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A Modified Double Slope Basin Type Solar

Distiller : Experimental and Enviro–Economic
Study
Pal, Piyush
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad

Nayak, Ajaya Ketan

Energy & Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Kyushu University

Dev, Rahul
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad

https://doi.org/10.5109/1929730

出版情報：Evergreen. 5 (1), pp.52-61, 2018-03. Green Asia Education Center

バージョン：
権利関係：Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
 EVERGREEN Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy, Vol. 05, Issue 01, pp. 52-61, March 2018

A Modified Double Slope Basin Type Solar Distiller:

Experimental and Enviro–Economic Study
Piyush Pal1,*, Ajaya Ketan Nayak2, Rahul Dev1
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad,
Allahabad–211004, Uttar Pradesh, India.
2
Energy & Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Kyushu University,
6–1 Kasuga–Koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816–8580, Japan

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed,

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

(Received January 17, 2018; accepted March 9, 2018).

This paper investigates thermal performance of modified double slope basin type solar distiller
(MDSBSD) located at the roof of Mechanical Engineering Department, M.N.N.I.T. Allahabad
(25.45°N, 81.85°E), Uttar Pradesh, India. In this study, solar still is fabricated with FRP (basin and
north wall) and Acrylic (east, west and south walls) material to enhance the heat input and yield
rate. Experiments were conducted to predict their performance, exergy and enviroeconomic
analysis (carbon credits), distillate quality and economic feasibility. Maximum distillate yield of
2744 ml/day was obtained at 1 cm water depth in the month of November, 2015. Maximum energy
efficiency and exergy efficiency noticed were 26.74% and 1.94%, respectively. Energy payback
and payback time of the solar still were around 1.33 years and 235 days, respectively and it can
prevent 15.16 tons of CO 2 emission during 15 years of lifetime.

Keywords: solar energy, design modification, desalination, exergy, carbon credit.

1. Introduction problem, and search for alternatives, which is

eco–friendly and cost–effective. Desalination is one of
Water is one of the essential sources for sustaining the the promising technique for mitigating water scarcity. It
human life. The resources of water are abundant in is very effective in regions, which are located near to sea
quantity but its resources are finite in the earth. Human bodies. Depending upon the process for water
gets the potable or fresh water from natural resources purification while specific energy consumption ranges
like lakes, rivers, and underground water but due to from 2.5–15 kWh/m3, desalination methods like reverse
environmental pollution and excess contaminations of osmosis (RO), multi–stage flash distillation (MSF),
chemicals, potable water also gets impure. Various types multi–effect distillation (MED), capacitive deionisation
of organic, inorganic impurities and salts exist in water. (CDI) have been available for obtaining the potable
The consumptions of water by human relative to the water 4), but these techniques are energy intensive or
level of salt concentration is determined by Total depend upon power–grid electricity5). The MSF and
Dissolved Solids (TDS) level. The TDS level of 300 mg/l MED are thermal powered and using the power plant
is considered as excellent and beyond 1200 mg/l, it is steam at low–pressure stages. The reverse osmosis
assumed as unacceptable. The maximum limit of salt process (membrane based) shares about 63% of potable
concentration in potable water for consumption is 550 water production4). Capacitive Deionisation is the new
ppm1). Rapid industrialization, global climate change, desalination techniques and still needs significant
increasing mechanization in agriculture and most improvement to be emulating technique in comparison to
influencing world's population are factors, due to which, well–established conventional water purification
the level of underground water available all over the techniques5). In developing countries, ultrafiltration (UF),
world decreases at a very faster rate. Due to heavy nanofiltration (NF), and membrane technologies are
exploitation of freshwater resources, the whole world suitable for the supply of potable water to urban
faces the severe consequences and its impact on the population6). Solar desalination is one of the solar energy
environment. The one promising solution to this problem based environmental friendly technique, which can
is transporting the fresh water to these countries or purify highly saline seawater/brackish water in water
communities, but this alternative looks not feasible due scares regions, which get the huge amount of solar
to the magnitude of cost associated with radiation annually like some of the countries situated in
transportation 2,3). So, one should insight into this

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 EVERGREEN Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy, Vol. 05, Issue 01, pp. 52-61, March 2018

the middle east7). The range of solar irradiance in the India, the quasi steady–state linear and non–linear
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region ranges characteristic equations have been developed for double
between 1100–2800 kWh/m2/year8,9). Arab alchemists slope passive solar distiller. It is found from the study
have been drafted the work on solar distillation in 1551. that, non–linear characteristic curve are more precise for
In the past years (1872–1970), various applications, demonstrating the performance of solar still21). Using
detailed history review, theory and economic analysis of thermoelectric modules in double slope solar still to gain
various solar distillers have been prepared10). in water temperature and hence improve the
Researchers demonstrated the design and fabrication of thermodynamic performance for the climatic conditions
various large and laboratory scale distillation models and of Semnan (35°33' N, 52°23' E), Iran. An exergy and
also presented detailed study and performance aspects of economic analysis have also been done to characterize
solar driven distillation techniques11). Sayigh and Salem the solar still. It is found from the study, the maximum
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia experimentally conducted exergy efficiency is 25%22). A thermal model developed
research on single slope solar distillers, which were for double slope solar still for the climatic condition of
fabricated basin type and used concrete12). Different Allahabad, India23). Among the available technologies
types of solar stills with different slopes of condensing (thermal–based) for water purification, which used waste
glass cover having varying thickness have been analyzed. heat or solar heat for cooling and yield potable water is
Solar still with an absorbent material like black stones, adsorption desalination. In this technique, the
charcoal, straw, black and red sand embedded in their evaporation of water takes place in evaporator followed
water trays have also been experimentally analyzed and by silica gel absorption and desorption of water vapor in
researchers found that, the optimum slope and thickness condenser regardless the feed water quality (TDS value).
of condensing glass cover to be 20° and 3 mm, The absorbent like silica gel has high congeniality of
respectively. Solar collector integrated basin type single water vapor due to surface forces (double bond) exist
slope solar still was experimentally performed with the between meso–porous absorbent and an adsorbate. The
daily change in salinity (salt concentration) of water specific energy consumption is below 1.5 kWh/m2,
mass13). In basin type solar distillers, for enhancing the which is lower due to the utilization of low temperature
rate of heat transfer inside solar still, absorbing material heat source24). A 3–bed 2– evaporator adsorption cycle
like charcoal particles have been used14). A review has using silica gel as an absorbent material has the surface
been done on various configuration and effect of climatic, area of 863.6 m2/g and pore volume of 0.446 cm3/g.
design, and operational parameters have been Dehumidification and cooling produce at two
presented15). A performance analysis has been carried out temperature–levels while producing the distillate of
for simple multi–wick distiller and double–condensing high–grade. A two–stage adsorption is achieved through
multi–wick solar still. The additional surface provides a a low–pressure and high–pressure evaporators for
more area for condensation of vapor, which in turn enhancing the capacity of silica gel. The regeneration is
reduces the temperature of the glass cover and heat load. achieved by providing the one absorber bed for
A 20% increase in distillate output has been observed for enhancing the kinetics of desorption process. The
double–condensing solar still than its simple multi–wick performance indicators like coefficient of performance,
solar still counterpart16). Wick material like waste cotton specific daily water production, performance ratio, and
pieces, light cotton cloth, and coir mate have been used specific cooling power have been analyzed4). A 3–stage
in double slope basin type solar still for reducing the multi–effect desalination and multi–effect desalination
mass flow rate of water. The observation suggested that integrated with adsorption desalination plant have been
black cloth gives the better performance than rest of the probed with potable water as a feed and 15 °C to 70 °C
wicks17). Different nanofluids had been used in passive temperature of the heat source. A valuable increase in
double slope solar still to increase the heat transfer rate. distillate production and low primary consumption of
With the help of characteristics equation and thermal energy (14.5 kWh/m3) has been achieved25,26). Fig. 1
efficiency, the Al 2 O 3 metallic nanofluids have been shows the energy requirements for desalination
found better nanofluids in comparison to TiO 2 and methods25).
CuO18). A double slope single basin solar still has been Table 1 shows the approximate ranges of energy
designed with mild steel plate, in which different demands for various desalination technologies.
sensible heat capacity material like iron chips, pieces of
red brick and concrete cement, washed stone and
quartzite rock had been used with the different layer of
water. It is observed from the study, the solar still with
quartzite rock (sized 3/4 in.) was the effective basin
material19). A double slope passive solar still had been
fabricated and analyzed its annual performance based on
energy, exergy, and life cycle cost analysis and payback
time20). Based on the climatic condition of New Delhi,

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 A Modified Double Slope Basin Type Solar Distiller: Experimental and Enviro–Economic Study

2. Experimental setup, working principle,

and modifications
In this, basic design, calculation of equivalent
thickness, working of MDSBSD and modifications
introduced are discussed.
2.1 Setup design description
The length and breadth of solar still are 2 m and 1 m,
respectively. The rectangular basin of dimension 2 m2
(length 2 m and breadth 1 m) and north wall are made of
Fibre–Reinforced Plastic (FRP) sheet of 5 mm thickness
which is black colored from the inside to absorb the
maximum amount of incident solar radiation. The north
wall has a trapezoidal section with the length of 1 m and
Fig. 1: Energy requirements for desalination height from the solar still base to the end is 0.12 m. The
methods. height from the solar still base to the apex of the north
wall is 0.38 m. The south, east and west side walls are
Table1: Approximate ranges of energy demands for made of the transparent acrylic sheet of 3 mm thickness.
various desalination technologies [5]. The dimension of east and west wall are 1 m in length
(breadth wise dimension of solar still) and 0.12 m in
Energy demand height from solar still base. The dimension of the south
Technology
(kWh/m3) wall is same as that of the north wall due to axis
Multi–stage flash distillation (MSF) 9–60 symmetry design of solar still. The area in which
condensation takes place, also called effective
multi–effect distillation (MED) 7–59 condensing area (or transparent area) is equal to 2.86 m2
Reverse osmosis (RO) 2–7 (except north wall). The basin area of 2 m2 is taken as
effective evaporative area. The evaporation process is
Electrodialysis (ED) 0.3–8.8 occurring between water surface (which is accumulating
Capacitive deionisation (CDI) 0.1–2.05 upon 2 m2 basin surface) and inner condensing glass
covers. The solar radiation is falling on the solar still and
passing through all the transparent walls and glass covers.
A lot of money has been spent on design and The amount of solar radiation then finally trap in the
development of centralized large scale water purification basin and inside north wall. The effective absorbing area
systems that are difficult to maintain with the help of i.e. basin and north wall, which absorbs the solar
local expertise and technique6). Experiments are being radiation (solar thermal energy) have an area of 2.50 m2.
conducted regularly to develop self–sustained system to The calibrated thermocouples (Type–T Copper
meet the requirement of pure and fresh water. Rigorous Constantan) have been used for measuring the
research and experimental work have been carried out by temperature of various location in MDSBSD. The
various researchers or scientists on design, fabrication to thermocouples have been calibrated with the help of Zeal
increase the water temperature or increase the thermometer. Fig. 2 shows the photograph of MDSBSD.
water–glass cover surfaces temperature difference for The schematic diagram of MDSBSD and location of
purification of saline/brackish/polluted water. Few works thermocouples have been shown in Fig. 3.
reported on GRP fabricated solar still but no work has
been done so far for the FRP–Acrylic modified double
slope basin type solar still for the climatic conditions of
Allahabad (U.P.), India (Latitude 25°27ʹ N & Longitude
81°44ʹ E) in which east, west, and south wall are made
transparent to enhance the solar thermal energy inside the
solar still to stimulated the heat transfer rate. Pal et al.
carried out the performance study of modified basin type
multi–wick double slope solar still27).

Fig. 2: Photograph of MDSBSD.

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 EVERGREEN Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy, Vol. 05, Issue 01, pp. 52-61, March 2018

nature produces rain. The south, east and west side walls
are made transparent to allow the sun rays to enter the
system for the whole day length. The north and the
bottom surfaces are painted black to absorb the energy
and prevent it from escaping and use it to heat the water.
The angle of the cover has been chosen as 15° less than
the 25°, the angle which was used in MDSBSD at
Allahabad due to Allahabad’s latitude. The 15° angle
allows the height of the double slope still to be optimum
at the centre since more height will cause the problem in
capillary action and the water will not be fed properly for
effective evaporation. Also, less height than the designed
15° angle at the centre may cause the condensed water to
fall back to the basin decreasing yield and efficiency
both. The water evaporated gets condensed on the inner
surface of the toughened glass and is collected in the
flask after it passes through well designed troughs. The
incoming solar radiation from sun i.e. solar energy heats
Fig. 3: Schematic diagram of MDSBSD and water up to evaporation point. The evaporation process
location of thermocouples. creates vapour and condenses on the inner glass surfaces.
After condensation, the distillate available for collection.
For the fabrication of walls of solar still (except north This process discarded impurities such as heavy metals,
wall), the rate of heat reduction or transfer through 5 mm salts, and removes microbiological organisms. The end
of FRP sheet is conceptualized by equivalent thickness. product is clean water cleaner than the purest rainwater.
The equivalent thickness for an acrylic sheet with respect
to 5 mm FRP is calculated using Fourier's law of heat 2.3 Modifications
conduction (1–dimensional) when the two sides of FRP The following modifications have been introduced to
is maintained at T 1 and T 0 27). increase the heat transfer rate inside the solar still.
1. The south, east and west walls are made of the
 T −T   T −T  transparent acrylic sheet to allow the sun rays to enter
Q = K FRP × AFRP ×  1 0  = K ACRY × AACRY ×  1 0  for the whole day length increasing the heat input.
 LFRP   LACRY 
2. Condensation takes place on the ceiling of glasses as
well as the south wall, thus improving the yield.
K ACRY × LFRP 0.2 × 5 mm
=
LACRY = = 3 mm (1) 3. Efficiency is more as the heat can enter through three
K FRP 0.351 surfaces and yield is also increased as condensation
takes place on three surfaces i.e. two inclined glass
where, K ACRY = 0.2 W/m-K, K FRP = 0.351 W/m-K. surfaces and the south wall.
So one can use 3 mm thickness of Acrylic sheet for the 4. The setup also incorporates basin which was not used
designing of east, west and south walls, which is in the conventional solar still and to store the energy
equivalently equal to 5 mm of FRP sheet. Due to of incoming radiations from the sun.
variation in solar radiation, ambient temperature, and
wind velocity, the study state condition for MDSBSD is 2.4 Advantages of FRP and Acrylic
not considered. Though for calculating the equivalent The following are the advantages of using FRP and
thickness, one can assume that the temperature inside the Acrylic as a manufacturing material for proposed solar
solar still i.e. (i) inside glass covers temperature (ii) still:
water temperature (iii) basin temperature (iv) vapor 1. Acrylic has no corrosive action on the solar still. The
temperature, and (v) inside wall temperature are constant conventional solar still were made of metals. The life
throughout for every hour. of solar still deteriorates when metal comes in contact
with the water27).
2.2 Working principle of MDSBSD 2. Acrylic has high mechanical strength, extremely rigid,
The MDSBSD works on the simple principle of high heat resistance, insulating, flexible, waterproof,
distillation to purify water using solar energy as the heat and transparent property27).
source. A solar still is a simple technique to distilling 3. Acrylic has good resistant to ultraviolet sunlight27).
water, using the heat of the sun to drive the process of 4. The conventional solar still were made of mild steel
evaporation from impure water contained in the solar and for insulation, thermocol was used. Due to
distiller. The basic principle of solar water distillation is thermocol, the heat losses from the solar still were
simple, yet effective, as distillation replicates the way higher. FRP has lower conductivity value than steel

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 A Modified Double Slope Basin Type Solar Distiller: Experimental and Enviro–Economic Study

and so, the losses get reduced. FRP also have the The overall exergy efficiency of solar distiller can be
ability to work at different temperature ranges for defined as the ratio of useful exergy output rate to the total
longer duration in different climatic conditions27). input exergy rate. The exergy of output is calculated as
5. Acrylic and FRP both have lightweight and easily useful exergy associated with the useful evaporation rate.
available in the local market. So, the cost associated The expression for the exergy efficiency is defined by 22)
with transportation and installation at the location and given as:
will be lesser in comparison to conventional solar
stills.  (T + 273) 
m ew × Lvap 1 − a
 (Tw + 273)  (3)
ηex =  
3. Experimental procedure and  4 (T + 273) 1  T + 273 4 
instrumentation I ( t )input × 1 − a
+  a  
 3 (Ts + 273) 3  Ts + 273  
3.1 Experimental procedure  
The whole solar still has been cleaned and filled the where, L vap value in kJ/kg is taken as 2260 kJ/kg.
tap water up to 1 cm of depth before sunrise. All the The total input solar radiation (instantaneous) to the
thermocouples and thermometer has been placed at solar still through glass covers (east and west side) and
surfaces or locations for the measurement of transparent walls (east, west, and south wall) is given by
temperatures. The solar thermal radiation, water; Pat et al27).
ambient; basin, and temperature of every location inside
and outside of the solar has been recorded every hour 5. Results and discussion
and taken for 24 h from sunrise to next day sunrise. The
experiments are carried out in a typical clear day in the The following is the description of results and
month of November 2015 under the climatic condition of discussion. The calibrated data was used for analysis.
Allahabad, U.P., India. To collect the condensate, Fig. 4 shows the variation of global solar radiation
graduated scaled cylindrical tank was used. A stopwatch (W/m2) and ambient temperature (°C) with respect to
was used to precisely measure the hourly distillate yield. local time (h) on November 5, 2015. The ratio of diffuse
radiation to global radiation was 26%29) and this shows
3.2 Instrumentation and error analysis that the weather conditions in Allahabad, India was hazy
Temperature measurement have been done by Type–T (fully) in the month of November (winter season). The
copper–constantan thermocouples (for the measurement weather was cold and sunshine hour is between 7 h to 9 h.
of the basin, water, inside and outside locations of solar Due to winter season and latitude (25°27’N) of
still) and FLUKE (Model 62 max) infrared thermometer Allahabad, the intensity of solar thermal radiation is not
(for outside locations of solar still). AMPROBE (Model much high due to tilted direction of sun rays, but with the
SOLAR–100) solarimeter is used for solar radiation suggested modifications, the presented solar still has
measurement. Red alcohol and Mercury in glass gained enough amount of solar radiation. The maximum
thermometers have also been used for temperature measured by Solarimeter was 876 W/m2 at 12:00 h. The
measurement. The accuracy, range, and error of different figure also shows the variation of ambient temperature.
measuring instruments are as follows27): (i) The maximum measured ambient temperature was
Thermocouple has accuracy of ± 1 °C, range of –40 °C 32.2 °C at 14:00 h.
to 350 °C, and 10% error. (ii) Solarimeter has accuracy
of ± 1 W/m2, range of 0 to 1999 W/m2, and 5% error. (iii) 900 34
November 5, 2015 Diffuse radiation
IR thermometer has an accuracy of ± 1.5 °C, range of Global solar radiation 33

–30 °C to 500 °C, and 5% error. (iv) Mercury in glass

800 Ambient temperature 32
31
thermometer has an accuracy of ± 1 °C, range of –10 °C
Global solar radiation (W/m2)

700
30
Ambient Temperature (°C)

600 29
to 110 °C, and 10% error. (v) Scaled cylindrical tank has 28
27
an accuracy of ± 2 ml, range of 0 to 250 ml, and 15% 500
26
error. 400 25
24
300 23
4. Energy and exergy efficiencies 200
22
21
The overall energy efficiency of the solar distiller 100 20
19
under present study is the ratio of total heat transfer rate 0 18
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
00:00
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00

(total yield obtained) to the total heat input into the solar
still by incident solar thermal radiation and given by28) is Time (h)

as follows:
i = 24 Fig. 4: Hourly variation of solar radiation and ambient
∑ m ew × Lvap (2) temperature for a typical day at Allahabad,
India.
=ηO i =1
i = 24
×100
∑ I (t )
i =1
input
× dt

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 EVERGREEN Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy, Vol. 05, Issue 01, pp. 52-61, March 2018

water depth in basin, but this will vary with the

Fig. 5 shows the hourly variation of water and basin different months and climatic conditions of location.
temperature (°C) with respect to time (h) on November
5, 2015. The water and basin temperature both 300 3000
Hourly Yield November 5, 2015
increases till 13:00 h afterward both decreases due to Cumulative Yield

fall in radiation intensity, but after 16:00 h, the fall in 250 2500

basin temperature was more in comparison to water

Cumulative Yield (ml/day)

Hourly yield (ml/m2)
200 2000
temperature. This is because of heat capacity of water
mass, the water kept the heat of solar thermal radiation
150 1500
for longer duration and this helps in nocturnal
productivity of solar still during night time. The 100 1000
maximum basin and water temperature were 53 °C and
44 °C, respectively at 13:00 h. 50 500

0 0

07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
00:00
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
60
November 5, 2015 Water Temperature
55 Basin Temperature Time (h)

50
Water, basin Temperature (°C)

45
Fig. 6: Hourly variation of yield and cumulative yield
40 for a typical day at Allahabad, India.
35

30
Fig. 7 shows the hourly thermal efficiency
25
(instantaneous), η i (%) and exergy efficiency (%) with
20 respect to time (h) on November 5, 2015. Thermal
15 efficiency was increasing till 13:00 h and afterwards
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
00:00
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00

efficiency drop and then again it rises. In the early

Time (h)
hours, the efficiency was increased, but this increase in
efficiency is less due to considerable increase in the
Fig. 5: Hourly variation of water and basin solar thermal energy. The maximum efficiency
temperature for a typical day at Allahabad, occurred between 10:00 h–15:00 h was at 13:00 h due
India. to higher productivity and higher water temperature
obtained at 13:00 h. Between 13:00 h–14:00 h,
Fig. 6 shows the hourly and cumulative yield (ml) efficiency drops due to fall in solar intensity and water
variation with respect to time (h) on November 5, 2015. temperature. The enhancement in total thermal energy
The depth of water was 1 cm in the basin. The yield was increases till 12:00 h and then fall in solar energy
increasing between 09:00h to 13:00 h due to increased because of rotation (or position) of the sun in the sky in
amount of solar thermal radiation and transparency of the November month and latitude of Allahabad, India.
walls, but after 13:00 h, yield decreases due to drop of The yield also increased till 13:00 h while the drop in
solar intensity and water temperature. One can observe total thermal energy input due to heat storage effect of
that the maximum solar radiation fall on solar still at water. After 13:00 h, the decrease in solar intensity and
12:00 h, but the yield was still increasing between reduction in the temperature difference between the
12:00 h –13:00 h due to heat retention capacity of water. water surface and glass covers are responsible for the
This prevents the drop in yield. The maximum decrease in thermal efficiency. After 14:00 h, the
measured hourly yield was 526 ml (263 ml/m2) at 13:00 efficiency again rises and maximum at 16:00 h due to
h. The cumulative yield for 24 hours was 2744 ml very low amount of solar energy and considerable
(1.372 l/m2 day) at 1 cm water depth. When cumulative amount of yield. The maximum value of thermal
yield is compared with the thermodynamic limit (in efficiency was 26.74% and in between 10:00 h–15:00 h
terms of water depth) of MDSBSD, if one can reduce it was 16.85% (at 13:00 h). The overall thermal
the water depth to 0.5 cm, the yield obtained will be efficiency of solar still was 12.35%. The exergy
nearly doubled i.e. around 5000 ml i.e. 2.50 l/m2 day, efficiency also shows the same trend. The exergy
and further reducing the water depth in solar still, a efficiency increases between 10:00 h–13:00 h due to
stage or limit will be achieved at which one can obtain rise in water temperature but in between 11:00 h–12:00
the yield equal to the feed water amount. The higher h, this increment in the exergy efficiency was slower
thermodynamic limit (in terms of water depth) will due to rise in ambient temperature. In Between 13:00
reach when there is no yield production during the day h–14:00 h, the drop in exergy efficiency was due to
at the feed water quantity. So, one can relate the reduction in water temperature and increase in ambient
thermodynamic limit of proposed solar still with the temperature. After 14:00 h, the exergy again rises

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 A Modified Double Slope Basin Type Solar Distiller: Experimental and Enviro–Economic Study

because of decreased solar intensity and fall in ambient The water quality assessment have done after obtained
temperature. The exergy efficiency is much lower than the distillate and the parameters were under permissible
that of energy efficiency due to the fact that, the exergy limits of EPA standards30) and WHO standards31). The
content of the incoming solar radiation is relatively rich quality parameters obtained after experimentation on
because of sun’s surface temperature (T S ), the exergy November 5, 2015 were as: (i) pH = 7.5, (ii) Turbidity
content of the evaporative heat transfer is very low i.e. (NTU) = 2, (iii) TDS (mg/l) = 57, (iv) Electrical
very low temperature condensate is obtained. The conductivity (μS/cm) = 45, and (v) Total hardness (as
maximum value of exergy efficiency was 1.94% and in C a CO 3 ) in mg/l = 60. These results shows that, the solar
between 10:00 h–15:00 h it was 1.38% (at 13:00 h). still has an ability to work under Allahabad, India
climatic conditions and produce potable water.
30 2.00
28
Thermal efficiency November 5, 2015
Exergy efficiency
26 1.75 6. Economic analysis
24
22 1.50
The payback period of the solar distiller depends upon
Thermal efficiency (%)

Exergy efficiency (%)

20
18
1.25 the overall cost of design, fabrication, operating cost,
16
1.00 maintenance cost and cost of feed water32). The cost of
14
12 feed water is negligible. The total manufacturing cost of
0.75
10 solar still is taken as capital cost (P cost ). The salvage
8 0.50
6
value (SV), the annual maintenance cost (AMC), and
4 0.25 interest rate have been taken as 15% of the capital cost,
2
0 0.00
15% of the annual first cost (AFC) and 12%,
10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 respectively27). The average daily yield of the MDSBSD
Time (h) is assumed as 3.50 kg/m2. For the estimation of annual
cost of distilled water (ACDW) per kg and per kWh. The
Fig. 7: Hourly variation of thermal and exergy market cost of distilled water (MCDW) have been
efficiency for a typical day at Allahabad, India. assumed as Rs. 15/kg. For the economic analysis of
presented solar still, 320 days are considered as clear
Fig. 8 shows the variation of thermal efficiency days, in which the incident solar radiation (solar thermal
(instantaneous) with respect to term (T w –T a /I(t) input ) has energy) is responsible for yield production. The
been plotted and obtained curve is called characteristics remaining 45 days are considered as fully cloudy or rainy
curve. Linear and non–linear characteristics equation has days, in which the solar still is non–productive for the
also been obtained with the help of these characteristics climatic condition of Allahabad (U.P.), India. The
curve. Linear characteristic curve has positive slope due Embodied energy (E in ) of the different component of
to higher rate of evaporation between water and glass proposed solar still is calculated as 934 kWh. The annual
cover. Both the linear and non–linear curve are equally solar energy retrieved (E sol ) by the solar still is calculated
important (both have similar R2 value) to assess the as 5500 kWh/year.
performance of solar still. The time period between 10:00
The annual first cost of MDSBSD is calculated as:
h–14:00 h is more suitable for analysis27) due to (i)
weather condition of Allahabad in winter, and (ii) in this AFC = CRF × Pcos t (4)
period the solar still is in quasi–steady state and The annual salvage value is calculated as:
characteristics curve has minimum error. ASV = SFF × SV (5)
The total annual cost of the MDSBSD (TAC) is
0.30
0.28
y = 10.868x + 0.0727 y = -141.83x2 + 13.455x + 0.0668 calculated as:
R² = 0.9041 R² = 0.9086
TAC = AFC + AMC - ASV
Instantaneous thermal efficiency, ηi (%)

0.26 (6)
0.24
0.22
Annual yield (AY) of the MDSBSD is determined as:
0.20 =AY Average daily yield × Number of clear days in a year
0.18 (7)
0.16
0.14
Then, the annual cost of distilled water (ACDW) per kg
0.12 is determined as:
0.10
0.08
Instantaneous thermal efficiency
Linear efficiency
ACDW = TAC / AY (8)
November 5, 2015 Polynomial efficiency
0.06 Annual useful energy (E out ) is calculated as:
0.000 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.010 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018 0.020
{(Tw-Ta)/I(t)input} (°C/W) Eout = AY × Lvap (9)
where, L vap value in kWh/kg is taken as 0.627 kWh/kg.
Fig. 8: Characteristic curves for the MDSBSD for a
typical day at Allahabad, India

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 EVERGREEN Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy, Vol. 05, Issue 01, pp. 52-61, March 2018

Then, the annual cost of distilled water (ACDW) per LCCE = (( E out × n ) − Ein ) / Esol × n (13)
kWh is obtained by: Table 4 shows the energy production factor (EPF),
ACDW = TAC / Eout (10) energy payback time (EPBT), and life cycle conversion
Table 2 shows the fabrication cost of the MDSBSD and efficiency (LCCE) for MDSBSD.
its components. Table 3 shows the economic analysis of Table 4: EPF, EPBT, and LCCE of the MDSBSD.
the MDSBSD.
Energy production factor (EPF) 0.75

Table 2: Fabrication cost of the MDSBSD. Energy payback time (EPBT) 1.33 years

Materials and components Cost (Rs.) Life cycle conversion efficiency (LCCE) 0.11
FRP sheet 6140
Acrylic sheet 1440
Iron stand 580 7. Enviroeconomic analysis (environmental
Outlet nozzle 80 cost)
Black paint 120
Silicon rubber and glass putty 370 It is associated with the cost of CO 2 emission and used
Fabrication and labor cost 2270 non–traditional sources of energy in such a way that
Total cost Rs. 11000 renewable sources of energy does not emit CO 2 to the
environment. 0.98 kg of CO 2 is emitted per kWh
(average) at source and that is equivalent to electricity
Table 3: Economic analysis of the MDSBSD. production from coal per kWh. For the indian conditions,
the distribution and transmission losses are considered
Cost type Value around 40% and domestic appliances losses are around
Total cost of still (P cost ) Rs. 11000 20%, then amount of CO 2 emission is 1.58 kg per
Salvage value (SV) Rs. 1650 kWh34,35). Therefore,
Annual salvage value (ASV) Rs. 42.90 The annual CO 2 emission is calculated as:
Annual maintenance cost Annual CO2 emission = ( Ein × 1.58 ) / n (14)
Rs. 242.22
(AMC) The amount of CO 2 mitigation (kg of CO 2 ) can be
Annual first cost (AFC) Rs. 1614.80 expressed as:
Total annual cost (TAC) Rs. 1814.12 Amount of CO2 mitigation ( kg of CO= 2) Eout × 1.58 (15)
Annual yield (AY) 1120 kg/year The CO 2 mitigation (kg of CO 2 ) over life time is
Annual useful energy (E out ) 702.34 kWh/year calculated as:
Annual cost of distilled
1.62 Rs./kg CO2 mitigation ( kg of CO2 ) over life time= Eout × n × 1.58
water (ACDW) (16)
Annual cost of distilled Therefore, net CO 2 mitigation (tons of CO 2 ) over life
2.58 Rs./kWh
water (ACDW) time is determined as:
Net profit (NP) 14985.60 Rs./year Net CO2 emission ( tons of CO2 ) over lifetime= ( Eout × n − Ein ) ×1.58 ×10−3
Payback period (PP) 235 days
(17)
Note: NP =AY×(MCDW–ACDW)
Presently CO 2 has been merchandised at € 7.07 per
And PP=(P cost /NP)×solar still operation in a
ton of CO 2 mitigation. So, the carbon credit earned by
year
the system in terms of indian currency (Rs.) can be
expressed as:
Carbon credit earned= ( Eout × n − Ein ) × 1.58 × 10−3 × 7.07 × 76.57
The energy matrices of MDSBSD i.e. energy (18)
production factor (EPF), energy payback time (EPBT), where, € 1 = Rs. 76.57
and life cycle conversion efficiency (LCCE) is calculated Table 5 shows the enviroeconomic analysis for the
by considering the annual useful energy (E out ), embodied MDSBSD for the 15 years of lifetime.
energy of the system (E in ), annual solar energy gain by
the solar still (E sol ), and useful life of solar still (n) i.e. 15 Table 5: Enviroeconomic analysis of the MDSBSD.
years33).
The energy production factor is calculated as: Annual CO 2 emission 98.38 kg/year
EPF = Eout / AY (11) CO 2 mitigation (kg of CO 2 ) over life
16643.08 kg
The energy payback time is calculated as: time
Net CO 2 mitigation (tons of CO 2 ) over
EPBT = 1/ EPF (12) 15.16 tons
life time
The life cycle conversion efficiency is calculated as:
Carbon credit earned Rs. 8207

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 A Modified Double Slope Basin Type Solar Distiller: Experimental and Enviro–Economic Study

8. Conclusions
References
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distiller was designed, fabricated and the 1) H.P. Garg, 1st Expo. Symp. for New and Renewable
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9) https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/201
respect to ambient temperature. The maximum
exergy efficiency of the proposed solar still was 7/03, World Energy Resources (2016). (Last accessed
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7. The water quality parameters were well under 10) S.G. Talbert, J.A. Eibling, G.O.G. Lof, Manual on
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546, 1970.
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renewable source of energy, this proposed solar still (2002).
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Acknowledgements
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extended by Mechanical Engineering Department
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 EVERGREEN Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy, Vol. 05, Issue 01, pp. 52-61, March 2018

22) N. Rahbar, A. Gharaiian, S. Rashidi, Desalination, kWh/kg

420, 106 (2017). MCDW Market cost of distilled water, Rs./kg
m ew Hourly yield of the solar still, ml/m2
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n Still useful life in years
24) A. Subramani, J. G. Jacangelo, Wat. Res., 75, 164 NP Net profit, Rs./year
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Ener., 148, 273 (2015). Q Conduction heat transfer, W
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Evergreen, 1, 30 (2014).
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Nomenclature
A ACRY Area of cross section of acrylic, m2
ACDW Annual cost of distilled water, Rs./kg
or Rs./kWh
AFC Annual first cost, Rs./year
A FRP Area of cross section of FRP, m2
AMC Annual maintenance cost, Rs./year
ASV Annual salvage value, Rs./year
AY Annual yield, kg/year
CRF Capital recovery factor, dimensionless
E in Embodied energy of the solar still, kWh
EPBT Energy payback time, years
EPF Energy production factor, dimensionless
E out Annual useful energy, kWh/year
E sol Annual solar energy retrieved by the solar
still, kWh/year
I(t) input Total input solar radiation, W
K ACRY Thermal conductivity of acrylic, W/m-K
K FRP Thermal conductivity of FRP, W/m-K
LCCE Life cycle conversion efficiency,
dimensionless
L ACRY Thickness of acrylic, m
L FRP Thickness of FRP, m
L vap Latent heat of vaporization, kJ/kg or

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