Experimental investigations of single-slope solar still integrated with a hollow rotating cylinder

Abstract

The main objective of the current study is to increase the productivity rate of conventional solar still by increasing the surface area of heat transfer in the evaporation section within solar still. Lightweight rotating hollow metal cylinder made of galvanized iron layer (0.06 cm thickness and diameter of 32 cm) with a length of 90 cm was used as evaporation section within the improved single slope solar still. The tests were carried out for 3 months (Jun, July and August) at the Ural Federal University of Yekaterinburg/Russia, the experimental results taken for a perfect day on 12 Jun 2019. The impact of different parameters on the productivity of freshwater has been investigated using the new improved solar still. Study results reveal that environmental factors such as the intensity of solar radiation, ambient temperature, relative humidity and wind speed have the greatest impact on freshwater productivity. The analyses of results show that the ratio of water productivity enhancement found to be about 161% than that of the conventional solar still over the long day period. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.