Comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of a novel still coupled to a solar dish concentrator

Abstract This work presents a solar parabolic dish collector system with a new design of a solar still mounted at its focal point for saltwater desalination. The system was investigated both experimentally and theoretically. A detailed and accurate mathematical model was developed for the system described. The proposed model includes two main parts: the modeling of saltwater heating in the evaporator before evaporation process starts, and the modeling of water vaporization in the evaporator and condensation of vapor produced in the condenser. Validation and verification of the model were done with experimental data, and the results of errors analysis showed that the model is reliable. A parametric study for some optical properties, structural and operational parameters was performed for the system. The results show that the collector optical efficiency, absorber reflectivity, dish aperture diameter, and absorber plate size have a significant effect on the distilled water produced and initial saltwater temperature, salinity and the amount of saltwater in the evaporator have no impressive effect. For a dish with an aperture of 2 m, when the absorber plate reflectivity reduces from 0.7 to 0.4 and parabolic dish optical efficiency increases from 0.5 to 0.8, the distilled water produced increases up to 120 and 80% respectively, while the influence of initial water salinity, temperature and its amount in the evaporator on distilled water produced is less than 10%. For a dish concentrator with an aperture diameter of 3 m and for specified conditions about 75 kg distilled water can be produced in a day for system time operating from 8:30 to 17:30.

[1]  M. Renzi,et al.  Coupling a small-scale concentrated solar power plant with a single effect thermal desalination system: Analysis of the performance , 2018, Applied Thermal Engineering.

[2]  Bechir Chaouchi,et al.  Desalination of brackish water by means of a parabolic solar concentrator , 2007 .

[3]  Keith Lovegrove,et al.  Optical performance of spherical reflecting elements for use with paraboloidal dish concentrators , 2003 .

[4]  Mohamed A. Sharaf Eldean,et al.  Techno-economic analysis of a stand-alone solar desalination plant at variable load conditions , 2018 .

[5]  E. M. Stanley,et al.  The thermal conductivity of seawater as a function of pressure and temperature , 1974 .

[6]  Soteris A. Kalogirou,et al.  Solar thermal collectors and applications , 2004 .

[7]  A.M.I. Mohamed,et al.  Theoretical investigation of solar humidification-dehumidification desalination system using parabolic trough concentrators , 2011 .

[8]  Shobhana Singh,et al.  Design parameters for concentrator assisted solar distillation system , 1996 .

[9]  S. Jahangiri Mamouri,et al.  A new desalination system using a combination of heat pipe, evacuated tube and parabolic trough collector. , 2015 .

[10]  Frank J. Millero,et al.  International one-atmosphere equation of state of seawater , 1981 .

[11]  Ali A. Badran,et al.  A solar still augmented with a flat-plate collector , 2005 .

[12]  Yan Po Chang,et al.  Wave Theory of Heat Transfer in Film Boiling , 1959 .

[13]  Soteris A. Kalogirou,et al.  Use of parabolic trough solar energy collectors for sea-water desalination , 1998 .

[14]  Fawzi Banat,et al.  Solar thermal desalination technologies , 2008 .

[15]  K. Srithar,et al.  Stand alone triple basin solar desalination system with cover cooling and parabolic dish concentrator , 2016 .

[16]  Vahid Madadi Avargani,et al.  A detailed mathematical model for thermal performance analysis of a cylindrical cavity receiver in a solar parabolic dish collector system , 2018, Renewable Energy.

[17]  Vahid Madadi Avargani,et al.  Enhancement in energy and exergy efficiency of a solar receiver using suspended alumina nanparticles (nanofluid) as heat transfer fluid , 2015 .

[18]  Z. M. Omara,et al.  Hybrid of solar dish concentrator, new boiler and simple solar collector for brackish water desalination , 2013 .

[19]  H. N. Singh,et al.  Present status of solar distillation , 2003 .

[20]  N. D. Kaushika,et al.  Performance of a low cost solar paraboloidal dish steam generating system , 2000 .

[21]  Saffa Riffat,et al.  Performance evaluation of v-trough solar concentrator for water desalination applications , 2013 .

[22]  D. T. Jamieson,et al.  Physical properties of sea water solutions: heat capacity☆ , 1969 .

[23]  Diego-César Alarcón-Padilla,et al.  Experimental characterization of a multi-effect distillation system coupled to a flat plate solar collector field: Empirical correlations , 2017 .

[24]  Vahid Madadi Avargani,et al.  Exergetic Optimization and Optimum Operation of a Solar Dish Collector with a Cylindrical Receiver , 2016 .

[25]  Amir Rahimi,et al.  First and second thermodynamic law analyses applied to a solar dish collector , 2014 .

[26]  Andrés Kecskeméthy,et al.  A Novel Approach for Designing Parabolic Mirrors Using Optimized Compliant Bands , 2011 .

[27]  Moh'd S. Abu-Jabal,et al.  Proving test for a solar-powered desalination system in Gaza-Palestine☆ , 2001 .

[28]  J. Damasceno,et al.  Solar dish concentrator for desalting water , 2016 .

[29]  Lan Xiao,et al.  A parabolic dish/AMTEC solar thermal power system and its performance evaluation , 2010 .

[30]  J. D. Isdale,et al.  Physical properties of sea water solutions: density , 1972 .

[31]  Zeinab S. Abdel-Rehim,et al.  Experimental and theoretical study of a solar desalination system located in Cairo, Egypt , 2007 .

[32]  Prachi Sharma,et al.  Instantaneous thermal efficiency of an active solar still , 1996 .