Contents

1.Abstract................................................................................................... 2
2.Introduction ............................................................................................ 2
2.1Probable solution ............................................................................... 2
3.Distillation Technology .......................................................................... 3
3.1Classification of distillation.............................................................. 3
4.The Solar Distillation ............................................................................. 3
4.1Advantages ........................................................................................ 3
4.2Limitation .......................................................................................... 3
4.3Solar Stills .......................................................................................... 3
4.4Working principle .............................................................................. 4
4.5Types .................................................................................................. 4
4.6Factors affecting solar stills ............................................................... 5
5.Feasibility Analysis ................................................................................ 7
6.Literature review .................................................................................... 8
7.Research gap ......................................................................................... 11
8.Proposed design .................................................................................... 11
8.1Objectives ........................................................................................ 11
8.2Design model ................................................................................... 12
8.3What`s New in this design ............................................................... 15
9.Conclusion ............................................................................................ 18
11.Reference ............................................................................................ 19
12Gant chart ............................................................................................ 21

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1. Abstract
Although, more than two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water, shortage of potable water is a
serious issue that many countries suffer from. Furthermore, the worldwide rapid growth of industry
and population has resulted in a large boom in demand for fresh water. The solar still, in many
respects, is an ideal source of fresh water for both drinking and agriculture; it is one of the most
important and technically viable applications of solar energy. There are many types of solar still;
the simplest is the basin type. In this report different types of solar distillation technology, the
advantages and limitations of solar still, its types, factors effecting the productivity of solar still,
the improvement of the efficiency of a solar sill is discussed and also paper on solar still is
reviewed. Lastly a hybrid multi-basin single slope solar still is proposed with using a flat plate
collector, fin, sponge and sand where flat plate collector will increase inlet saline water
temperature, fin and sponge will be used in basin to increase the surface area and decrease water
surface tension and sand will be used under the basin as heat absorbing material so that it can
purify water during night time.

2.Introduction
Water is the vital substance for the human being and available in nature. Potable water is
elementary requirement for survival of the breathing entities on earth. As per the report of United
Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization(WHO) on water
supply and sanitation “Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012”, the potable water was
reached to around 89% of the world’s total population till 2010.Thus, around11% of world’s total
population is unable to access the drinking water (Millennium Development Goal drinking water
target met - World Health Organization, 2012). Further, UNICEF and WHO mentioned in the
report-2017 that still worldwide 2.1 billion people unable to access the readily available and safe
water (Progress on drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines.
Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund, 2017).
Further, over two-third of the planet’s exterior is covered by water. Utmost of the existing water
is either sea water or present as icebergs in the polar region. Over 97% of planet’s water is saline;
remainder 2.6% is sweet water and below1% of clean water is in the reach of human [26]. Hence,
the accessible water from the diverse resources such as precipitation water, ground water, rivers,
ponds, lakes, and oceans has to be sanitized.

2.1Probable solution
To solve water crisis problem, the contaminants can be eliminated from the contaminated water
by means of distillation method. Distillation is a process that takes away mineral component from
saline water.

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3.Distillation Technology
The technique of separating impurities from the impure water to make it fit for drinking purpose
is known as distillation method. In this process, the dissolved contaminants present in the water
are removed by separating it by many applications of heat, electricity or Membrane mechanism.

3.1Classification of distillation

4.The Solar Distillation

Solar distillation is the method to using solar energy to evaporate water and collect its condensate
within the same closed system. Unlike other forms of water purification, it can turn salt or brackish
water into fresh drinking water (i.e. desalination)

4.1Advantages
Solar energy is free; it needs no fuel and produce no waste or pollution compare with other
techniques.
It is a compact arrangement which needs very less maintenance.
A solar still has a lower cost compared to the other purifiers available widely

4.2Limitation
Low production capacity.

4.3Solar Stills
The device that used in solar desalination is known as a solar still.

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 Fig: Parts of solar still
4.4Working principle
1.Solar radiation transmits through glass cover and is absorbed as heat by black surface.
2.The water is heated and gives off water vapor.
3.The vapor condenses on the glass cover and gets collected at the outlet channel

Fig: working principle of solar still

4.5Types
There are 2 types of solar still
Passive solar still: A passive solar still is one in which evaporation and condensation processes
take place naturally.

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Active solar stills: In active solar stills, additional components such as solar collectors,
condensers, cooler or other equipment are added to boost the performance. Typically this
equipment requires pumps, fans or other powered devices for its operation. Thus unlike passive
solar stills, active solar stills typically require electricity.

4.6 Factors affecting solar stills

The productivity of conventional solar stills is very low. Various researches are done on the factors.
The performance and productivity of a solar still depends upon
1.Solar radiation intensity
Omar et al. [8] performed an experimental and theoretical analysis on a single slope solar still
based on solar radiation intensity. They found that the productivity and efficiency of the solar still
improves with increase in intensity. In particular, the maximum efficiency is obtained at early
afternoon since the solar radiation intensity is high during this period.
The minimum and maximum daily productivity of the solar still was approximately 225 and 500
ml in the solar intensity of 20,500 and 25,500 J/m2, respectively
2.Temperature difference of glass cover plate and water
When the temperature difference between cover plate water is high more distillate is produced.It
is performed by Kalidasa Murugavel et al. [8] and Ahmed et al. [11] when they artificially
increased temperature by electrical resistance heater[12]
3.Collector or absorber plate area, and selective surface coating
Velmurugan et al. [1] stated that increase in collector area results in more productivity. As the
evaporation rate of the water in the solar still is directly proportional to the exposure area, the
productivity of the solar still increases with increase in free surface area of water in the basin [13].
Basin tray should be necessarily coated with anti-corrosive matter black paint for a better heat
absorption. A selective surface coating of collector surface may result in increased productivity.
4.Depth of water
The depth of water is inversely proportional to the productivity of solar still [6-8] Suneja S and
Tiwari [3] analyzed the effect of water depth and said that the decrease in water depth increases
the productivity of solar still. Bilal et al. concluded that the productivity of the solar still decreases
linearly with increase in depth of water at the rate of 0.4 l per cm [13].Rajamanickam et al. [12]
conducted experiment in a double slope solar still at different water depths such as 1 cm, 2.5 cm,
5 cm, 7.5 cm and obtained a maximum distillate production per day of 3.07 l/m2 at 1 cm water
depth
5.Insulation
Proper insulation of solar still helps improving the performance by limiting heat loss from the
system. Bilal et al. used styrofoam as an insulation material [13]. Thermocol of 2.5 cm thickness

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was used as an insulating material by Anburaj et al. [14]. Sahoo et al. have shown an increase in
efficiency of 11%, by using thermocol as insulation [16].
6.Angle of inclination
Solar stills are covered with high transmissive materials, such as clear glass plate on the top, where
the condensation takes place. Based on the latitude angle of the places the cover plates of the solar
stills are inclined at a particular angle.Singh and Tiwari [14] found that the annual yield of the
solar still is maximum when the condensing glass cover inclination is equal to the latitude of the
place. Thus an angle equivalent to that of latitude angle ± 10° was maintained by many of the
researchers. Single slope solar still is recommended for places with latitude higher than 20° by
Fath et al. [16]. For the higher latitude places if the double slope solar still is used, only one side
of the cover will receive the sun rays and other will be on the shadow and thus single slope solar
still may be preferred [11].
7.Glass cover thickness
Glass cover plate of 3 mm thickness [14] and 4 mm thickness were used in solar stills [3, 4] by the
researchers. Solar still with a glass cover plate thickness of 3 mm, 5 mm, and 6 mm were tested of
which the solar still with 3 mm thick glass cover plate resulted in higher production rate of 15.5%
[10]
8.Wind velocity
Increase in wind velocity increases the convective heat transfer between glass and ambient and
thus results improved condensation of distillate. El-Sebaii [5] also examined the effect of wind
speed on the daily productivity of active and passive solar still using simulation and found that the
daily production increases with increase in wind speed up to a typical velocity beyond which the
increase in production becomes insignificant. The typical velocity for summer is estimated as 10
m/s and for winter as 8 m/s. Ahmed [6] confirmed that productivity increase by 50% as the wind
velocity changes from 0 to 10 m/s.
Other methods for improving the performance and productivity of solar stills
9.Absorber plates
Absorber plates made up of galvanized iron or aluminum sheets have been preferred by many
researchers. Anburaj et al. [14] conducted an experiment on solar still by using aluminum sheet
of1 mm thickness, painted in black color as absorber plate and shown a distillate output of 3.77
l/m2 on a sunny day.Sengar et al. [8] designed a solar still using corrugated galvanized iron sheet
of area 1 m2 as absorber plate painted in black color in order to obtain the maximum temperature
inside the still. An efficiency of 47.14% in winter and 56.29% in summer was reported.
10.Wick material
Using sponge increases 29.9% productivity in solar still found by researches.[1] Sponge, jute cloth,
cotton, wax is mainly used as wick material. It is found that using blackened jute increases
productivity around 85% compared to conventional solar still (Kalidasa Murugavel et al. [4])

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Sengar et al. [7] used jute as wick material in a single basin solarstill and obtained an average yield
per day of 2.3 l/m2 in winter and 3.4 l/m2 in summer. The black cotton cloth improved the
evaporation rate since it has more diffusion effect and thus an increase in productivity of solar still
by 12% is reported [1].
11.Reflector
Internal reflectors and external reflectors were used in order to increase the rate of receiving solar
radiation. Use of reflectors can improve efficiency of any solar thermal device. Reflectors are
utilized to increase the concentration of solar radiation on particular area and thus an increase in
solar heat flux on that area is achieved. K.K. Marrowy et al. [6] found productivity improvement
about 34% by inclining the reflector at an angle 30° with respect to the vertical direction of the
setup. The use of internal and external reflectors resulted in a significant increase in productivity
of 72.8% during winter and 40.33% during spring. Whereas, the productivity increase in summer
was about7.54% [6]
12.Addition of fins
Adding fins to the solar still increases the water temperature so that the productivity increases.
Fins acts as an extended surface to the solar still basin. As fins were used at the bottom of the still,
absorber plate can absorb more solar radiation due to increase in exposure area and preheating
time for the saline water decreased. Thus the productivity is increased [1] W.M. Alaian et al. [7]
made an experimental analysis of pin finned solar still and shown an increase in productivity of
about 23% Velmurugan et al. [1] made an experiment with. Five fins with height of 35 mm, length
of 900 mm and thickness of 1 mm and the performance of single basin solar still was analyzed. A
productivity increase of 45% is reported for the solar still with fins.

5.Feasibility Analysis
The Amount of Solar radiation is directly proportional to the output of still’s performance. So,
location
of higher solar radiation areas are more suitable for this operation.
In Bangladesh

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6.Literature review

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Parameter Author Tittle Year Outcome
Fin Velmurugan V, Single basin solar still 2008 productivity of still
Gopalakrishnanwith increased by 15.3%,
M, Raghu R, fin for enhancing 29.6%, 45.5%
Srithar K productivity
Ali C, Rabhib Theoretical and 2014 12% boost in the yield
K, Ncirib R, experimental with reference to
Nasria F,
analysis of pin fins traditional solar still
Attyaoui S. absorber solar still.
Desaline Water Treat
Sadhana, Rai Experimental study on a 2015 Using strip fin attached
AK, Sachan V, finned basin solar still to the absorber plate the
Kumar M. distilled output was
raised by18% for solar
still with fins as
compared to the simple
one. The productivity
improvement was about
17% for day time and
20% for the night time.

Reflector Tanaka H. Effect of inclination of 2009 productivity can be

external reflector of basin increased inclining
type still in summer. external mirror;
Desalination productivity would be
7% when the length of
external mirror is half
then the solar still’s
length and 12% when
the length of external
mirror is equal to sill’s
length.

Tanaka H. A theoretical analysis of 2011 solar still with an

basin type solar still with external bottom and
flat plate external internal (back and two
bottom reflector. side walls) at 30°N
Desalination latitude
productivity of still
with external and
internal reflector was
increased 62% at
winter, 25% at summer
and 41 % at spring

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Nanoparticles Kabeel, Omara, Improving the 2014 By providing vacuum
& Essa, performance of solar still in the basin the
by using nanofluids and productivity we get is
providing vacuum, more than without
vacuum. Optimum
productivity of nano
fluid for CuO and
Al2O3 are 0.08% and
0.1%

Kabeel, Omara, Enhancement of modified 2013 By operating a fan or

& Essa solar still integrated providing
with external condenser vacuum we can get high
using nanofluids: an productivity.
experimental approach,

Sahota, Shyam, Energy matrices, enviro 2017 Maximum productivity

& Tiwari economic and exergo achieved by
economic analysis of using Al2O3 nano-
passive particles.
double slope solar still
with water based
nanofluids

Depth M.R. Influence of water depth 2012 Experiment was

Rajamanickam, on internal heat and performed in different
A. Ragupathy, mass transfer in a double depth and obtained
slope solar still, maximum distillate
production per day of
3.07 l/m2 at
1 cm water depth
Bilal A. Akash, Experimental study of the 2000 productivity of the solar
Mousa S. basin still decreases linearly
Mohsen, type solar still under local with increase in depth
Waleed Nayfeh climate conditions, of water at the rate of
0.4 l per cm
Thermoelectric Nader Rahbar An experimental 2016 The maximum
cooler a,⇑, Javad investigation on productivity on TEC
Abolfazli productivity and was 8 times greater than
Esfahani b,⇑, performance that of the glass.
Amin Asadi c of a new improved design Using TEC causes the
portable asymmetrical greater temperature
solar still utilizing difference and this
thermoelectric modules leads to increase the
productivity

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 External Emad AA. Evaluation of single slop 2014 Efficiency:84.5 %
condenser solar still integrated with The thermal efficiency
evaporative of the (SS) still without
cooling system for using condenser was
brackish water on, an average, 54.4%
desalination. J. Agric. Sci

7.Research gap
To increase efficiency of solar still hence evaporation rate and condensation rate, the following
techniques are seemed to be absent from previous researches
1.Utilizing the waste heat of condensation to heat the basin water.
2.Utilizing solar still external and internal side wall heat.
3.Maintaining a constant and minimum water depth.

8.Proposed design
A modified single slope solar still design is proposed that will fulfill the design gaps that were
present in previous solar still models reviewed in literature papers. This solar still will be combined
with nanofluid filled glass tube, TCM (thermoelectric module), external reflector, strip fin & depth
control pump.

8.1Objectives
1. To design a efficient solar still withj high productivity
2. To utiliozwe waste heat of condensation by using a cross flow heat exchanger in external
condenser
3. To use heat of still external and internal wall to heat the basin water by using, glass tuybe
filled with nano particle
4. To increase evaporation rate by using an automaticcontrol water supply pump. To maintain
minimum and constant water depth
5. To increase condensation rate by using a external condenser with TCM

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8.2Design model

Fig: Block diagram

Fig: Single slope solar still

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Fig: Side view

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 Fig: Top view

Fig:
External condenser

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 Fig: Heat exchanger
8.3What`s New in this design

Nanofluid filled glass tube

To use internal and external side walls heat a glass tube filled with nanofluid is placed beside the
wall. Nanoparticle is used to increase water thermal conductivity.
Water thermal conductivity is 0.5918 W·m−1·K−1
Al2O3 will be used as nanoparticle cause its cheap and available.

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External reflector
A vertical external reflector inclined at 15 degree and and three side reflectors at 45 degree will be
used to increase basin water and nanofluid temperature.

Single slope solar still

Single slope solar still is recommended for places with latitude higher than 20° by Fath et al. [17].
For the higher latitude places if the double slope solar still is used, only one side of the cover will
receive the sun rays and other will be on the shadow and thus single slope solar still may be
preferred [18].
Latitude of rajshahi is 24°22′26″ N
So single slope will be more efficient.
Depth
Basin water depth will be maintained at 1 cm with the help of a automatic water control pump.
Solar still production is inversely proportional to basin water depth. production is optimum for 1
cm depth.
External condenser with TCM (thermoelectric module)
External condenser increases the productivity by extracting water vapor from the still cause if air
gets fully saturated with vapor than it will increase saturation pressure thus increase saturation
temp causing more heat required to evaporate the basin water.

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TEC1-12706 Thermoelectric Peltier Cooler will be used in the external condenser to increase the
condensation rate.
Thermoelectric cooler heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one
side of the device to the other, with consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction
of the current.

Factors that effect TCM performance

1.Applied voltage
2.Temperature difference between hot and cold side.

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Fin
Fin increase the production rate by increasing the absorber plate area cause more sun ray to be get
absorbed by the absorber plate and basin water gets heats up quickly.
Strip fin will be used cause productivity and efficiency is higher for strip fin comparing with other
type fins (pin, circular, rectangular, groove etc.)
Heat exchanger
A cross flow heat exchanger will be used to utilize the heat lost during condensation, to heat the
supply water.

9.Conclusion
Increase in solar radiation intensity increases the still productivity and the radiation heat flux shall
be increased by using reflectors for improving the yield.
Increase in collector area and free surface area of water increases the rate of evaporation and thus
the productivity as it is results in more heat absorption.
Basin tray should be necessarily coated with anti-corrosive matte black paint for a better heat
absorption.
Decrease in water depth increases the productivity of the still as the phase change of water into
vapour quickly takes place with minimum depth of water in basin.
Single slope solar stills are more productive in the regions of higher latitudes whereas the double
(dual) slope solar stills are more desirable at the lower latitude regions.
The extended surfaces or fins attached to the absorber plate induce the equal heat distribution over
the different layers of basin water.
The maximum productivity on TEC was 8 times greater than that of the glass.

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It was found that the annual yield of the solar still was maximum when the condensing glass cover
inclination is equal to the latitude of the place
The integration of solar stills with solar collectors increases the yield of fresh water by 36%

11.Reference
[1] velmurugan v, gopalakrishnan m, raghu r, srithar k. Single basin solar still with fin for
enhancing productivity. Energy convers manag 2008;49:2602–8

[2] ali c, rabhib k, ncirib r, nasria f, attyaoui s. Theoretical and experimental analysis of pin fins
absorber solar still. Desalin water treat 2014.

[3] sadhana, rai ak, sachan v, kumar m. Experimental study on a finned basin solar still. Ijmet
2015;6(7):16–20

[4] rajaseenivasan t, srithar k. Performance investigation on solar still with circular and square fins
in basin with co2 mitigation and economic analysis. Desalination 2016

[5] tanaka h. Experimental study of a basin type solar still with internal and external reflectors in
winter. Desalination 2009;249:130–4
[6] tanaka h, nakatake y. Effect of inclination of external flat plate reflector of basin type still in
winter. Sol energy 2007;81:1035–42
[7] tanaka h. Effect of inclination of external reflector of basin type still in summer. Desalination
2009;242:205–14.
[8] tanaka h. A theoretical analysis of basin type solar still with flat plate external bottom reflector.
Desalination 2011;279:243–51.
[9] a. E. Kabeel, z. M. Omara, and f. A. Essa, “improving the performance of solar still by using
nanofluids and providing vacuum,” energy convers. Manag., vol. 86, pp. 268–274, 2014.
[10] a. E. Kabeel, z. M. Omara, and f. A. Essa, “enhancement of modified solar still integrated
with external condenser using nanofluids : an experimental approach,” no. November, pp. 5–7,
2013
[11] l. Sahota, shyam, and g. N. Tiwari, “energy matrices, enviroeconomic and exergoeconomic
analysis of passive double slope solar still with water based nanofluids,” desalination, vol. 409,
pp. 66–79, 2017.
[12] m.r. rajamanickam, a. Ragupathy, influence of water depth on internal heat and mass transfer
in a double slope solar still, energy procedia 14 (2012) 1701–1708.

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[13] bilal a. Akash, mousa s. Mohsen, waleed nayfeh, experimental study of the basin type solar
still under local climate conditions, energy convers. Manag. 41 (2000) 883–890
[14] nader rahbar a,⇑, javad abolfazli esfahani b,⇑, amin asadi, an experimental investigation on
productivity and performanceof a new improved design portable asymmetrical solar still utilizing
thermoelectric modules, energy and sustainable development research center, iran (2016)
[15] emad aa. Evaluation of single slop solar still integrated with evaporative cooling system for
brackish water desalination. J. Agric. Sci. 2014;6:48–58
[16] e1-bahi a, inan d. A solar still with minimum inclination, coupled to an outside condenser.
Desalination 1999;123:79–83
[17] h.e.s. fath, m. El-samanoudy, k. Fahmy, a. Hassabou, thermal-economic analysis and
comparison between pyramid-shaped and single slope solar still configurations,desalination 159
(2003) 69–79
[18] k. Kalidasa murugavel, kn.k.s.k. chockalingam, k. Srithar, progresses in improvingthe
effectiveness of the single basin passive solar still, desalination 220 (2008)677–686.

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12.Gant chart
(1-4) 5 cycle 6 cycle 7 cycle 8 cycle (9-11) (12-13)
Cycle cycles cycles cycles

Topic
Literature review

Research gap

Design proposal

Material selection

Dimension selection

Simulation of
proposed design

Prototype building

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