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Computational Fluid Dynamic Applications for Solar Stills Efficiency Assessment: A Review

Author

Listed:
  • Saleem S. AlSaleem

    (Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Qassim, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ebrahim Al-Qadami

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia)

  • Hussein Zein Korany

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
    Mechanical Design and Production Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt)

  • Md. Shafiquzzaman

    (Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Qassim, Saudi Arabia)

  • Husnain Haider

    (Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Qassim, Saudi Arabia)

  • Amimul Ahsan

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur 1704, Bangladesh
    Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia)

  • Mohammad Alresheedi

    (Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Qassim, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdullah AlGhafis

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Unaizah 56452, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdulaziz AlHarbi

    (Department of Plant Production and Protection, Agriculture College and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Even though water is a renewable resource, the majority of the available water on the planet is unfit for human use. Moreover, the drinkable water demand is ever-increasing as a result of rising population, urbanization, and life standards, which makes the needs for sustainable, economic, and environment-friendly treatment alternatives of utmost importance. Seawater desalination using solar stills has been proposed as a promising alternative that may help to solve drinkable water scarcity issues. In the past decades, many studies have been conducted to assess the performance of different types of solar stills aiming to enhance their productivity. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) numerical simulation is one of the approaches that have been used recently to assess the performance of solar stills. The present study performed a systematic review and bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of CFD numerical simulation uses as a tool to assess solar stills performance. A total of 486 publications were collected initially from different databases for the period between 2012 and 2022. The collected publications were filtered through several stages reaching 43 publications of highest significance. The collected data were analyzed descriptively, and the bibliometric mapping was presented. Furthermore, the basics and principles of CFD numerical simulation of solar stills efficiency were described and discussed. Later, the previous studies were analyzed to understand the algorithms, methods, and still types used. Finally, future research scopes and conclusions were stated. The presented knowledge in this study can help to provide a deep overview of using CFD in studying the efficiency of solar stills and inspire researchers to identify future research ways and gaps.

Suggested Citation

  • Saleem S. AlSaleem & Ebrahim Al-Qadami & Hussein Zein Korany & Md. Shafiquzzaman & Husnain Haider & Amimul Ahsan & Mohammad Alresheedi & Abdullah AlGhafis & Abdulaziz AlHarbi, 2022. "Computational Fluid Dynamic Applications for Solar Stills Efficiency Assessment: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-32, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:10700-:d:899745
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhaodan Wu & Yi Zhang & Yu Hua & Quanliang Ye & Lixiao Xu & Shiqi Wang, 2020. "An Improved System Dynamics Model to Evaluate Regional Water Scarcity from a Virtual Water Perspective: A Case Study of Henan Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-35, September.
    2. Rahbar, N. & Esfahani, J.A., 2013. "Productivity estimation of a single-slope solar still: Theoretical and numerical analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 289-297.
    3. Abdullah O. Baarimah & Wesam Salah Alaloul & M. S. Liew & Widya Kartika & Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi & Muhammad Ali Musarat & Aawag Mohsen Alawag & Abdul Hannan Qureshi, 2021. "A Bibliometric Analysis and Review of Building Information Modelling for Post-Disaster Reconstruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shah, Faisal & Fall, Ibra & Zhang, Desheng, 2025. "Experimental and CFD evaluation of bubble diameter and turbulence model influence on nonlinear flow dynamics in vertical columns: A comparative study," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

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