Solar Desalination: Experience in Bangladesh

M.H. Rahman, R. Mamtaz and M.M. Rahman

Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET),
Dhaka-1000,
Bangladesh.
E-mail: habibr@ce.buet.edu
Abstract
This study is aimed at addressing the inequality in the availability of safe drinking water for the rural population
of the coastal areas in Bangladesh, and at developing and testing appropriate replicable technological options
for desalination. An elaborate experimental and analytical program was conducted. The experimental
investigation dealt in detail the construction with various locally available materials, installation, maintenance
and operation of different types of desalination plants. Of all solar desalination plants studied, Brick plant1
appears to be best-suited solar desalination plant to Bangladesh. This type of plant was constructed, installed
and operated both at BUET campus and in the field and it performed satisfactorily at both places. The
experimental information and data gleaned from this research can now be used for the construction of a solar
desalination model suitable for household uses.

1. INTRODUCTION
In Bangladesh, the main source of water for human consumption is ground water. However, the availability of
safe drinking water is not uniform throughout the country. In the coastal belt, the major difficulty in using of
ground water for drinking purposes has been identified as high salt content (in excess of 1,000 mg/L). It has,
however, been possible to pump sweet water from deep-seated aquifers by the use of deep tubewells. Shallow
shrouded and very deep shrouded tubewells have also been used to extract water from perched sweet water
aquifers found around the sweet water reservoirs. These technologies, though successful, cannot completely
mitigate the sweet water shortage problem in the coastal areas since such aquifers are not always found at
convenient locations. Therefore, development of suitable desalination technique may be an appropriate option to
the coastal population.
The cost of conversion of brackish water to freshwater by the use of solar energy is still relatively high even with
the present state of knowledge and technology. However, the solar distillation process shows promising
potential. Solar stills have few moving parts, require no specially trained personnel for maintenance and
operation, are applicable to meet the small-scale demands of isolated communities and have low operational
costs because the source of energy is free.
The aim of this study was to address the inequality in the availability of safe drinking water for the rural
population in the coastal areas in Bangladesh, and to develop and test appropriate replicable technological
options for desalination.

2. DESCRIPTION OF STILL
Solar desalination stills, used in this study, include a single basin, base and wall of which made of different
construction materials to store saline water, and have either one single-sloped transparent cover or one/ two
double-sloped transparent cover of glass or plastic sheets (Plates 1 and 2). The detail description of different
solar stills used in this study is shown in Table 1. The glass/ plastic covers prevent the escape of humid air
trapped inside the still and provides a cool surface for condensation of water vapour, which is finally collected in
a container outside the still for use in domestic purposes. The basin of the still is watertight and the entire still is
airtight, except the provision for the inlet of saline water and the outlet of distilled water.

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3. APPROACHES AND METHOD

Experiments were conducted both at Dhaka (BUET Campus, Dhaka, longitude and latitude are 90023E and
23046N respectively) and at a coastal location (Kaliganj in Satkhira district, longitude and latitude are 89001E
and 22027N respectively). A total of 11 models (Table1) of desalination plants were constructed and tested. The
principal criteria for the selection of materials and the development of design of solar stills were the availability
of materials, costs involved, efficiency, and ease of construction and maintenance.
In Phase I of the project, different types of materials were considered for the construction of solar stills. Plants
constructed with mild steel, ferrocement, brick (two types), wood and Ryan Foundation Type Plant (A circular
plastic basin, of about 0.4m diameter was used to collect condensed water. A slightly smaller diameter, about
0.35m, basin was placed inside the big basin to hold saline water. Then big basin was covered with cone-shaped
plastic cover, which prevents the escape of humid air evaporated from inside of the smaller basin and then
trapped inside the still. And therefore, humid air condensed on the surface of the transparent cover, and
eventually was collected inside the big basin) were tested. However, only plants constructed with mild steel,
ferrocement and brick (two types) were operated as these produced a reasonable amount of water.
Table1: Construction details of different solar desalination plants
Type of still
Description
1) Ferrocement plant Base and walls of the basins were constructed with cement: sand ratio of 1:2 and
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
water: cement ratio of 0.6: 1 along with were-mesh reinforcement. The thickness
[Plate 1(a)]
of the base and walls of the basins are 0.025m and 0.038 m respectively.
Transparent glass cover was used which rests on four side-walls of the basin.
2) Mild steel plant Base and walls of the basins were constructed with mild steel sheets of two layers
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
with an air gap between two layers. Transparent glass cover was used which rests
on four side-walls of the basin.
3) Brick plant 1 (BP1) Base and walls of the basins were constructed with cement plastered bricks.
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
Transparent glass cover was used (in an angle of inclination of 10037) which rests
on four side-walls of the basin. This plant was constructed at BUET campus.
[Plate 1(b)]
4) BP2
Base and walls of the basins were constructed with cement plastered bricks.
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
Double-sloped transparent plastic sheets were used as transparent covers. This
[Plate 1(c)]
plant was constructed at BUET campus.
5) BP3
Similar to BP1 except double layers of brick walls were used to minimise loss of
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
from the walls. This plant was constructed at BUET campus.
[Plate 1(d)]
6) BP4 [Plate 1(e)]
Similar to BP1 except the angle of inclination of the transparent glass cover which
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
is 130.
7) BP5 [Plate 1(f)]
Similar to BP1 except the angle of inclination of the transparent glass cover which
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
is 150.
8) BP6
It was constructed and operated in the field, but it has the same size and shape of
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
BP1 and it also used same construction materials of BP1.
[Plate 2(a)]
9) BP7
It was constructed and operated in the field, but it has the same size and shape of
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
BP3 and it also used same construction materials of BP3.
[Plate 2(b)]
10) BP8 [Plate 2(c)]
It was constructed and operated in the field. It used same construction materials of
(1.83m x 0.91m)*
BP2 and shape of the plant is similar to BP2, but size is slightly larger than BP2.
11) Clay Plant
It was constructed and operated in the field, but it has the same size and shape of
(1.22m x 0.91m)*
BP2. But bases and walls of this basin were constructed with clay, which was
[Plate 2(d)]
plaster with cement-sand mortar.
*Note: Dimension of the plan area (length x width)
In Phase II, field investigations were commenced in the coastal area while laboratory investigations continued at
BUET. In Kaliganj Thana, where only three types of brick plants and one clay plant (cement plastered) were
constructed and operated for field investigations. Other types of plants were not considered for field testing
because of the difficulties of construction and costs. Experimental investigations at BUET were continued in six
plants: three from Phase I (two made of bricks and one of ferrocement) and three new brick plants.

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Saline water was supplied to these plants through an inlet pipe four times a day (at 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm and 5:30
pm) to maintain approximately 0.025m depth of water in the basins. Distillate amount, air temperature outside
the still and on the glass covers, and water temperature inside the still were measured at the sites four times a
day. Data on daily solar radiation and sunshine hours were collected from Bangladesh Meteorological
Department.

4. YIELDS OBTAINED
The maximum, minimum and average yield of all plants during their respective time of operation is given in
Table 2 (Rahman et al, 1996). It is evident from Table 2 that the ranges of output of differently constructed
plants are in the range from 0.7 L/m2/day to 1.4 l/m2/day; the Clay plant giving the lowest yield and the Brick
plants the highest.

Type of still
1) Ferrocement plant
2) Mild steel plant
3) BP1
4) BP2
5) BP3
6) BP4
7) BP5
8) BP6
9) BP7
10) BP8
11) Clay Plant

Table2: Yields of different solar desalination plants

Minimum yield,
Maximum yield,
Average yield,
L/m2/day
L/m2/day
L/m2/day
0.1
2.2
1.0
0.21
2.1
1.1
0.3
2.7
1.4
0.3
2.1
0.9
0.2
2.7
1.4
0.3
2.7
1.4
0.3
2.7
1.3
0.2
2.1
1.0
0.2
2.7
1.2
0.2
3.0
0.8
0.2
1.5
0.7

5. SALINITY OF DISTILLED WATER

The salt concentration of the distilled water production was investigated against the salinity of the feed water,
which was normally in the range from 3,000ppm to 25,000ppm. The salt concentration of the distilled water was
found to be of the order of 15ppm to 25ppm irrespective of the input salinity, as measured at the end of the day.
Therefore, the salinity of feed water was almost totally removed.

6. PLANT EFFICIENCY
Since solar radiation data for Kaliganj site was not available, the plant efficiency of selected plant operated at
BUET was calculated following the procedure presented in Ferdausi(1997) and Rahman (1994). The maximum,
minimum and average efficiencies of the Ferrocement plant are found to be 36%, 4% and 21% respectively. The
corresponding figures for mild steel plant are 33%, 5% and 19%. The maximum, minimum and average
efficiencies of the Brick plant 1 are found to be 36%, 4% and 21% respectively. The average efficiency of Brick
plant 1 is comparable to that of Farid and Hamad (1992) and Samy and Hasan (1992).

7. ANALYSIS OF RESULT
Cost of yield per litre of water produced was estimated for one year of production. For the Brick plant 1 it is
found to be Bangladeshi Taka (Tk.) 0.92 (US$0.016) per litre, and the corresponding figure is Tk. 0.74
(US$0.013) for the Clay plant. In this estimation it was assumed that no maintenance cost would be required for
one year after construction of the plant.

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8. PERFORMANCE
It is evident from field study (Rahman et al, 1996) that generation of heat within the desalination basin and the
transparent cover caused damage to the sealant adhesive. And leakage of water was observed particularly for
wooden and mild steel plants. Steel plant was subjected to corrosion on prolonged exposure to weather. The
glass sheets used as transparent cover require special care in handling and placement on top of the basin as they
break easily. The plastic sheets as transparent covers do not have such problems but they are vulnerable to
attacks by crows and they degrade frequently on prolong exposure to weather. The basin base and walls
constructed with ferrocement and bricks have the advantages that they are safe against natural catastrophies and
unfavourable climatic conditions. Their lifetime appears to be higher than that of the wood, mild steel and plastic
basins as they are subjected to prolonged exposure to weather.

9. GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

It is event from Rahman et al (1996) that the construction of solar stills with mild steel, wood and ferrocement
requires skilled labour but brick and clay plants can be constructed with comparatively unskilled labour. The
Clay plant performed well during experimental investigation period, was easy to construct, and operate, and
involved low-cost although the yield was rather low and vulnerable to damage by natural catastrophe and
unfavorable climatic condition. Brick plant 1 involved slightly higher cost but provided higher yield. It is
apparent from field observation that although cost per litre was lowest for the Clay plant, the highest yield of the
Brick plant made it more convenient source of desalinated water. Further, clay, as a construction material, is not
durable as brick and will therefore require more maintenance.
It is apparent from this study that, of all solar desalination plants studied, the Brick plant1 appears to be the bestsuited solar desalination plant for Bangladesh. This type of plant was constructed, installed and operated both at
BUET campus and in the field and it performed satisfactorily at both places. This experimental information and
data can now be used for the construction of a solar desalination model suitable for household uses.

REFERENCES
Farid, M. and Hamad, F. (1992), Technical note on Performance of a Single Basin Solar Still, Renewable
Energy, 13(1), 75-83.
Ferdausi, S. A. (1997), A Study of the Performance of Various Types of Solar Desalination Plants in Different
Weather Conditions, M. Sc. Eng. Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, BUET, Dhaka.
Rahman, M. M. (1994), Study on a Family Size Solar Desalination Plant for the Coastal Region of Bangladesh,
M. Sc. Eng. Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, BUET, Dhaka.
Rahman, M. H., Mamtaz, R., Hasan. M. R., Ferdausi, S. A. and Anisuzzama, S. S. (1996), Final Report to WHO
South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi on Pilot Solar Desalination, Department of Civil Engineering,
BUET, Dhaka and Department of Public Health Engineering, Government of Bangladesh.
Samy M. E. and Hasan, E. S. F. (1992), Technical paper on Solar Distillation under Climatic Conditions in
Egypt. Renewable Energy, 13(1), 61-69.

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Plate 1: Solar desalination plants at BUET: (a) Ferrocement Plant,

(b) BP1, (c) BP2, (d) BP3, (e) BP4 and (f) BP5

Plate 2: Solar desalination plants at Kaligoanj: (a) BP6, (b) BP7, (c) BP8, (d) Clay plant

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