers combined with golden, yellow, red, and white sand beds were 130.54, 118.47, 106.60, 96.41, and 81.76 kWh/year and 6.08, 5.08, 4.00, 3.31, and 2.49 kWh/year, respectively.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1016/j.dwt.2024.100584
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.
