A comparative study of conventional solar stills and modified solar stills using the sound waves based agitating technique

Abstract

The demand for a suitable technique to solve the water crisis has become very challenging in the present era. Solar distillation technique using a solar still is one of the most sought techniques to produce fresh water as it is the most economical. However, the major problem is the very low productivity rate. Many have conducted experiments on solar stills, incorporating various fabrication techniques to improvise the rate of evaporation and condensation. In this research work, experimental analyses have been carried out on conventional and modified single basin, single slope solar still of the same dimensions. The modified still consists of a separate speaker unit that generates sound waves (square wave) 110 Hz and is placed under the basin. The results were compared with the conventional solar still. With the use of modified solar still, there is an increase in the contact area between the air and water molecules, which breaks boundary layer and surface tension and thereby increases evaporation efficiency. The experiments were carried out on both stills with the same atmospheric conditions. The results showed that the modified solar Still produced 61.35% more yield than the conventional still. The annual cost of distillate water made from MSS is 4.81% lower than that of CSS.