Desalination 220 (2008) 669676

Sun tracking system for productivity enhancement of solar still

S. Abdallaha, O.O. Badranb*
a

Applied Sciences University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Amman, Jordan b Al-Balqa Applied University, FET, Amman, Jordan Tel. +962 6 5679773; email: O_badran@yahoo.com
Received 21 February 2007; accepted 25 February 2007

Abstract A sun tracking system was deployed for enhancing the solar still productivity. A computerized sun tracking device was used for rotating the solar still with the movement of the sun. A comparison between fixed and sun tracked solar stills showed that the use of sun tracking increased the productivity for around 22%, due to the increase of overall efficiency by 2%. It can be concluded that the sun tracking is more effective than fixed system and it is capable of enhancing the productivity. Keywords: Solar energy; Sun tracker; Solar still; Distillation; Desalination

1. Introduction Water is a basic necessity of man along with food and air. Fresh water sources are considered to be rivers, lakes, and underground water reservoirs. These sources were the only types that man depended on for a long time. However, the use of water from such sources is not always possible, especially because of the polluted environment (i.e. acid rain). So, search for other sources becomes a must. The sun is regarded as the source of energy for its constant duration and hygienic state, and its remarkable efficiency of not polluting the
*Corresponding author.

environment, as other kinds of energy, like coal and the derivations of oil that cause the pollution of atmosphere and environment. The arid zones of the world, where insolation levels are high, are mostly in the developing countries. From this point, most scientists, because of the abundant availability of sun shine that satisfies our needs for the coming years ahead, emphasized the importance of the solar energy. This requires from us a detailed study to deeper our knowledge in its different usage, especially in Jordan, which are rich in the solar energy. The annual average number of hours of the sun shines in Amman reaches 9 h daily, in which the highest rate reached, is in July, and the lowest rate is in January, the annual rate of the number of the solar radiation

Presented at the conference on Desalination and the Environment. Sponsored by the European Desalination Society and Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Sani Resort, Halkidiki, Greece, April 2225, 2007.
0011-9164/06/$ See front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.desal.0000.00.000

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per annum (9 365 = 3285 h/year). Also the percentage ratio of the number of solar radiation of the same period is (83%), therefore, the annual rate of the sunshine radiations days (365 0.83 = 303 days) in the year [1]. Ten months in the year are regarded a very high economic value to be used in solar energy in Jordan, in which there should be an extraordinary care in this energy, to convert it into other shapes of energythermal, mechanical and electrical [2]. In principle, solar energy can be used to separate pure water from most of the natural contaminants, such as dissolved solids (salts) and particles (dirt and algae). Solar distillation represents one of the important applications of solar energy. Solar distillation is most economically effective when sunlight is allowed to pass through a transparent cover and into a black evaporating pan with little or no concentration of the suns rays. Distillation process was made to obtain hygienic potable/fresh water (that has less than or about 500 parts per million of salt). Moreover, solar distillation is already being used to supply pure water to areas with special needs where suitable water otherwise have to be purchased at a higher price, e.g. providing distilled water for automobile services stations in isolated areas, supplying drinking water to tourist facilities on otherwise waterless islands. In the last century the use of solar concentrates in solar distillation was reported by Pasteur [3], who used a concentrator to focus sun rays onto a copper boiler containing water. The steam generated from the boiler was piped to a conventional water-cooled condenser in which distilled water was accumulated. Solar stills are used to convert saline water in order to produce fresh water. The high cost of oil made solar desalination processes is the most prominent, because of the advantage of low energy consumption. Moreover, it is one of economical methods. It requires simple technology and easy maintenance; hence it can be used at any place without much problem. Probably, they

are considered one of the cheapest solutions for fresh water production. Many researchers were interested on experimental studies on solar stills. A team at MIT led by Maria Telkes had already begun experiments with solar stills. At the same time the US National Research Defense Committee (NRDC), sponsored solar research to develop solar desalters for military needs at sea. Many patents were granted as practical individual small plastic solar distillation apparatuses were developed to be adaptable to lifeboats or rafts. The US Navy used these extensively during the war. They were designed to float on seawater when inflated, saving many lives. Telkes continued to investigate various configurations of solar stills, glass covered and multiple-effect solar stills [4]. An excellent review on the use of various types of distillation systems can be found in Kalogirou and Samee et al. [35]. Many experimental and theoretical works have been conducted on single basin solar stills for testing the thermal performance of different enhancement parameters [37]. Different absorbing materials were used to study their effect in a solar still, and thus enhance the productivity of distilled water, using a singlebasin solar still with single and double slopes [713]. The performance of a single basin solar still with the entering brine flowing between doubleglass glazings were investigated by Abu-Arabi et al. [14]. The function of their arrangement was to lower the glass temperature and thus increase the water to glass temperature difference. This results in improved performance because of a faster rate of evaporation from the basin. Al-Hayek and Badran [15] considered utilization of solar energy in two different types of solar stills, and factors that influence the productivity of solar stills. They found that the productivity of asymmetric greenhouse type still (ASGHT) having mirrors on its inside walls was higher than that of the symmetric greenhouse type still (SGHT) and more efficient. It was found that the distilled water output of the asymmetrical

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greenhouse type was 20% higher than that of symmetric greenhouse type. Performance characteristics of the two stills showed that the temperature at the water surface is closely related to the incident solar radiation and the productivity of the stills can be increased with decreasing water depth, and by the addition of dye. Sodha et al. [16] used a multi-wick solar still to maximize temperature difference between the condensing cover and water surface which can be achieved by reducing the heat capacity of the water mass in the basin. In other words, a water film is maintained on the absorber for fast heating and quick evaporation. The water film is achieved by using a porous multi-wick (jute cloth). Each jute cloth layer is separated from others by providing a black polythene sheet between them so that each jute cloth can act independently. Nafey et al. [17] investigated the main parameters affecting solar still performance using four different still design parameters operated under the same weather conditions. A general equation is developed to predict the daily productivity of a single sloped solar still. Whereas, Nafey et al. [18] studied experimentally the use of black rubber or black gravel materials within a single sloped solar still as a storage medium to improve the still productivity. Thermal modeling and characterization of solar still were presented in several research materials [6,1113,19,20]. Badran and Abu-Khader [6], conducted an experimental work on a single slope solar still, and evaluated its thermal performance under Jordanian climate. Srivastava et al. [19] in their numerical computations showed that there is a significant effect in the plant, water temperatures and distilled output due to change in the fraction of the solar radiation incident on the north wall, depth of water, absorptivity of basin and the inclination of the roof whereas the heat capacity of the plant has a marginal effect on these temperatures and distilled output. Fath et al. [20] presented analytical, thermal and economic comparisons between pyramid and

single slope solar stills. They found that the single slope gave higher daily yield (30%) in winter and 3% higher in summer; they attributed this due to the larger radiation losses from the cover surface of the pyramid. Sun tracking systems were used by some researchers to enhance the distillation yield or power production. Ibrahim [21] conducted experimental investigation on a collector consisting of six parabolic troughs with trackers. Whereas, Kalogirou [22] described a tracking system which can be used with single-axis solar concentrating systems as an enhancer. Khalifa and Al-Mutwalli [23] performed an experimental study to investigate the effect of using two axes sun tracking system on the thermal performance of compound parabolic concentrators CPC. The tracking of CPC collector showed a better performance with an increase in the collected energy of up to 75% compared with an identical fixed collector. Hession and Bonwick [24] introduced a sun tracking system for use with various collectors and platforms. Abdallah and Nijmeh [25] used two axes sun tracking system with PLC control to evaluate the performance of photovoltaic panels (PV). They found that the sun tracking systems increased the power output by 50%. The main drawback of a traditional solar still is that the amount of distilled water produced per unit area is somewhat low which makes the singlebasin solar still un-preferable in some instances. Therefore there is great scope for improvements to increase the efficiency of such type of solar stills. The key objective is to improve the performance of a traditional single slope solar still through the combined functioning of the solar still with a sun tracking system to increase the solar still capability to capture more solar radiations. 2. Experimental set up The experimental setup shown in Fig. 1, is one of the simplest types of solar stills; it is called the asymmetric greenhouse type still (ASGHT). It

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has an effective area of 1 m2. The frame is made of iron. It has a top cover of transparent glass, and the interior surface of its basin is blackened to enable absorption of solar energy to the maximum possible extent. The body is made of wood, 16 mm thick; and shaped as an inclined box placed on a vertical tracking system. While the identical fixed solar still is faced due south. The whole assembly was air tight made with help of rubber gasket and clips. Different parts of the still will be explained in the following: 2.1. Basin liner This is the major part of the solar still. It absorbs the incident radiation that is transmitted through the glass cover. The basin liner should be resistant to hot saline water, have a high absorbance to solar radiation and to resistance to accidental puncturing and in the case of damage, (the shape of drawer, for maintenance and cleaning purposes); it should be easily repaired. A very large part of the solar radiation, direct and diffused, falling in the still is absorbed in the black base. Small reflection losses occur at the glass surface, the water surface and to a very small extent at the base. The energy absorbed at the

base is largely transferred to the water in the still and a small fraction of it lost to the ambient by conduction through the base. The water enters the basin through an inlet hose. A trough is fixed inside the still, and is tilted so that condensed water can be accumulated in the glass beaker outside the still through a plastic pipe. 2.2. Transparent cover The cover of the solar still must transmit solar radiation with minimum amount of absorption and reflection in the solar spectrum. As also acts as resistance to thermal radiation heat transfer from the basin to the atmosphere. It was fixed at 32 degree with the horizontal on the top of the inclined still. 2.3. Insulating material The insulating material is used to reduce the heat losses from the bottom and the sides of the solar still. In this work, the insulating material is rock wool of 5 cm thickness and 0.045 W/m2 C thermal conductivity. 2.4. Measuring instruments Various types of measurement were used such as: (1) Pyranometer: To measure the total radiation. (2) Glass beaker: To collect the distillate water. (3) Temperature thermometer: to measure temperature at various points in the still by thermocouples (type-k). The accuracy of this device is in the range of 0.3C for the temperature measurements between 1 and 99C. 2.5. Sun tracking system In this study the programming method of control works efficiently in all weather conditions regardless of the presence of clouds. The calculated values of the surface positions as a function of time were fed to the PLC program to control the

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the single slope solar still (dimensions are in cm).

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Fig. 2. The division of daylight time into four intervals.

actuator of the sun position tracker. Single axis tracking systems are considerably cheaper and easier to construct. The surface position is defined by one angle g [26]. g is the surface azimuth angle, Fig. 2. For one axis tracking, surface positions are determined as follows: g = gs where gs is the sun azimuth angle. Vertical sun tracking motor is used for the joint rotating about the vertical axis to control g. 2.5.1. The electromechanical system The electromechanical system consists of one driver rotating about the vertical axis as shown in Fig. 3, it can be seen from Fig. 3 that the system has two bridge rectifiers. The first one, PS1, converts the 220 VAC of supply network into 24 VDC to power the PLCI. The second rectifier, PS2, converts 220 VAC into 24 VAC to supply the electrical motor M1. PLCI system chosen was of the LOGO 24 RC type [27,28], because it suits this application. Also, it is fairly simple and cheap in cost. The present stepwise tracking simplifies the work of the system without great loss in power. The estimated consumed power by the electrical motor and control system is less than 3% of the collected energy by the tracking system. 2.5.2. Control system programming Computer software has been developed to determine the different solar angles for Amman,

Fig. 3. The electromechanical circuit for vertical control.

to calculate the optimal positions of the tracking surface during the day light hours [29]. Day light hours were divided into 4 identical time intervals T1, T2, T3 and T4, as shown in Fig. 2, during which the motors speeds (deg./second) were determined. Then, the PLC programming was done based on the solar angles analysis and motor speed calculations. The motor of vertical tracking will be idle for 15 to 35 min and works for a few seconds. As well, the LOGO 24 RC PLC system uses the functional diagram language of programming described in [27,28]. Two types of motions were specified by the developed program: forward motion and backward motion. From the theoretically calculated values the forward motion covers the intervals of time T1 and T2 in Fig. 2. While the backward motion will cover the intervals T3 and T4 which begin from noon till sunset where b is maximum.

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3. Results and discussions Results of the experiments are presented in the form of graphs, to show the effect of using different solar still systems on the still output, and to highlight the effect of using tracking system on the received solar intensity, external glass temperature, basin water temperature and the distillation accumulation. All the experiments were taken in same day during the month of August (21/8/2005) at clear sky weather conditions. Fig. 4 shows the solar intensity (i.e. electrical power) versus time of the day. The intensity of solar radiation reaching the earth surface varies from zero during the night to about 940 W/m2, on a clear noon for both systems. Hence, the radiation intensity depends on the hour of the day. It can be seen that the solar intensity for the tracking system where higher than that of the identical fixed system for most of the time. The highest differences were in the morning till mid day with an average increase of 40%, while in the evening the average increase is about 22%. This is due to the sun tracking system which makes the solar radiation striking a horizontal surface is greatest. As the suns rays will be vertical on the surface most of the time. Fig. 5 shows the effects of solar intensity on basin water temperature for two different systems. It can be seen that the water temperature increases for both systems as the solar intensity
1000 800 600 400 200 0 External glass temp. (C) Electrical power (W/m2) Fixed Tracking Water temp. (C)

60

40

20 Fixed Tracking 0 6 8 10 12 14 Local time (h) 16 18 20

Fig. 5. Temperature variation of the water basin for both fixed still and still with tracking system.

increases till noon, then decreases as the solar intensity decrease. It was found that the water temperature for the tracking system is higher than fixed still due to the increase of the radiation concentrations on the absorbency basin, especially in the morning hours, that decreases the heat capacity in the basin. Fig. 6 shows the increases in the temperature of the external glass as the solar radiation incident on glass increases. But the temperatures are lower than the basin water temperature (Fig. 5), due to the effect of air cooling on glass. Energy is transferred from the water to the glass cover principally by the water vapor evaporating from the water surface and then loosing its heat of vaporization to the glass cover.
60

40

20 Fixed Tracking 0 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

10

12 14 Local time (h)

16

18

20

Local time (h)

Fig. 4. Power intensity dropped on the external glass for both fixed still and still with tracking system.

Fig. 6. Temperature variation of the external glass for both fixed still and still with tracking system.

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200 160 120 80 40 0

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4. Cost estimation In designing a solar still for principally rural communities, the prime objective was to keep the cost as low as possible. Cost estimation for various components was about JD 170. The cost of fabrication was about JD 30. The total cost of fabricated still comes out to be JD 200 (US $282). It is expected that cost would substantially decrease if a large number of stills are fabricated. The still was constructed from a large variety of local materials which were selected based on acknowledge of material cost assessment and ease of construction. 5. Conclusion Introducing the sun tracking system to a fixed solar still has improved the performance of the traditional fixed single slope solar system by 22%. This means that there is a scope to improve the poor performance of this traditional solar still system. Also from the results of this work, the following conclusion may be made: By using the sun tracker the water temperature increases, and the thermal capacity of the water decreases, by which the evaporation rate increases, hence the production will be increased. The conventional single basin solar still is the simplest and most practical design for an installation and less complexity than the other types. Solar distillation may be considered as one of the alternatives for fresh water production in remote arid zones where no fresh water is available, in the quantity where it is needed for specific purposes. Consequently, solar distillation seems to be specifically relevant to Jordan now, and even more so in the future. References
[1] Royal Scientific Society (RSS), The potential of solar energy application in Jordan, Assessment

Collected water (mL)

Fixed Tracking 6 8 10 12 14 Local time (h) 16 18 20

Fig. 7. Collected distilled water for both fixed still and still with tracking system.

It can be seen that tracking system has increased the external cover temperature due to the increase of the temperature of the vapor inside the still, and attributed to the high concentration of incident suns rays passed through a transparent cover to a black evaporating pan. Fig. 7 presents the relationship between the rate of distilled water volume and the local standard time (6 am18 pm) for the tracking and identical fixed system. It shows that the highest production was at 14 pm, because the sun rays angle at this period is nearly vertical with the still and coincident with the highest solar radiation intensities. It can be seen that the distilled water production increased by 22% when the sun tracking system coupled with the still. The tracking solar still will be able to follow the sun during the day, as this method will increase the concentration of solar radiation; reduce the thermal capacity of the water in the basin, and increase the productivity. It can be concluded from the results that the use of tracking system is predictable and efficient for solar stills applications. This finding is supported by previous studies which proved that the tracking system can increase the power output of PV systems, while the present study showed that the tracking system is also applicable for enhancing the distillation output.

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