Modeling and experimental study of cascade solar still

Abstract

In this study, a simulation was done to validate the experimental data of the new design of a cascade solar still, obtained from our existing prototype, for the climatic condition of Rabat, Morocco (34° 47′ N). The new design for the cascade solar still was developed using ANSYS FLUENT and modeled using FLUENT software. It has been found that the extracted data from the simulation’s results are in good agreement with the experimental data. It was also examined that the productivity of the cascade solar still was higher from 12:00 to 15:00 h. This novel design of the cascade solar still ensures higher productivity than the single basin. Based on experimental results of the new design of the cascade solar still, the results show that the absorber plate temperature and productivity can reach more than 60 °C and 1.6 kg/m2 h respectively. In comparison with the single basin, the plate temperature reaches more than 50 °C and the productivity 0.6 kg/m2 h.