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Optimizing a Single-Slope Solar Still for Fresh-Water Production in the Deserts of Arid Regions: An Experimental and Numerical Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Ibrahim M. Al-Helal

    (Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdullah Alsadon

    (Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Samy Marey

    (Sciences, Technology and Innovation Unit, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdullah Ibrahim

    (Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Mohamed R. Shady

    (Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Solar desalination is a promising sustainable solution to overcome the scarcity of fresh water in the deserts of arid regions. The productivity of a solar still depends mainly on its design parameters and the meteorological conditions of its location (longitude and latitude angles). Therefore, this study aimed to optimize the main design parameters of a single-slope solar still for freshwater production in the arid climate of the central region of Saudi Arabia (24°4′ N, 32.89° E). Experiments were conducted on four identical solar stills, with the same basin surface area and air gap distances ( d ) of 14, 16, 18, and 20 cm, respectively. The stills operated using three basin water depths ( h ) of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 cm on clear sunny days. The performance and productivity of the four stills were evaluated. The results showed that reducing the air gap distance ( d ) and water depth ( h ) significantly enhanced the distillate freshwater yield, and the optimum ratio of the length/width is 2 and of the back/front wall height is 3.65. Specifically, at a low water depth ( h ) of 0.5 cm, the daily distillate yield of the solar still increased by about 11% when the air gap distance ( d ) decreased from 20 to 14 cm. For the lowest air gap distance ( d ) of 14 cm, the distillate yield increased by about 23% when h decreased from 1.5 to 0.5 cm. Using the measured parameters, several numerical correlations have been developed to estimate the desalination rate ( m c ) as a function of the solar irradiance ( I s ) and ambient temperature ( T am ). The developed correlations can be used successfully to estimate the values of m c instead of the prohibitive experimental measurements. The stills showed excellent performance in the arid climate and reduced water salinity from 31,250 to 495 ppm. This should encourage decision-makers to expand investment in solar desalination to sustainably develop the deserts of arid regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ibrahim M. Al-Helal & Abdullah Alsadon & Samy Marey & Abdullah Ibrahim & Mohamed R. Shady, 2024. "Optimizing a Single-Slope Solar Still for Fresh-Water Production in the Deserts of Arid Regions: An Experimental and Numerical Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:800-:d:1320807
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. El-Swify, M.E. & Metias, M.Z., 2002. "Performance of double exposure solar still," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 531-547.
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