Experimental performance investigation of tilted solar still with basin and wick for distillate quality and enviro-economic aspects

Abstract Tilted wick type and stepped solar stills are well known for their increased distillate yield compared to basin type stills. In this study experiments were conducted on tilted solar still with basin and tilted solar still with wick to assess their performance, distillate quality, environmental benefits and economic feasibility. Distillate quality of both the tested units was superior. Annual average distillate yield of tilted solar still with basin was nearly 19.76% higher than that of the unit with wick. Maximum distillate yield of 4.99 L/d and 4.54 L/d was noticed for tilted solar still with basin and wick, respectively during April. Yearly average thermal and exergy efficiency was around 41.06% and 3.06% for the unit with basin and 33.83% and 2.88% for the unit with wick. Energy payback time of the unit with basin was around 2.80 yrs and it can prevent 17.65 tons of CO 2 emission during 20 yrs of life time. Distillate production cost was around 0.026 USD/L (Rs. 1.74/L) and 0.046 USD/L (Rs. 3.08/L) for an interest rate of 5% and 12%, respectively. Tilted solar still with basin has superior performance compared to that of unit with wick and can produce 21.76 L of distillate/USD invested on it.

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