PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF SINGLE

BASIN SINGLE SLOPE SOLAR STILL BY

IMPROVING EVAPORATION RATE

PROJECT GUIDE PROJECT MEMBERS

Mr. R. Arunkumar M.E., A. Divagarpandian (953613114012)
Asst Prof of Mechanical Engg K. Gopalakrishnan (953613114018)
S. Mutharasan (953613114033)
Methods of converting brackish water into
portable water
• Desalination

• Vapour compression

• Reverse Osmosis

• Electro dialysis
Introduction of Solar Still
• A device used for converting brackish water into portable water by using
solar energy
• In this method brackish or saline water is evaporated using thermal
energy and the This device can be fabricated easily with locally available
materials.
• The maintenance is also cheap and no skilled labor is required. This
device can be a suitable solution to solve drinking water problem.
• Because of its low productivity it is not popularly used. Numbers of
works are undertaken to improve the productivity of the still. In this
work progresses in the works done on single basin passive types still to
improve its productivity are reviewed.
Solar still
Literature Survey
Paper 1:
Improvisation of the effectiveness
• Lowering the cover temperature
• Basin with different depth of water
• Increasing the radiation absorption
• Energy absorbing materials
• Increasing the evaporation area
Base paper for our project
DESALINATION
‘Progress in Improving the effectiveness of the single basin passive solar still’ (2007)
K. Kalidasa Murugavel, Kn.K.S.K. Chockalingam, K. Srithar
(Pg. No : 677 – 685)
Paper 2:

There are different parameters that affecting the rate of evaporation and
condensation on passive solar still,
• Basin construction materials

• Depth of water

• Absorption rate of basin water

• Absorption rate of still basin

RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS

Different parameters affecting the rate of evaporation and condensation on passive solar
still (2014)
A.MuthuManokar , K.KalidasaMurugavel , G.Esakkimuthu
(Pg. No : 309 – 321)
Paper 3:
Factors affecting the productivity
• Glass water temperature difference

• Inlet water temperature

• Ambient temperature

• Angle, thickness and material for glass cover

These factors are considered in our project

APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING

Factors affecting solar stills productivity and improvement (2015)
S.W. Sharshir , Nuo Yang , Guilong Peng , A.E. Kabeel
(Pg. No : 268 – 283)
Paper 4:
There are many energy absorbing materials used in solar still to increase the
productivity
• Dyes(Black ink, Black dyes, Black rubber matt)

• Mica plate

• Charcoal particles

• Aluminium sheet

• Spounge cube

• Black rocks
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY
Energy absorbing materials used in solar still for enhancement in distillate output
(2015)
Hitesh N Panchal, Prathik Patel
Paper 5:
Enhancement of Evaporation
• By agitating the water using
external energy

DESALINATION
Performance enhancement of a single basin single slope solar still using
agitation effect and external condenser(2016)
R. Arun Kumar, G. Esakkimuthu, K. Kalidasa Murugavel
(Pg. No : 198 - 202)
Paper 6:
Enhancement of Evaporation
• By using a vibrator

DESALINATION
Improving the performance of solar still using vibratory harmonic effect
(2010)
K.M.S. Eldalil, Z. Zhengming
(Pg. No : 388 - 398)
Problem Identification
• One of the main problem in solar still is low productivity.
• Water disturber occupies a larger area in the basin.
• Evaporation rate is less that decreases the productivity
• Cost of absorbing material is high.
Objective
• To increase the productivity of the solar still by improving the
evaporation rate.
Design and Specification Water Disturber
 SPECIFICATIONS DIMENSIONS UNITS

BASIN AREA 0.25 Sq. m

GLASS AREA 0.289 Sq. m

GLASS THICKNESS 3 mm

SLOPE OF THE GLASS 30 Deg

INSULATION 25 mm
Blower Specification:
• Power Input : 650 W
• Voltage : 220V – 230 V
• Speed : 13000 rpm
Motor Specification:
• DC supply: 4 to 12V
• RPM: 60 at 12V
• Shaft diameter: 6mm
• Shaft length: 22mm
Material Selection
• Galvanized Iron sheet (Thickness – 1.6mm)
Thermal conductivity= 80.4 W/m K
• Glass Cover Plate (Thickness – 3mm)
• Iodine Salt as a heat absorbing material
Thermal conductivity = 6.5 W/m K
• Reflecting Mirror
• Thermocole for Insulation (Thickness – 25mm)
• Digital Thermometer
 Results
• Experimentation was carried out during sunny days of March month,
between 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. ambient temperature reaches maximum
around 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm because of abundant perpendicular solar
radiation during these hours, but it is low in the morning and the late
evening session.

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 Readings

Conventional still Modified still

19
 Calculation
Efficiency comparison:
η = [(Ʃm × hfg) × 1000] / [(A × ƩIs) × 3600] [5]
m - Production rate of water in kg/h
hfg - latent heat of water in kJ/kg = 2264.16 KJ/Kg
A - Effective solar energy receiving area
Is - hourly solar radiation in W/m2 = 222 W/m2
Conventional still:
η = [(0.02 × 2264.16) × 1000] / [(0.25 × 222) × 3600]
η = 22.66%
Modified still:
η = [(0.0252 × 2264.16) × 1000] / [(0.25 × 222) × 3600]
η = 28.55%
 Comparison of PPM

• In the modified still, 690 ppm content of water is converted into

290 ppm
PPM COMPARISON
800

700

600

500
PPM

400

300

200

100

0
BEFORE AFTER

EXPERIMENTATION

21
 Cost analysis
Type Life First Annual Annual Annual Yield Profit
time annua maintenance decline salvage (ml) (Rs.)
(yrs.) l cost cost(Rs.) value value
(Rs.) (Rs.) (Rs.)
Conventional
10 4375 218.75 228.75 4146.25 480 992.50
still
Modified still 10 6630 331.5 343.75 6286.25 605 1139.75

[5]

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Environmental, Safety and Health issues
considered
• The equipment is pollution free
 Conclusion
• Two single basin single slope solar still of same dimensions were
fabricated. One of the still was attached with a provision to give
agitation effect. In the modified still, 690 ppm content of water is
converted into 290 ppm. From the experimentation, it was found that
the yield of condensate from the modified still was 26% more than the
conventional still. Cost comparison was made between both the stills.
Modified still was economically efficient when compared with
conventional still.
 Future work
• Double slope can be implemented instead of single slope
• Energy absorbing material can be changed
Fabricated Project Images
Delegation of Responsibility
Divagarpandian A - 1) Literature Study(Paper 1, 2)
2) Design of the Project
3) Selection of the materials for the project
4) Report Generation

Gopalakrishnan K - 1) Literature Study(Paper 5, 6)

2) Material Collection(GI sheet)
3) Referred books in library about project-
Solar energy by H.P.Garg
4) Experimentation

Mutharasan S - 1) Literature Study(Paper 3, 4)

2) Checked the availability of Materials in RJPM
3) Purchased blower and motor.
4) Experimentation
References
 [1] K. Kalidasa Murugavel, K.K.S.K. Chockalingam, K. Srithar, progresses in improving the effectiveness
of the single basin passive solar still, Desalination 220 (2008) 677–686.
 [2] S.W. Sharshir, Nuo Yang, Guilong Peng, A.E. Kabeel Factors affecting solar stills productivity and
improvement techniques: A detailed review, Applied thermal engineering (2016) 267-284
 [3] A. Muthu Manokar, K. Kalidasa Murugavel, G. Esakkimuthu, Different parameters affecting the rate
of evaporation and condensation on passive solar still – a review, Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 38 (2014)
309–322.
 [4] Hitesh N Panchal, Prathikpatel, Energy absorbing materials used in solar still for enhancement in
distillate output: A Review, International Journal of Ambient Energy (2014)
 [5] R. Arun Kumar, G. Esakkimuthu, K. Kalidasa Murugavel, Performance enhancement of a single basin
single slope solar still using agitation effect and external condenser, Desalination 399 (2016) 198-202
 [6] K.M.S. Eldalil, Improving the performance of solar still using vibratory harmonic effect, Desalination
25 (2010) 3–11.
 [7] Bilal A. Akash, Mousa S. Mohsen, Omar Osta, and Yaser Elayan, Experimental evaluation of a single
basin solar still using different absorbing materials, renewable energy (1998) 307-310
 [8] T. Arunkumar, K. Vinothkumar, Amimul Ahsan, R. Jayaprakash, and Sanjay Kumar, Experimental
Study on Various Solar Still Designs, Renewable Energy (2012)
THANK YOU