Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Phase Change (PCM) Materials on the Performance of an Improved Stepped Solar Still

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Energy, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences. Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran

Abstract
Desalination of brackish water using solar still is a desirable and attractive option for decentralized and sustainable fresh water production. The author of the present study has recently developed and conducted experimental investigations on an improved stepped solar still. Their experimental results indicate a very good performance of this solar still. However, this unit cannot produce fresh water during the night due to the lack of sunlight. To overcome this problem, storing solar energy during the day and utilizing it at night can be a suitable solution, achievable through the use of phase change materials (PCM). In the present study, the effect of adding paraffin wax as a PCM to the absorber of the improved stepped solar still was experimentally investigated. For this purpose, two improved stepped solar still with identical dimensions and specifications were simultaneously tested, one being simple and the other equipped with the PCM. The experiments were conducted in June 2021 under the climatic conditions of Kerman city. The test results show that using the PCM relatively improves the performance of the desalination unit, enhancing its efficiency by 3.7% to 12% under different design and operating conditions.

Keywords

Subjects

- مراجع
[1] M. Dashtban and F. F. Tabrizi, Thermal analysis of a weir-type cascade solar still integrated with PCM storage, Desalination, Vol. 279, No. 1-3, pp. 415-422, 2011.
[2]  A. Kabeel and M. Abdelgaied, Improving the performance of solar still by using PCM as a thermal storage medium under Egyptian conditions, Desalination, Vol. 383, pp. 22-28, 2016.
[3]  M. Al-harahsheh, M. Abu-Arabi, H. Mousa, Z. Alzghoul, Solar desalination using solar still enhanced by external solar collector and PCM, Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 128, pp. 1030-1040, 2018.
[4]  M. R. Safaei, H. R. Goshayeshi, I. Chaer, Solar still efficiency enhancement by using graphene oxide/paraffin nano-PCM, Energies, Vol. 12, No. 10, pp. 2002, 2019.
[5]  A. Amarloo and M. B. Shafii, Enhanced solar still condensation by using a radiative cooling system and phase change material, Desalination, Vol. 467, pp. 43-50, 2019.
[6]  G. Rajasekhar and M. Eswaramoorthy, Performance evaluation on solar still integrated with nano-composite phase change materials, Applied Solar Energy, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 15-21, 2015.
[7]  A. A. M. Omara, A. A. A. Abuelnuor, H. A. Mohammed, M. Khiadani, Phase change materials (PCMs) for improving solar still productivity: a review, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, Vol. 139, No. 3, pp. 1585-1617, 2020/02/01, 2020.
[8]  F. F. Tabrizi, M. Dashtban, H. Moghaddam, Experimental investigation of a weir-type cascade solar still with built-in latent heat thermal energy storage system, Desalination, Vol. 260, No. 1-3, pp. 248-253, 2010.
[9]  S. S. Adibi Toosi, H. R. Goshayeshi, I. Zahmatkesh, V. Nejati, Experimental assessment of stepped solar still with hybrid NPCM under magnetic field, Mechanical Engineering of Tabriz University, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 13-22, 2023.
[10] V. P. Katekar and S. S. Deshmukh, A review of the use of phase change materials on performance of solar stills, Journal of Energy Storage, Vol. 30, pp. 101398, 2020.
[11] C. Yadav and M. Kumar, Recent advances in stepped and weir type solar still, Int. J. Recent Adv. Eng. Technol, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 83-90, 2016.
[12] M. R. Assari, H. Basirat Tabrizi, A. Kavoosinejad, S. Rahimi, Investigation of phase change materials on the performance of solar desalination plants, Mechanical Engineering Journal, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 42-48, 2019.
[13] S. M. Shalaby, E. El-Bialy, A. A. El-Sebaii, An experimental investigation of a v-corrugated absorber single-basin solar still using PCM, Desalination, Vol. 398, pp. 247-255, 2016.
[14] E. A. Abdel-Aziz, T. M. Mansour, M. M. K. Dawood, T. M. Ismail, K. Ramzy, Exergoeconomic and enviroeconomic evaluations of conventional solar still using PCM and electric heater powered by solar energy: an experimental study, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 30, No. 24, pp. 66135-66156, 2023.
[15] U. F. Alqsair, Enhancement the production of trays solar still via nano phase change material and preheating feed-water, Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, Vol. 53, pp. 103822, 2024.
[16] R. Sathyamurthy, Silver (Ag) based nanoparticles in paraffin wax as thermal energy storage for stepped solar still – An experimental approach, Solar Energy, Vol. 262, pp. 111808, 2023.
[17] H. Amiri, Design, fabrication, and experimental analysis of improved stepped solar still, Mechanical Engineering of Tabriz University, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 237-246, 2022 (In Persian).
[18] H. Amiri, Enhancing the stepped solar still performance using a built-in passive condenser, Solar Energy, Vol. 248, pp. 88-102, 2022.
[19] T. Kousksou, A. Jamil, T. E. Rhafiki, Y. Zeraouli, Paraffin wax mixtures as phase change materials, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 94, No. 12, pp. 2158-2165, 2010.
[20] M. Safaripour and M. Mehrabian, Predicting the direct, diffuse, and global solar radiation on a horizontal surface and comparing with real data, Heat and mass transfer, Vol. 47, No. 12, pp. 1537-1551, 2011.
[21] S. Jafari and E. J. Javaran, An optimum slope angle for solar collector systems in kerman using a new model for diffuse solar radiation, Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, Vol. 34, No. 9, pp. 799-809, 2012.
[22] V. S. Vigneswaran, G. Kumaresan, B. V. Dinakar, K. K. Kamal, R. Velraj, Augmenting the productivity of solar still using multiple PCMs as heat energy storage, Journal of Energy Storage, Vol. 26, pp. 101019, 2019.
[23] R. Grewal and M. Kumar, Performance evaluation of a concatenated stepped solar still system loaded with different masses of energy storage material, Energy, Vol. 259, pp. 125005, 2022.
[24] S. S. Adibi Toosi, H. R. Goshayeshi, I. Zahmatkesh, V. Nejati, Experimental assessment of new designed stepped solar still with Fe3O4 + graphene oxide + paraffin as nanofluid under constant magnetic field, Journal of Energy Storage, Vol. 62, pp. 106795, 2023.

  • Receive Date 06 June 2024
  • Revise Date 30 December 2024
  • Accept Date 19 November 2025