IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i21p7050-d666655.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Updates on Evaporation and Condensation Methods for the Performance Improvement of Solar Stills

Author

Listed:
  • He Fu

    (Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Health and Land Resource, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, China
    The Key Lab of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China)

  • Min Dai

    (Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Health and Land Resource, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, China)

  • Hanwen Song

    (The Key Lab of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
    The Institute of Seawater Desalination and Multipurpose Utilization, Ministry of Natural Resources, Tianjin 300192, China)

  • Xiaoting Hou

    (The Key Lab of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China)

  • Fahid Riaz

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117575, Singapore
    Mechanical Engineering Department, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 59911, United Arab Emirates)

  • Shuai Li

    (The Key Lab of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China)

  • Ke Yang

    (Instituto de Metalurgia, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí C.P. 78210, Mexico)

  • Imran Ali

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China)

  • Changsheng Peng

    (Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Health and Land Resource, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, China
    The Key Lab of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China)

  • Muhammad Sultan

    (Department of Agricultural Engineering, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60000, Pakistan)

Abstract

Solar still, a small equipment using evaporation and condensation processes to get clean water, is expected to be widely used for sea/brackish water desalination, water purification, and wastewater treatment because of its convenient carrying, friendly environment, and low energy consumption. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in improving the productivity of solar still. This paper will reclassify the methods to improve the solar still by elevating the evaporation rate and condensation rate. The main methods increasing evaporation rate are as follows: (i) adding heat storage materials; (ii) using nanoparticles; (iii) changing structure of the absorption plate; and (iv) using photothermal materials. The primary methods increasing the condensation rate are as follows: (i) cooling the condensing surface; (ii) increasing the condensation area; (iii) changing the wettability of the condensing surface; and (iv) using a separate condenser. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are compared. Furthermore, this paper includes an economic analysis of current solar stills and a forecast of future developments. The freshwater cost of solar still is in the range of about USD 0.0061–0.277/L, which provides reference and direction for future researching solar stills on their low cost and high productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • He Fu & Min Dai & Hanwen Song & Xiaoting Hou & Fahid Riaz & Shuai Li & Ke Yang & Imran Ali & Changsheng Peng & Muhammad Sultan, 2021. "Updates on Evaporation and Condensation Methods for the Performance Improvement of Solar Stills," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-26, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:21:p:7050-:d:666655
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7050/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7050/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nijegorodov, Nikolai & Jain, Pushpendra K. & Carlsson, Stig, 1994. "Thermal-electrical, high efficiency solar stills," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 123-127.
    2. Arunkumar, T. & Velraj, R. & Denkenberger, D.C. & Sathyamurthy, Ravishankar & Kumar, K. Vinoth & Ahsan, Amimul, 2016. "Productivity enhancements of compound parabolic concentrator tubular solar stills," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 391-400.
    3. Khalilmoghadam, Pooria & Rajabi-Ghahnavieh, Abbas & Shafii, Mohammad Behshad, 2021. "A novel energy storage system for latent heat recovery in solar still using phase change material and pulsating heat pipe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 2115-2127.
    4. Dev, Rahul & Abdul-Wahab, Sabah A. & Tiwari, G.N., 2011. "Performance study of the inverted absorber solar still with water depth and total dissolved solid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 252-264, January.
    5. Arunkumar, T. & Raj, Kaiwalya & Dsilva Winfred Rufuss, D. & Denkenberger, David & Tingting, Guo & Xuan, Li & Velraj, R., 2019. "A review of efficient high productivity solar stills," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 197-220.
    6. Lei Wu & Zhichao Dong & Zheren Cai & Turga Ganapathy & Niocholas X. Fang & Chuxin Li & Cunlong Yu & Yu Zhang & Yanlin Song, 2020. "Highly efficient three-dimensional solar evaporator for high salinity desalination by localized crystallization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. El-Samadony, Y.A.F. & Kabeel, A.E., 2014. "Theoretical estimation of the optimum glass cover water film cooling parameters combinations of a stepped solar still," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 744-750.
    8. Srithar, K. & Rajaseenivasan, T. & Karthik, N. & Periyannan, M. & Gowtham, M., 2016. "Stand alone triple basin solar desalination system with cover cooling and parabolic dish concentrator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 157-165.
    9. Kianifar, Ali & Zeinali Heris, Saeed & Mahian, Omid, 2012. "Exergy and economic analysis of a pyramid-shaped solar water purification system: Active and passive cases," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 31-36.
    10. Ranjan, K.R. & Kaushik, S.C., 2013. "Energy, exergy and thermo-economic analysis of solar distillation systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 709-723.
    11. Vasu, Anusuiah & Hagos, Ftwi Y. & Noor, M.M. & Mamat, R. & Azmi, W.H. & Abdullah, Abdul A. & Ibrahim, Thamir K., 2017. "Corrosion effect of phase change materials in solar thermal energy storage application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 19-33.
    12. Shoeibi, Shahin & Rahbar, Nader & Esfahlani, Ahad Abedini & Kargarsharifabad, Hadi, 2021. "Energy matrices, exergoeconomic and enviroeconomic analysis of air-cooled and water-cooled solar still: Experimental investigation and numerical simulation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 227-244.
    13. Kabeel, A.E. & Hamed, A.M. & El-Agouz, S.A., 2010. "Cost analysis of different solar still configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 2901-2908.
    14. Arunkumar, T. & Jayaprakash, R. & Ahsan, Amimul & Denkenberger, D. & Okundamiya, M.S., 2013. "Effect of water and air flow on concentric tubular solar water desalting system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 109-115.
    15. Bhardwaj, R. & ten Kortenaar, M.V. & Mudde, R.F., 2015. "Maximized production of water by increasing area of condensation surface for solar distillation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 480-490.
    16. El-Bahi, A. & Inan, D., 1999. "Analysis of a parallel double glass solar still with separate condenser," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 509-521.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ewelina Radomska & Łukasz Mika & Karol Sztekler & Wojciech Kalawa & Łukasz Lis & Kinga Pielichowska & Magdalena Szumera & Paweł Rutkowski, 2023. "Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Single-Slope Passive Solar Still with Phase-Change Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-29, January.
    2. Shatar, Nursyahirah Mohd & Sabri, Mohd Faizul Mohd & Salleh, Mohd Faiz Mohd & Ani, Mohd Hanafi, 2023. "Investigation on the performance of solar still with thermoelectric cooling system for various cover material," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 844-854.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sharshir, S.W. & Elsheikh, A.H. & Peng, Guilong & Yang, Nuo & El-Samadony, M.O.A. & Kabeel, A.E., 2017. "Thermal performance and exergy analysis of solar stills – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 521-544.
    2. Sathyamurthy, Ravishankar & El-Agouz, S.A. & Nagarajan, P.K. & Subramani, J. & Arunkumar, T. & Mageshbabu, D. & Madhu, B. & Bharathwaaj, R. & Prakash, N., 2017. "A Review of integrating solar collectors to solar still," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1069-1097.
    3. Omara, Z.M. & Abdullah, A.S. & Kabeel, A.E. & Essa, F.A., 2017. "The cooling techniques of the solar stills' glass covers – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 176-193.
    4. Ibrahim, Ayman G.M. & Allam, Elsayed E. & Elshamarka, Salman E., 2015. "A modified basin type solar still: Experimental performance and economic study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 335-342.
    5. Arunkumar, T. & Raj, Kaiwalya & Dsilva Winfred Rufuss, D. & Denkenberger, David & Tingting, Guo & Xuan, Li & Velraj, R., 2019. "A review of efficient high productivity solar stills," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 197-220.
    6. Shoeibi, Shahin & Rahbar, Nader & Abedini Esfahlani, Ahad & Kargarsharifabad, Hadi, 2021. "A comprehensive review of Enviro-Exergo-economic analysis of solar stills," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    7. Al-Sulttani, Ali O. & Ahsan, Amimul & Hanoon, Ammar N. & Rahman, A. & Daud, N.N.N. & Idrus, S., 2017. "Hourly yield prediction of a double-slope solar still hybrid with rubber scrapers in low-latitude areas based on the particle swarm optimization technique," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 280-303.
    8. Han, Jingyang & Ji, Xu & Xu, Haiyang & Heng, Yuanyuan & Wang, Cong & Deng, Jia, 2020. "Solar vaporizing desalination by heat concentration," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 201-208.
    9. Kabeel, A.E. & Omara, Z.M. & Essa, F.A. & Abdullah, A.S., 2016. "Solar still with condenser – A detailed review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 839-857.
    10. Nayi, Kuldeep H. & Modi, Kalpesh V., 2018. "Pyramid solar still: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 136-148.
    11. Srithar, K. & Rajaseenivasan, T. & Karthik, N. & Periyannan, M. & Gowtham, M., 2016. "Stand alone triple basin solar desalination system with cover cooling and parabolic dish concentrator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 157-165.
    12. Obai Younis & Ahmed Kadhim Hussein & Mohammed El Hadi Attia & Hakim S. Sultan Aljibori & Lioua Kolsi & Hussein Togun & Bagh Ali & Aissa Abderrahmane & Khanyaluck Subkrajang & Anuwat Jirawattanapanit, 2022. "Comprehensive Review on Solar Stills—Latest Developments and Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-59, August.
    13. Kumar R, Reji & Pandey, A.K. & Samykano, M. & Aljafari, Belqasem & Ma, Zhenjun & Bhattacharyya, Suvanjan & Goel, Varun & Ali, Imtiaz & Kothari, Richa & Tyagi, V.V., 2022. "Phase change materials integrated solar desalination system: An innovative approach for sustainable and clean water production and storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    14. Zanganeh, Peyman & Goharrizi, Ataallah Soltani & Ayatollahi, Shahab & Feilizadeh, Mehrzad & Dashti, Hossein, 2020. "Efficiency improvement of solar stills through wettability alteration of the condensation surface: An experimental study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    15. Gang, Wu & Qichang, Yang & Hongfei, Zheng & Yi, Zhang & Hui, Fang & Rihui, Jin, 2019. "Direct utilization of solar linear Fresnel reflector on multi-effect eccentric horizontal tubular still with falling film," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 170-184.
    16. Mohamed, A.S.A. & Shahdy, Abanob G. & Mohamed, Hany A. & Ahmed, M. Salem, 2023. "A comprehensive review of the vacuum solar still systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    17. Karimi Estahbanati, M.R. & Ahsan, Amimul & Feilizadeh, Mehrzad & Jafarpur, Khosrow & Ashrafmansouri, Seyedeh-Saba & Feilizadeh, Mansoor, 2016. "Theoretical and experimental investigation on internal reflectors in a single-slope solar still," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 537-547.
    18. Mohaisen, H.S. & Esfahani, J.A. & Ayani, M.B., 2021. "Improvement in the performance and cost of passive solar stills using a finned-wall/built-in condenser: An experimental study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 170-180.
    19. Arunkumar, T. & Ao, Yali & Luo, Zhifang & Zhang, Lin & Li, Jing & Denkenberger, D. & Wang, Jiaqiang, 2019. "Energy efficient materials for solar water distillation - A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    20. Sharon, H. & Reddy, K.S., 2015. "Performance investigation and enviro-economic analysis of active vertical solar distillation units," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 794-807.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:21:p:7050-:d:666655. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.