Energy Reports 7 (2021) 2245–2254

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Energy Reports
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/egyr

Research paper

Solar-powered desalination, a novel solar still directly connected to

solar parabolic trough
∗
Ali M. Aqlan a,b ,1 , , Musaed Aklan c,d ,1 , Abdulmalik E. Momin a ,1
a
Sana’a University, Faculty of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Sana’a, Yemen
b
University of Groningen, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands
c
IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
d
Sana’a University, Water and Environment Center, Sana’a, Yemen

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: Technologies that utilize natural renewable resources and rely on no fuels are more sustainable and
Received 18 September 2020 could, in part, solve the world’s current water and energy problems. The aim of this study is to fabricate
Received in revised form 24 March 2021 and develop a single solar still that is directly connected with a solar parabolic trough and does not
Accepted 19 April 2021
utilize any heat exchanger. An innovative feeding water tank was installed with the parabolic unit.
Available online 24 April 2021
Fieldworks and manufacturing, laboratory experiments, and water quality analysis were the tools used
Keywords: in this study. The results of the field experiments demonstrated that the overall water productivity
Renewable resources of the modified solar still increased by 177% compared to the conventional still. The average hourly
Solar energy quantity of freshwater obtained from the modified and unmodified models of the solar still were
Water/ energy crisis 0.67 L/m2 /hr and 0.38 L/m2 /hr, respectively. Building on these results, this study also proposed the
Water purification future investigation of a step-shaped conical unit for the same device, which appears more promising
Desalination and easier to handle, install, and maintain. This study showed feasible and viable results and verifies
the importance of technologies that rely on renewable resources to achieve secure and sustainable
management of the world’s water and energy needs.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction and condensation processes. Solar still is one water purification

technology with the potential to increase access to clean water,
Access to suitable drinking water, a basic human right, is especially in remote areas where water and electrical energy are
a particular challenge, and this challenge is heightened during scarce (Mi et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2013). It is environmentally
man-made and natural disasters, including wars, earthquakes, friendly and has proved its technical and economic viability (Sig-
and flash floods. During the last two decades, water scarcity and norato et al., 2020). As such, it may mitigate the life-threatening
the deterioration of water quality have intensified and are consid- effects of the increasing water and energy crisis (Ghaffour et al.,
ered to be the most significant water challenges in the world. The 2015). The solar still is a promising tool because its sample
factors contributing to these challenges include climate change, a construction includes ‘‘no moving parts’’, and its inputs in terms
rapid increase of population density, the technology revolution, of cost, energy, and skill are low. However, the main problem
and the new lifestyles (Liu et al., 2017). Lack of clean water with the solar still is the low capacity of its freshwater produc-
affects people’s livelihoods and environmental systems. Today, tivity, with an average productivity of 2.5–5 L/m2 per day (Kabeel
more than one billion people around the world lack access to and Abdelgaied, 2017). Nevertheless, it is an important tool, and
clean water, and 3.4 million people – mostly children – die every many researchers around the world have expressed interest in
year from preventable water-borne diseases (Ahmed and Karachi, developing it further.
2020). Numerous studies have been carried out to improve the solar
The solar still, a simple device that uses solar energy to desali- still and the efficiency of its desalination process. In this process,
nate impure, brackish, and saline water through the evaporation the surface area and temperature of the water basin are the main
factors that determine the evaporation rate. The daily produc-
∗ Correspondence to: Groningen University, 9712 CP Groningen, The Nether- tivity of the double basin solar still is 36% higher comparing
lands. to the single basin (El-Sebaii and El-Bialy, 2015). However, the
E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] productivity of the conventional solar still increases up to 51%
(A.M. Aqlan). when combined with enhancers, such as an asphalt basin liner
1 The authors contributed to the manuscript equally. and sprinkler (Badran, 2007). The ambient condition also has a

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.04.041
2352-4847/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
A.M. Aqlan, M. Aklan and A.E. Momin Energy Reports 7 (2021) 2245–2254

direct effect on the productivity of the solar still. For instance, Besides enhancing the productivity of the solar still through
night production is a mere 16% of the daytime output (Abu-Hijleh, the aforementioned factors, other indicators, including the selec-
1996). tion of solar still materials, can be considered to enhance the
The heat exchanger, a device that transfers thermal energy proper design and performance of a solar still. The most effective
between two or more fluids with different temperatures, is an still is one that is easily assembled, made from locally available
important tool that has been introduced and used to support and materials, is lightweight for ease of handling and transportation,
increase the solar still temperature and thus water productivity. is highly reliable, needs no external power, and can serve as a
It has a wide variety of applications, including power produc- rainfall catchment surface. So far, no existing purification and de-
tion, waste heat recovery, manufacturing, and air-conditioning, salination device meets these requirements. There is thus a need
among others. Many experimental studies connect a parabolic to create a hand-held, stand-alone, low-cost desalination device
trough to the water basin of the conventional solar still by us- for rapid deployment, especially during humanitarian crises.
ing heat exchangers (Kabeel and Abdelgaied, 2017; Abdel-Rehim Therefore, this study aimed to develop and experiment with
and Lasheen, 2007). In the previous studies (Fathy et al., 2018; the productivity and performance of a locally made single solar
Madiouli et al., 2020; Kabeel and Abdelgaied, 2017), the normal still that relied on no external energy source. The novelty of
working medium of a heat exchanger is oil, which flows in a this study is that the solar still unit was directly coupled with
closed cycle through the focal pipe of the parabolic trough, the a parabolic concentrator and without a heat exchanger or Phase
heat exchanger and the water basin of the solar still. As a driving Change Material (PCM). The study introduced an extra feeding
water tank (tank 2) as a component of the parabolic trough, and
force for the heat exchanger, a pump is used. However, heat
in doing so, it proposed a new design for the solar still. The
exchangers have a number of limitations, including the need for
direct connection between the parabolic trough and the solar still
a high-pressure pump, the need for an external power source,
helped to maximize the efficiency of the parabolic trough and
maintenance difficulties, leakages, and heat losses. In the case of
eliminate losses occurring in the oil pipes and heat exchangers.
a solar still connected to a parabolic still, the limitations of low-
In addition, part of water vapor can be condensate in the pipe
heat transfer between the oil and water basin and low efficiency
before it rich the solar still. This study presents a comparison of
can be added.
daily water productivity between this modified solar still coupled
The condensation rate and clean freshwater productivity of
with a parabolic concentrator and the conventional still.
solar still depend on the temperature difference between the
cover glass and water basin (Tw-Tg) (Kabeel and Abdelgaied, 2. Material and methods
2017; Omara et al., 2017; Prakash and Velmurugan, 2015). The
quantity of distilled water increases as the water basin temper- 2.1. The study area
ature increases and the glass cover temperature decreases. The
glass cover temperature can be reduced by installing a cooling The overall work and the experimental process of the pre-
fan, an oil preheating system, or both. These cooling interventions sented study were designed, constructed, and developed in
can increase the water productivity of a single solar still by 3%, Yemen at Sana’a University’s Faculty of Engineering. Located in
10%, and 50%, respectively (Bani-Hani et al., 2017). The proper Southwest Asia at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula
use of film cooling parameters in a single solar still can further (Fig. 1), Yemen is among the developing countries that face short-
increase the solar still efficiency by 6% (Abu-Hijleh, 1996). The ages of potable and clean drinking water resources. The average
thickness of the glass cover is an additional important compo- renewable water resources available in Yemen equal about 2500
nent. Investigating three solar stills of the same size and under Million Cubic Meter per year (MCM/year), while the total water
the same ambient conditions but with different glass thicknesses, consumption is about 3400 MCM/year, which means that the
Panchal (2016) found that the 4 mm and 5 mm glass covers deficit is about 900 MCM/year (Al-Asbahi, 2005). This shortage
increased average distillate output by 27% and 12%, respectively, of clean drinking water, in turn, contributes to epidemic diseases
compared to the 6 mm glass cover. among Yemen’s 30 million people (Aklan et al., 2019; Lopour,

Fig. 1. Solar irradiation in Yemen.

Source: SOLSRGIS (2019).

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Table 1
Grid-based renewable energy technical potential (Sufian, 2019; Mahmud, 2013).
Renewable resource Theoretical (MW) Gross technical (MW) Practical technical (MW)
Wind 308,722 123,429 34,286
Geothermal 304,000 29,000 2900
Solar electric (CSP) 2,446,000 1,426,000 18,600
Biomass 10 8 6
Hydropower 12–31 11–30 –
Solar thermal (SWH) 3014 MW thermal 278 MW thermal 278 MW thermal

2018). Due to this absence of clean drinking water and current and flowed to the solar still through the plastic pipe installed at
conditions of civil war, Yemen is facing a cholera outbreak, which the top of the feeding tank 2. The plastic pipe also worked as a
is one of the worst in modern history with more than 1.4 million condenser, making use of the air outside the pipe. By this process,
cases since it began in late 2016 (Dureab et al., 2019). The current we increased the density of the distillation and steam in the solar
war and economic collapse have made it extremely difficult to still and fed it with the increased temperature that came with
meet people’s basic needs and manage catastrophes, such as the the steam. The innovative feeding tank 2 in this experiments was
recent cholera outbreak. filled manually, but as an option it could be connected to the
On the other hand, Yemen is one of the countries with the same pump used by the still’s main water basin tank1.
greatest potential for a technological revolution that relies on
renewable energy. Although Yemen is still poor in terms of sus- 2.3. Components of the modified solar still
tainable management, advanced technologies, and related knowl-
edge (World Bank et al., 2012), it is rich in natural resources The solar still basin was the main part of the project where
and raw materials, including renewable solar, wind, biomass, and the impure water was kept and purified on the evaporation and
geothermal energy sources (Recreee, 2012). Among the renew- condensation principle. The solar still basin was made of 2 mm
able energy sources in Yemen, solar energy has the largest gross stainless steel. The inner side of the basin was coated with anti-
technical potential but ranks second after wind in terms of gross corrosion material and black paint to increase the absorptivity.
practicable potentiality (Table 1). The average solar radiation in To reduce the heat loss of the tank 2 to ambient conditions,
Yemen is about 18–26 MJ/m2 /day over 3000 h per year clean 8 cm of insulation material, consisting of rock wool foam with
blue sky, and the theoretical potential for solar electric energy a thermal conductivity of 0.045 W/m2 , was installed between the
using concentrated solar power (CSP) reaches about 2.5 million outer cover and the inner basin. The length and width of the solar
Megawatt (MW) (Fig. 1) (Mahmud, 2013). still were 190 cm and 50 cm, respectively. For both unmodified
The solar energy market in Yemen was limited until the cur- and modified systems, the area of solar still basin was used to
rent civil war began. However, the war led to more fuel shortages report the productivity L/(m2 h). The height of solar still basin
and long electricity blackouts. Accordingly, the trade of solar was 60 cm on the backside and 21 cm on the front side. The solar
panels, mainly for lighting and pumping water, has assumed an still was covered by 6 mm2 transparent glass with a horizontal
important place in the domestic market (Aklan et al., 2019). inclination of 30◦ . The silicon was used as a bonding material to
prevent any leakage between the solar still and the covering glass.
2.2. Experimental methodology The parabolic trough was the main enhancement tool of the
solar still; it contained curvature mirrors that reflected the solar
The present study was carried out to develop and improve the radiation to the vacuumed glass pipe, which worked to produce
productivity of a single solar still that was directly connected to a greenhouse effect and heat the feeding water tank 2. As shown
a parabolic trough and did not utilize any heat exchanger. Two in Fig. 3 the parabolic trough had an inclination angle of 25◦ ,
experiments for unmodified system (single solar still) and mod- to increase the natural convocation of the hot water from the
ified system (the same single solar still connected to a parabolic focal pipe to water tank 2. The reflectors of parabolic were made
trough) were performed on 15 and 25 September 2018 respec- of 300 small mirror pieces, each approximately 60 cm × 1 cm.
tively. Fig. 2 elucidate a schematic diagram and photograph for They were glued on the inner surface of 6 plates (60 cm, 50 cm)
the main components of the proposed modified solar still includ-
of 1 mm stainless sheet (Al-Amayreh et al., 2020). The mirror
ing the four main parts of the solar still’s basin, parabolic trough,
pieces were used to reflect the sunlight to the focal pipe, which
cooling system, and control circuit for the basin’s water level.
was installed in the center in order to increase the efficiency of
For the modified system, an additional storage water tank 2 was
the parabolic trough. The focal pipe was a ‘‘vacuum tube’’ made
installed next to the parabolic trough. This innovative feeding
of a double evacuated glass pipe. It was 1.90 m long and 6 cm
water tank 2 was connected directly to the focal pipe of the
in diameter. The outer transparent glass pipe passed the solar
parabolic. The parabolic system works as water solar heater. The
energy to the dark inner glass, which contained the water. In
water inside the focal pipe, which sourced from tank 2 (Fig. 2),
parallel, the vacuum between the inner and outer tubes works
receives solar radiation from the reflectors (mirrors) and water
to prevent and reduce the heat loss to the ambient (suppressing
temperature increases. The inclination angle 25◦ of the parabolic
natural convection). It was installed on a movable axis that could
and the focal pipe towards the feeding tank 2 increases the
be rotated to track the sun’s rays. The stand of the parabolic
natural movement (convection) of the hot water from the focal
trough was made of commercial rectangular iron bars.
pipe to the upper surface of the water in tank 2, where the vapor
The control circuit was used to control the water level inside
is generated and delivered to the solar still unit through the vapor
the solar still and operate the small pump. It contained resis-
pipe installed in the top of the tank 2.
tances, capacitors, semiconductors, a CMOS gate, a relay switch,
This innovative feeding water tank 2 and the parabolic trough
cables, LEDs, and three sensors (high- and low-earth).
were connected to the solar still in an open cycle through a
When the feeding water tank 2 was added to the parabolic
direct plastic pipe. The working medium was water vapor, which
trough, it was placed on the higher end of the parabolic trough.
flowed naturally through the pipe to the solar still unit without
any external pump or energy. The parabolic trough heated the
water in the feeding tank 2, which, in turn, evaporated upward 2 The minimum thickness available in the market.

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Fig. 2. Photo and schematic diagram of the overall modified system.

Fig. 3. Diagram and cross-section (A-A) for the parabolic through.

The water tank 2 was locally made from a plastic water tank with 2.4. Experimental setup
a 7-liter capacity. It had a water inlet and vapor outlet. The main
focal (heating) pipe was fitted on the left side of the tank 2, and a Before starting experiments of unmodified and modified sys-
thermometer, to measure the water temperatures inside the tank tems, all electronic instruments, including thermocouples and
2, was installed at the top of the tank 2. The tank 2 had an extra electric control circuits, were appropriately calibrated. The digital
discharge outlet for cleaning purposes. thermometers were used to measure different temperatures of
A cooling system consisting of a fan on the covering glass the glass, the ambient conditions, the parabolic trough water, and
was used to increase the cooling rate of the external surfaces the water inside the basin (T g, T a, Tp, T w). The experiments were
and to keep the temperature of the glass constant and thereby performed in two different days and they both started 8:00 AM
increase the condensation rate of vapors inside the solar still. The and concluded to 3:00 PM. The amount of distilled water (mL)
cooling fan was powered by 12 V PVC (Fig. 2). Other components was recorded at every half-hour interval. The water in the basin
of the project include the reflector mirrors of the parabolic rip, entered by the pump through the small pipe. The control circle
the vacuum pipe, clear water channel, and sensors for upper and was locked when the water reached the sensor of water level
lower water levels measurements. control. When the sunlight fell on the water inside the basin
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through the cover glass, its temperature gradually increased. The SV = 0.2 × CC (7)
water inside the solar still began to evaporate, and the water level
decreased to the sensor of the minimum level. The pump worked Finally, Distillate production cost per liter was obtained from
automatically to feed the water basin again until it received the Eq. (8) and payback period or time required to recover investment
high sensor signals repeatedly. To protect the pump, the pump costs of the system (np ) was calculated by Eq. (9).
did not operate when the water reservoir was empty. TAC
The extra feeding tank 2 was filled manually to 7 l. The mirrors CPL = (8)
My
redirected the solar radiation to the focal pipe, and the water
temperature inside the pipe accordingly increased and the hot where TAC is Total Annual Cost (Eq. (1)) and My is Distillate
water moved to the tank 2 by natural convection. This process production per year (liter).
produced an increase of the water temperature in the feeding (
CF
)
tank 2, and the water gradually began to evaporate before flowing ln CF −(CC ×i)
(as vapor) to the solar still through the plastic pipe installed at the np = (9)
ln (1 + i)
top of the feeding tank 2. Some of the water vapor condensed
at the pipe and flowed directly to the water collection channel, where CF is the Cash Flow for each year (Eq. (10)) and i is the
while the rest of the vapor condensed at the cover glass of the interest rate on annual basis.
solar still. The solar radiation was transmitted through the cover CF = My × Pw (10)
of the solar still and was absorbed by the water and the basin.
The water was heated and evaporated, and the vapor rose to the where Pw is the per liter market price of distilled water.
cover. The vapor condensed inside the face of the cover glass
before it flowed under the forces of gravity into the collection
pipe at the lower edges of the basin cover. The cover glass was 3. Result and discussion
installed with a sufficient slope to allow surface tension of the
condensate water to flow into the troughs without dropping back 3.1. Water productivity
into the basin (Eze and Ojike, 2012).
Fig. 4 shows the quantities of distilled water. At the first three
2.5. Economic analysis hours, the quantities were almost similar in both modified and
unmodified units. However, after 11:30 AM, there was a signifi-
Economic analysis and calculations of the modified solar still cant increase in the quantities of distilled water in the modified
is an important factor in determining its usefulness, future ap- solar still because of the additional water vapor coming from the
plicability and economic feasibility (Kumar et al., 2020). In this parabolic trough. After 12:30 PM, the feeding water tank 2 of the
study economic parameters of total annual cost (TAC), distillate parabolic trough reached the boiling temperature and began to
production cost per liter (CPL), and payback period (np) were deliver significant amounts of water vapor, which explains the
considered and calculated using Eqs. (1), (8) and (9). To calculate rapid increase of the distilled water curve.
these parameters different other factors were obtained by the The daily productivity of modified and unmodified systems
following equations (Sharon and Reddy, 2015; Kumar et al., 2020; were 4.48 L and 2.52 L respectively. The experiments were per-
Sadeghi and Nazari, 2020): formed in different days and 7 h a day (Fig. 4). The solar still basin
area was 0.95 m2 . Therefore, the average hourly productivity of
TAC = FAC + AOMC + ASV (1) the modified system was 0.64 L/h (0.67 L/m2 h) and the average
productivity of the unmodified system was 0.36 L/h (0.38 L/m2 /h).
where FAC is First Annual Cost of the setup (Eq. (2)), AOMC is
This means the enhancement ratio was 77%. In other words, the
Annual Operational and Maintenance Cost, which includes the
productivity of modified system was 177% of the conventional
price related to regular cleaning of the system, continuous feeding
one and this result is more feasible and viable when compared
of saline water into the still (Eq. (3)) and ASV is the Annual
to previous related studies. The enhancement ratio of previous
Salvage Value of the system (Eq. (4)).
studies, used parabolic trough and single solar still, ranged be-
FAC = CC × CRF (2) tween 18% (Abdel-Rehim and Lasheen, 2007) and 45% (Kabeel
and Abdelgaied, 2017; Fathy et al., 2018). As a first experiment,
where CC is Capital Coast and CRF is Capital Recovery Factor, this implies that the modified solar still of this study could be
which converts a present value into a flow of uniform annual used further to produce larger quantities of the distilled water at
amount over a fixed time at a fixed interest rate (Sharon and a lower cost.
Reddy, 2015). It is calculated by using Eq. (5). Different ideas and enhancement methods to increase the per-
AOMC = 0.15 × FAC (3) formance of the solar still using parabolic trough were introduced
to the existing knowledge. These include the use of different basin
where FAC is the First Annual Cost of the setup (Eq. (2)). depths (Kumar et al., 2020), step-shaped solar still with PCM and
internal reflectors (Kabeel et al., 2020), ‘‘V’’ shape four-stage still
ASV = SFF × SV (4)
coupled with a cylinder-parabolic collector (Abdessemed et al.,
where SFF is Sinking Fund Factor to determine the future value of 2019) and heat exchanger with oil pump (Fathy et al., 2018;
a sequence of uniform annual cash flows (Eq. (6)) (Kumar et al., Hassan et al., 2019). None of the previous studies has considered
2020) and SV is the Salvage Value of the system (Eq. (7)). this new direct connection of the present study, which helped
to increase the altogether parabolic and solar still efficiency.
i(1 + i)n
CRF = (5) Almost all studies are concern about the heat losses of the heat
(1 + i)n − 1 exchangers but none of those studies has totally eliminated the
where i is interest rate on annual basis. heat exchangers and related heat losses.
i One of the min problems in many developing areas, even with
SFF = (6) the availability of water, is the lack of clean drinking water due
(1 + i)n − 1 to the lack of purification tools, which are usually expensive and
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Fig. 4. Distillated and accumulated water productivity of unmodified and modified solar still.

in need of energy. Not to mention the areas that have only salty Table 2
or brackish water and where regular purification devices cannot Cost of modified solar still for 1 m2 .

be enough. This developed toll of this study is simple, relay on Unit Cost ($) No
no energy, and can be used for remote rural areas far away from Iron sheet 40 2
clean water and public energy resources. Two units are capable Glass cover 12 1
Insulation (Rock Wood and Fiber glass) 15 –
of providing enough clean drinking water for a family of 4 to 6 control circuit and small pump 10 –
people. It can be also enlarged or repeated and be used as a bulk Pounding materials (silicone) 7 5
desalination plant to serve more people. Paints (Primer and black paint) 15 2
Mirrors 20 –
3.2. Factors affecting water productivity Iron bars 10 2
Other 20 –
Total fixed cost (F) 149 –
Fig. 5 illustrates the temperature variation across the ambient
conditions, glass covers, and water basins for both experiments
of the solar still (with and without a parabolic trough). For the
two cases, the quantity of freshwater was affected by ambient, and vice versa with regard to the wind speed. Fig. 6 illustrates
operation, and design conditions. For both experiments, the am- the solar radiation and wind speed vs water productivity for both
bient temperatures increased to the maximum value at 12:30 unmodified and modified experiments. It can be seen, both ex-
PM and then decreased gradually. The ambient and glass cover periments were carried out in different weather conditions. While
temperatures of the modified unit ranged from 17–25 ◦ C and 20 – the solar radiation was higher for the unmodified experiment, the
47.9 ◦ C, respectively. The same measurements in the unmodified wind speed was higher for the modified experiment. According
unit ranged from 17–24.2 ◦ C, and 19–47.2 ◦ C, respectively. There to this, the modified system would show better results if it had
was a temperature variation for both experiments due to the the same weather conditions as unmodified system. Using aver-
effect of the weather conditions, including wind speed and clouds. age temperatures, the calculated top, radiation, convective and
From the temperature variation of glass covers (Fig. 5), it appears evaporation heat losses were 180 W/m2 , 162 W/m2 , 66 W/m2
that the cooling fan has little effect on the cooling of the cover and 673 W/m2 respectively.
glass. The highest glass temperature of the unmodified solar still
was at 01:00 PM (30 min earlier than it was for the modified unit)
3.3. Results of economic analysis
because of the higher solar radiation intensity of the experience
day.
The cost of the modified solar still is an important factor
For both the modified and unmodified units, the water tem-
perature inside the basin was approximately 20 ◦ C at 8:00 AM to determine its usefulness and future applicability. An eco-
and reached the maximum temperature 74.5 ◦ C for the unmod- nomic analysis using Eqs. (1)–(10) (Section 2.5 in the mythology
ified unit and 72.9 ◦ C for the modified unit – at 1:00 PM. The part) was carried out to determine the total annual cost (TAC),
modification and coupling of the parabolic trough did not directly distillate production cost per liter (CPL), and payback period (np).
affected the main water basin temperature; rather, it increased The capital cost or initial cost for the fabrication of the system of
the condensation rate as water vapor flowed from the extra this study was 149 USD. The breakdown of the cost are given in
feeding tank 2. The water temperature in the feeding tank 2, Table 2.
which was connected to the parabolic trough, was much higher Based on this study’s results, the average hourly productiv-
than the temperature of the water basin in both experiments ity for the modified solar still is 0.64 L/m2 /h. Discounting any
due to the higher reflection of solar radiation from the parabolic nighttime productivity and assuming the unit works ten hours
trough. The water in the feeding tank 2 reached the boiling point a day, 300 sunshine days per year, the daily productivity would
of 100 ◦ C at 12:30 PM and the maximum temperature of 101 ◦ C be 0.64 × 10 = 6.4 L/day. The price of distilled water (bottled
at 1:00 PM (Fig. 5). water) in the market place in Yemen is around $100/m3 (Pw =
Solar radiation and wind speed are important factors. The 0.10) and life span (n) of the modified solar still and interest value
higher solar radiation, the higher productivity of the solar still are 10 years and 10% respectively. From above equations and
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Fig. 5. Conventional and modified solar still temperatures.

Fig. 6. Hourly solar radiation, wind speed, and water productivity for (1) unmodified and (2) modified experiments.

aforementioned figures, the total annual cost, distillate produc- enhancements and experiments on this new solar distillation
tion cost per liter, and payback period (np ) would be $26, $0.0135 method, with incentives and support from the state, will make
and 305 days respectively. These results showed that the cost of it a more affordable and competitive desalination unit.
solar distillation water is $13.5/m3 , almost 7 times less than the
price of bottled water and this is of a good feasibility (Kabeel and 3.4. The proposed new cone-shaped unit
Abdelgaied, 2017).
When taking into account the other water resources in the Furthermore, this study proposes a design for a new step-
rural areas such as community, public or private systems and conical shaped solar still, which is more promising and easier to
water tankers, the water price of these sources is $6–8/m3 , which handle, install, and maintain (Fig. 7). Step shaped solar still could
is less than the cost of solar distillation water. However, these be more efficient and with more advantages than traditional
sources are not always available and there are high concerns solar still (Nougriaya et al., 2020). According to many studies
about their water quality. The solar distillation unit is a sustain- e.g. Nougriaya et al. (2020) and Gad et al. (2015), there are many
able device and can be used even to purify rainwater and reduce factors affect the performance of the solar still performances such
the burden on women and children, who bear the responsibility as the area, quantity of water inside the basin, the condensation
of water fetching from farther locations. It is believed that more face and cooling of cover glass, the ease of construction, the cost
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Fig. 7. The proposed design of step-shaped conical solar still.

of the device, and the materials. In this proposed design of the needs no external power or chemical materials, which means that
step-conical solar still, all the previous factors were considered the proposed design can be adopted in both urban and rural areas.
and discussed with two related experts. It is expected to have a Yemen is among the richest countries in solar energy and,
promised results when it comes to be experimented. as such, is uniquely positioned to test and utilize solar applica-
The materials of this new design device would include plastic, tions, including solar still units. Yemen experiences average solar
vapor glass, soil for insulation, and bounding materials, such as radiation of 5.2–6.8 kWh/m2 and average sunshine of around
10 h a day of clean blue sky. Utilizing solar energy in Yemen
silicon. This new shape would be much less expensive in terms
could thus provide a partial solution to current water and en-
of fixed cost (less than 40 USD) than was the modified unit in
ergy shortages. Recently, the solar market has found its way to
the present study (149 USD). The device would be constructed
Yemen. However, the Yemeni government needs to improve the
from non-corrosive materials, and with only three main compo- current institutional frameworks and enact a number of appropri-
nents, it would promise an easier construction process, increased ate renewable energy policies. Developing appropriate national
reliability, and a longer shelf-life. This newly proposed device solar capacities, including cost-effective policy instruments and a
would span 50 cm in diameter and 50 cm in height and could dedicated financial mechanism, will contribute to improving solar
be assembled on the location. The production of the device is energy prospects in Yemen. Yemen is a water-scarce country, and
expected to increase to 7–10 l on a sunny day. The new design access to clean, fresh drinking water during disasters, including
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A.M. Aqlan, M. Aklan and A.E. Momin Energy Reports 7 (2021) 2245–2254

the current crisis in Yemen, is extremely critical to health and Declaration of competing interest
survival. In many parts of Yemen, people still harvest rainwater
for various indoor and outdoor uses, and the designs proposed The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
here could play an important role in the purification of this water, cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
mainly in rural areas that are far from public water and energy to influence the work reported in this paper.
services.
Acknowledgments
4. Conclusion

This experiment contributes to the improvement of the solar The authors would like to express their deep thanks to the
still unit. Reducing the heat losses and increasing the conden- bachelor students team participated this work. (Abdul-Kareem
sation rate are important factors for increasing the performance Al-Jawzi, Abdul-Aziz Al-Badani, Abdullah Al-Aosta, Ali Alshuwkhi,
of solar stills. In this study, two experimental and theoretical and Mohammed Al-Somat). Thanks also go to all the staff of the
cases with and without parabolic troughs were investigated. The mechanical workshop of Faculty of Engineering, Sana’a Univer-
parabolic trough was connected to the solar still without a heat sity.
exchanger to reduced heat loss, maximize the parabolic effi-
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