Experimental investigation on the time dependant behaviour of productivity of a stacked solar still

Abstract

In this experimental study, a conventional single slope solar still and an improved stacked solar still were designed, fabricated and tested. The experimental investigations were carried out to understand the effect of the various critical parameters influencing the time dependent behaviour of productivity of the solar still. The productivity of the stacked double basin solar still is evaluated and compared with the conventional single basin solar still of same base area of 0.5 m2 under same meteorological conditions. The modified solar still contributes an improvement of 35.51% in the yield when compared to the conventional single basin solar still. With the provision of insulation materials such as Styrofoam, rubber and wood on the side of the basin, the daily yield of the solar still increased by 72.78%, 41.75% and 33.75% respectively. The production rate is increased by 32.66% with inclusion of wick material and 31.75% with addition of dye. The results obtained showed that the productivity of the still increases with decrease in water depth.