DESALINATION

ELSEVIER

Desalination 172 (2005) 227-234

www.elsevier.comJlocate/desal

A solar still augmented with a flat-plate collector

Ali A. Badran*, Ahmad A. A1-Hallaq, Imad A. Eyal Salman, Mohammad Z. Odat
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan 11942 Tel. +962 (6) 533-7944; Fax: +962 (6) 535-5888 ; email: badran@l'u.edu.jo
Received 20 January 2004; accepted 24 June 2004

Abstract A single-stage, basin-type solar still and a conventional flat-plate collector were connected together in order to study the effect of augmentation on the still under local conditions. The still inlet was connected to a locally made, fin-tube collector such that its outlet was fed to the still basin instead of the common storage tank. Measurements of various temperatures, solar intensities and distilled water productions were taken for several days at various operating conditions. Several modes of operation were studied: still connected to collector for a 24-h period; still connected only during sunlight hours from 8 am to 5 pm, and still operating alone for a 24-h period. These tests were performed using tap water and saline water as a feed. It was found that the mass of distilled water production using augmentation was increased by 231% in the case of tap water as a feed and by 52% in the case of salt water as a feed.

Keywords: Solar distillation; Augmentation; Flat-plate collectors

1. Introduction Several types o f solar stills exist, the simplest o f which is the single-basin type. But the yield o f this still is in the range o f 2--4 L/d per m 2 o f still area [1], which is very limited. There are, however, several methods to augment this yield, which generally fall into two categories: concentrators and fiat-plate collectors. This system, also called the "active" system [ 1], is probably appealing for countries such as Jordan where fiat-plate *Corresponding author.

collectors are already being installed in increasing numbers. All that is needed is to "add-on" a solar still to an already existing collector and obtain an extra amount o f distilled water at no extra cost to the still, In this work, the effect o f adding a conventional-type solar collector to a single-stage basintype solar still was investigated. The results o f this augmentation on the performance, productivity and efficiency o f the still under the climatic conditions o f Jordan are shown. The efficiency o f a single-basin still was compared with the effi-

0011-9164/05/$- See front matter 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2004.06.203

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ciency of the collector-still system, and a similar comparison was made in each case between the produced quantities of distilled water. The concept of still augmentation by fiat-plate solar collectors was first introduced by Zaki et al. [2] in 1983. They studied an active system of single-slope-type stills integrated with a fiat-plate collector under the thermosyphon mode of operation. They found that the maximum increase in the yield was up to 33% when the water in the still was preheated in the collector. A1 Bahama et al. [3] analyzed the performance of a triple-basin still integrated with a solar collector. They found that the daily distillate was more than double compared with that of the still alone. Although it has been shown that the overall efficiency of a passive solar still is higher than that of an active one due to the lower range of operating temperatures [4--6], the concept is still appealing in situations where the collectors are already available. Recent works [7,8] indicate that research is still active in the area, with more emphasis on multi-effect desalination connected to solar collectors. Another recent work [9] reports that a productivity of 25 L/m2.d was reached using such a system. There are, however, recent works [ 10-12] that investigated similar systems that were integrated with storage tanks. It was found that coupling a solar still to a hot water tank generally doubles the distilled water output within a 24-h period [10].

Fig. 1. Photograph of the still-collector system. device is shown in Fig. 2. The set-up was assembled from existing, locally made components: a basin-type still with a double-slope glass roof, a conventional fin-tube flat-plate collector, a constant head tank and a feeding tank. The still was made of a square basin, 960x 960 mm, and a 20-ram water depth. The basin was insulated with 30 m m of rock wool of 0.0346 W/mC thermal conductivity. The glass roof was a pyramid-like shape of 4-mm thickness. The sides were sloped at 45 . The collector was made of seven parallel tubes with a 12 m m inside diameter with 100-mm spacing. The tubes were fixed to 0.7-mm thick, steel-plate coated by ordinary black matte paint. The area of the collector was 1.34 m 2. It was fixed at an angle o f 45 with the horizontal facing due south. A constant head tank, 500x500x300 m m was used to control the level of water inside the still by a float installed at the tank's inlet. A feeding tank 400x400600 m m was used to compensate

2. Experimental
The experimental set-up is one kind of a socalled active distillation system [1 ] where a conventional solar still is assisted by another heat source. In this case the source is a fiat-plate collector. A photograph of the still-collector system is shown in Fig. 1, and a sketch of the

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229

Feed tank

Constant-head tank Tccmd Distilled water

Fig. 2. Experimental set-up. the still water on a daily basis. All components were installed on one frame. Solar radiation was measured by a pyranometer (Kipp and Zonen CM5), which was fixed in a horizontal position on the top of the frame. Radiation was recorded by a solar integrator (Kipp and Zonen CC11). Temperatures at various locations within the still and the collector were measured by means of copper-constantan (Type-T) thermocouples. Temperature read-outs were taken by a multichannel microprocessor. Wind speed was measured by a digital anemometer installed in a horizontal position near the still cover. 4. Results and discussion Results of testing with fresh tap water as a feed are reported and discussed first. Fig. 3 shows results of the first mode of operation. The daily condensate production was obtained and is given in Table 1. The daily efficiency, rh, was obtained by summing up the hourly condensate production M, multiplied by the latent heat of vaporization hgg, and divided by the daily solar radiation I over the whole area A of the device:

E Mhfg
The efficiency is shown in the last column of Table 1, which also includes a summary for the results of all the figures that follow. Fig. 4 shows the results of the second mode. It shows a considerable increase in condensate production (about 231%) over that of the still alone. The daily efficiency, listed in Table 1, shows a slight decrease (about 2.5%) below that of the still alone. Fig. 5 shows the results of the third mode. It shows a slight increase in condensate production (about 2%) over that of the still connected to the collector for 24 h. Conversely, the efficiency

3. Procedure Testing was performed on a batch basis with five modes of operation: (1) still operating alone for a 24-h period, (2) still connected to the collector for a 24-h period (all day), and (3) still connected to the collector during daylight hours 9 am to 5 pm only. These tests were performed with fresh tap water as feed in order to avoid corrosive effects on the still and collector material. The remaining two modes were: (4) saline water feed, 35,000 ppm, with the still operating alone for a 24-h period, and (5) saline water feed of the same salinity, with the still connected to the collector for 24 h.

230 30 ~" 25

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Local standard time (hr) Fig. 3. Ambient, condensate temperature, solar intensity and distillate production vs. time for the still alone, fresh water feed. Table 1 Operation mode, weather conditions, production, and daily efficiency Operation mode and date Fresh water mode: Still alone (26/4) Still with collector, 24 h (30/3) Still with collector (8-5) (31/3) Saline water feed: Still alone (7/5) Still with collector, 24 h (6/5) Weather conditions Cloudy and hazy Clear sky and hazy Hazy Clear sky Clear sky Daily production, ml 1980 4590 4687 3038 4606 Daily efficiency, % 27.03 24.57 25.8 28.56 22.26

increased by about 1.25%. This suggests that the second mode is probably the most practical one since it does not require every day adjustment without sacrificing productivity. Figs. 6 and 7 show the results o f the fourth and the fifth modes of operation, respectively. The daily production and efficiency are listed in Table 1. These two modes are different from the previous ones in that the feed is saline water.

Comparing the daily productions of the last two modes, it is clear that there is a considerable increase (about 52%) in productivity of the still connected with the collector over that of the still alone. Predictably, the efficiency decreased by about 6%. The reason why the efficiency decreases is that the average temperature o f the still and collector combined is higher than that of the still alone. Because o f a higher operating temp-

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Local standard time (hr) Fig. 5. Various parameters a n d p r o d u c t i o n vs. time for the still connected w i t h the collector during daylight hours (8-5), fresh water feed.

erature range in the active solar distillation system due to additional thermal energy available from the collector, thermal energy loss increases.

Hence, despite the higher yield, the efficiency of the active solar distillation decreases [ 1]. Comparing the daily productions for the

232 40 35 30

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Fig. 6. Various parameters and production vs. time for the still alone, saline water feed.

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Fig. 7. Various parameters and production vs. time for the still connected to the collector for 24-h period, saline water feed.

modes of fresh water vs. saline water feed (mode 1 vs. mode 4 and 2 vs. 5), the apparent increase in production is explained by the fact that solar

radiation in the last modes (4 and 5) was larger (clear sky), in contrast with the cloudy and hazy sky conditions of the other modes.

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233

1000 900 800 700 600 500 Still I Collector, SalineWater [] Still alone, SalineWater A Still I Collector, 8-5 hrs., Fresh Water Still I Collector, 24 hrs., Fresh W m e r ~ * Still alone ~ ~ _ ~ / / ~ ' ~

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Local standard t/me (hr) Fig. 8. Distillate production vs. time for various modes of operation.

Fig. 8 shows daily production vs. time for all five modes for easy comparison. The highest production obtained was that of the still connected to the collector during daylight hours (8-5). The next is that of the still connected for 24 h. The reason is that the collector cools down during the night and that reduces production. In all modes, night production occurs in the afternoon, and that is due to the effect of heat storage. In all modes there is a direct link between production and condensate temperature (Tcond) that also obtains maximum values in the afternoon hours. Conversely, the ambient temperature (Tamb)seems to follow more closely the pattern of solar intensity I, which peaks at noon.

5. C o n c l u s i o n s

Experimental investigation of the solar stillcollector system has shown that the productivity of the system was substantially increased in c o m -

parison with that of the still alone. Meanwhile, efficiency was reduced by a few percentage points. The results of testing are grouped into five modes of operation. The first three are for fresh tap water as feed and the last two are for saline water feed, as follows: 1. The daily production of the still alone was about 2 L/m2.d, and its daily efficiency was about 27%. 2. When the still was operated with the collector for 24 h, its production was increased by 231% but efficiency was decreased by about 2.5% compared to that of the still alone. 3. A slight increase in condensate production (about 2%) over that of the previous mode occurred when the still was connected to the collector during daylight hours only (8 am-5 pro). 4. In operating the system with 35,000 of saline water, an increase in production of 52% was noticed when the still was connected with the collector over that of the still alone.

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5. The most practical operating mode, regardless o f the salinity o f the feed, is that o f the still connected to the collector for 24 h.

[5] [6]

References
[1] M.A.S. Malik, G.N. Tiwari, A. Kumar and M.S. Sodha; Solar Distillation; Pergamon Press, New York, 1982. [2] G.M. Zaki, T. El Dali and H. El Shafie, Improved performance of solar still; Proc. First Arab Int. Solar Energy Conf., Kuwait, 1983, pp. 331-335. [3] N.S. AI Bahama, N. AI Mahdi and F. Zaky, Energy Conv. Mgmt., 34(7) (1993) 545-556. [4] G.N. Tiwari, Recent advances in solar distillation, in: Solar Energy and Energy Conservation, R. Kamal

[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [ 12]

et al., eds., Wiley Eastern, New Delhi, 1992, pp. 32-149. G.N. Tiwari and S.K. Singh, J. Energy, Heat Mass Transfer, 13 (I991) 181. A.K. Singh and G.N. Tiwari, Energy Conv. Mgmt., 34(8) (1993) 697-706. L.G. Rodriguez and C.G. Camacho, Desalination, 126 (1999) 109-114. M.S. Abu Jabal, I. Kamiya and Y. Narasaki, Desalination, 137 (2001) 1-6. K. Schwarzer, M.E. Vieira, C. Faber and C. Muller, Desalination, 137, (2001) 23-29. K. Voropoulos, E. Mathioulakis and V. Bellessiotis, Desalination, 138 (2001) 103-110. K. Voropoulos, E. Mathioulakis and V. Bellessiotis, Solar Energy, 75 (2003) 199-205. K. Voropoulos, E. Mathioulakis and V. Bellessiotis, Solar Energy, 75 (2003) 403--41 I.