Solar desalination of sea water

Abstract

A mathematical expression is derived to predict the amount of fresh water produced from the sea water in a solar still as a function of climatic conditions and initial condition of the sea water through a simplified vapor pressure correlation. The flow rate and the inlet temperature of the sea water and the insolation influence the thermal performance of the still. Tilted stills can perform more efficiently than basin types owing to a faster response to incident solar radiation and better energy absorption. A tilted wick type solar still was also investigated but the costly construction and the rapid deterioration of the wick materials have prevented its practical use.