Solar Energy, Vol. 26, pp. 127-131, 1981 0038--092X/$11020127-.0550"2.

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SIMPLE MULTIPLE WICK SOLAR STILL:

ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE

M. S. SODHA,ASHVINIKUMAR,G. N. TIWARIand R. C. TYAGI

Centre of Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi l l0 029, India

(Received 29 May 1980; revision accepted 21 August 1980)

Abstract--This paper presents the design, analysis and performance of a multiple wick solar still, in which
blackened wet jute cloth forms the liquid surface which can be oriented to intercept maximum solar radiation and
attain high temperatures on account of low thermal capacity. The wet surface consists of a series of jute cloth
pieces of increasing length separated by thin black polythene sheets, resting on foam insulation supported by a net
of nylonribbon; these pieces are arranged alongan incline and their upper edges are dipped in a saline water tank.
Suction by the cailliary action of the cloth fibre provides a thin sheet of liquid on the cloth; the arrangement
ensures that all the surface, irradiated by the sun is wet at all times. The results of an analysis based on Dunkle's
relation[16] are in excellent agreement with the observed performanceof the still. On a typical cold sunny day in
Delhi (viz. 6 February 1980)the distillate output was 2.5 l/ms day, correspondingto an overall efficiencyof 34 per
cent (as comparedto a maximumof 30 per cent for basin type still). The still costs less than half of the cost of a
basin type still of same area and provides a higher yield of distillate.

INTRODUCTION
Solar stills of different designs have been proposed and
investigated to maximize the output of distillate[I-16].
The efficiency of the solar stills can be enhanced by: (i)
having the liquid surface, placed at optimum inclination
to receive maximum solar radiation; (ii) placing the
transparent glass cover of the solar still parallel to the
water surface to minimize reflection losses; and (iii)
having low thermal capacity of saline water which is
irradiated and heated by the sun.
Frick and Sommerfeld[14] have proposed a solar still
with inclined evaporating cloth (single wick) and con-
cluded that it is relatively economical but suffers from
limitation of having part of the cloth dry at times.
Recently, Moustafa and Brusewitz[15] have studied the
EXPE]PJ~NT
Figure l(b) schematically represents the cross-sec-
tional view at XX of the still shown in plan l(c). A thin
sheet of foam (of thickness 2.5 mm) stretched over a net
of nylon ribbon S over a frame made up of aluminium L
and measuring 0.86 x 1.00 m forms the base of the still. A
window glass cover of 3-mm thickness (Gs) is placed
above 3-cm high walls of insulated foam F (of
thickness = 3.5 cm). The inner surfaces of the base and
G$
Oe

performance of different types of solar stills and con- ELEVATION

cluded that the wick type collector evaporator system is 1(0)
better than basin type solar still; however, the system
Gs J
proposed by them suffers from having many controls and
correspondingly higher cost.
This communication presents the design, analysis and w
iR
performance of a multiple wick solar still, in which Od
blackened wet jute cloth forms the liquid surface which • •
can be oriented to intercept maximum solar radiation and
attain high temperatures on account of low thermal (Section X X )
ELEVATION
capacity. The wet surface is created by a series of jute 1 (b)
cloth pieces of increasing length separated by thin poly-
thene sheets; these pieces are arranged along an incline
and the upper edges are dipped in a saline water tank. X
Suction by the capilliary action of the cloth fibre, pro- L
vides a surface of the liquid and the arrangement ensures
that all the surface, irradiated by the sun is wet at all
times; the portion of a piece of cloth, covered by the
polythene sheet does not suffer evaporation and hence
Thermocouple
the exposed portion of the piece (of small length) retains
1 (c)
wetness, The results of an analysis based on Dunkle's
relation[16] are in exceltent agreement with the observed Fig. 1. Schematic representation of experimental configuration.
performance of the still. (a) Elevation, (b) elevation (section XX), (c) plan.

127
128 M. S. SOOHAet al.
walls of the still are covered with a thin black polythene
sheet (P) shown by thin dotted line in Fig. l(b) (to make
it water proof). The use of rubber gaskets (G) shown by
thick dotted line ensures a good contact of glass with
walls whereas a frame made up of aluminium T tightens
the glass to make the assembly air tight. A V-drain of
aluminium (Od) is used for the drainage of the distillate
with slight slope so as to enable the distillate to flow
without difficulty. A small longitudinal water reservoir
made out of galvanized iron sheet (R) is fixed to the one
end of the base aluminium frame. The surface of water is
realized by the wet blackened jute cloth pieces (J)
(separated by black polythene sheet) of increasing length
spread over the water proof base with their top edges
immersed in the water (W) in reservoir (R). The system
is oriented towards south and is kept at an inclination of
15o to receive maximum solar radiation. The capillary
action of the jute fibre, which is cheap and strong, sucks
water upwards from the reservoir and after passing the
maximum height, the water rolls down the cloth length
under gravity. However, the restricted supply of water
by capillary action feeds only a limited length of the
cloth, depending upon the rate of evaporation from the
wet surface under given conditions. This optimum length
of the cloth wetted depends mainly on the insolation.
Therefore, several cloth pieces of succesively increasing
lengths are arranged in layers as shown in Fig. l(b); these
are used to cover the entire base of the solar still. These
cloth lengths are separated from one another by thin
polythene sheet (P) so that each cloth piece can in-
dependently feed its own surface area exposed to the
sun. Constant water level in the reservoir is maintained
by a constant /low arrangement through inlet I. No
thermal insulation (except foam base and walls) was used
in construction of the still. A drainage (O,) made of
copper pipe of thickness 0.3ram is fixed below the
drainage of distillate so as to enable the extra saline
water to come out from the cloth when solar radiation is
small in magnitude. The set up is pictorially illustrated by
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. Photograph of experimentalset up.
In order to measure the temperatures of wetted jute
cloth pieces and glass one end of the thermocouples is
attached at every jute cloth piece and at the top of the
glass cover and other junction being kept in the ice; the
attachment to the jute cloth is made by placing the end in
between the cloth piece and a tiny patch sewn to it. The
water surface temperature was taken as the arithmetic
average of the readings by various thermocouples, taken
with the help of potentiometer at hourly interval.
Amount of distillate and solar intensity were also recor-
ded at hourly interval. The hourly variation of solar
intensity and ambient temperature at Delhi have been
shown in Fig. 3 (6 February 1980). The distillate collected
over an interval (1 hr) was related to the mean solar
insolation, atmosperic temperature, water temperature
and glass cover temperature over the interval.
ANALYSIS
Using Dunkle's relations [16] (viz. expressions for Qc,~,
Qew and Q,~) and neglecting the heat capacity of the
irradiated mass of water and the glass cover, the energy
balance for the glass cover and water sheet may be
expressed as
r,H.+Q.~+Qc.+Q.~-Q=O (1)
and
r2H, - Q,-~ - Q~w - Q,w - h ' ( T ~ - T~) = 0 (2)
where
Q,~ = 6. tr[(Tw + 273.15)4 - (T, + 273.15)4]
Qc~ = 0.884 [(Tw - T~) + (Pw - ps)(Tw + 273.15)] ~/3
(268.9 x 10~+ p~) ]
Qew = 16.273 x 10-3× Q o ~ ( p ~ - p s ) / ( T~ - T,)
Q = [h~(Ts - T~) + ¢s" o,{Tg + 273.15)4 - (T~ + 261.15)4}]
h~ = 5.7 + 3.8v [17]
 Simple multiple wick solar still 129

20 ...... Solar Intensity - 800

Ambient Temperature

600 t
g-
E
2 %-
400

2
z

z
w_
:E dI \\
200

, I J I , I ~ I i l J I
8 10 12 2 4 6

TIME (hours)

Fig. 3. Hourly variation of solar intensity and ambient temperature on 6 February 1980 at Delhi, India.

and The efficiency of the still is given by

1 L 1 _fQ~.dt
h--3,= ~ - I - ~ . "0 - fHs dt " (4)

The amount of water distillate per unit time per unit area st~l~c~ mv,st~Ts ANDDUSCU~OSS
is given by[16] Since the analysis is based on Dunkle's relation[16],
valid so far, for free water surfaces only it was con-
Q~. _ [Q~.(p.-p~)] sidered necessary to verify Dunkle's relations when the
m. = ~ - 16.273 x 10-3 (3)
L hw(T~ - Tg)J water surface was over a cloth surface; this can be
readily done from our hourly observations of distillate
where Tw and Tg can be evaluated from simultaneous output, and temperatures of water surface and glass
solution of eqns (1) and (2) by numerical methods; the cover. Figure 4 (solid line) illustrates the variation of rate
corresponding saturation vapour pressures can be of distillate output with time, as calculated from Dun-
obtained from the steam table[18]. kle's relation, using the observed values of temperature

.Z.50
o o e o Expt, Point ,/,..--~o~x "x~
./.00 - - Ounkle's Relation // ~ \

t
..c .300
E

T,..1

~ .200
:>

Q
/

.tO[?

.0 Y , I , I , I , I , I
8 10 f2 2 /-. 6

TIME (hours) ~-

Fig. 4. Hourly variation of distillate yield on 6 February 1980 at Delhi. G, Experimental points; , Dunkle's
relations using observed Tw and Tg; . . . . , theoretical results using calculated Tw and Ts and Dunlde's relations.
130
55
- - Woter Temperature
25
Is / °//
8 10
FIg.5
Fig. 5. Hourly variation of water and glass cover temperature, on 6 February 1980at Delhi. Water temperature:
~, theoretical; A, experimental. Glass temperature: ----, theoretical; ©, experimental.
of water surfaces and glass cover by means of the
continuous curve; the observed rates of distillation are
shown by circled points. The excellent agreement be-
tween the solid line curve and the circled points validates
Dunkle's relations for the present configuration; the
other "theoretical curve" is discussed later. The follow-
ing parameters have been used to evaluate the water
surface and glass temperature from the observed values
of solar radiation and atmospheric temperature by the
numerical solution of eqns (1) and (2):
rl = 0.05 (experimental value)
~'2= 0.85 (best estimate from available measurements)
L = 0.0025 m
K = 0.024 W/m°C [19]
hi = 22.88 W/m2°C[19]
hc~ = 14.14 W/m2 °C corresponding to wind speed
8 km/hr [17]
hw = 2372.52 kJ/kg (Data tables).
The calculated variation of water and glass temperature,
is shown in Fig. 5 by continuous and broken curves
respectively, corresponding observed values have also
been shown by A and © respectively. It is seen that
theoretical results are in good agreement with the
experimental results.
The time variation of water distillate per unit area has
been evaluated with the help of eqn 3 using the cal-
culated water and glass temperature and is shown in Fig.
4 by broken ("theoretical") curve; the results are in
reasonable agreement with experiments.
On a typical cold sunny day in Delhi (viz. 6 February
1980) the distillate output was 2.5 l/mz day, correspond-
M.S. SODHAet al.
\\\ o
12 2 /-, 6
TIME (hours)
ing to an efficiency of 34 per cent. The still costs less
than half of the cost of a basin type still of the same
area; while the overall efficiency of basin type still is 30
per cent or lower[15].
ADVANTAGESOF THE PRESENTDESIGN
(I) It is light and hence easily portable. A collapsible
model which can be neatly folded, can also be
developed.
(2) It costs less than half of the cost of a basin type
still of the same area.
(3) The output distillate is significant even on cloudy
days; for a fully cloudy day in winter in Delhi the output
was little more than 11]m2 day.
(4) The water surface on the cloth can be oriented at
any optimum angle to receive maximum solar insolation.
(5) There is no shadowing effect due to the small
height of the walls.
(6) The higher temperatures attainable by the liquid
surface should help in efficient removal of bacteria.
(7) The silt formation occurring on blackened cloth
can be brushed of easily or a black dye injected in saline
water can alleviate the effect of the slit formation.
Acknowledgement--The authors are grateful to their colleague
Prof. J. P. Sharma for valuable discussions on the design aspects.
NOMENCLATURE
hc~ convective heat transfer coefficient from glass to the am-
bient, W/mz °C
hl heat transfer coefficient from bottom of the still to the
ambient, Wlm2°C
hw latent heat of vaporization of water, Jlkg
K thermal conductivity of foam, WIm°C
L thickness of foam, m
m. amount of water distillate per unit time per unit area,
l/m2hr
 Simple multiple wick solar still
Ps partial pressure of water vapour at glass temperature, pa
Pw partial pressure of water vapour at water temperature, pa
Q combined convective and radiative heat transfer from glass
to the ambient, W/m2
Qcw convective heat transfer from water to the glass, W/m 2
Q,w evaporative heat transfer from water to the glass, W/m 2
Q,~ radiative heat transfer from water to the glass, W/m 2
TQ ambient temperature,°C
Tg glass temperature, °C
Tw water temperature, °C
V Wind velocity, m/sec
emissivity of the water surface
eg emissivity of the glass
tr Stefan-Boltzmann constant, 5.6697 x 10-s W/m2°K4
~-j fraction of the solar energy absorbed by glass
~'2 fraction of the energy incident on the glass cover, absorbed
by the black jute cloth
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