Chemical potential of different phases inside the pyramid stepped basin solar still through Gibbs free energy

Abstract

Chemical potentials of the temperature components of the pyramid stepped basin solar distiller (PSBSD) have been evaluated to illustrate the behavior of the water vapor and condensed water droplets during the process of solar distillation. Chemical potential is one of the main criteria in terms of chemical and phase equilibrium which is obtained from the Gibbs phase rule. The application of the Gibbs phase rule established a good relationship between the design, climatic and experimental parameters of the PSBSD. The internal heat transfer coefficients of the distiller are influenced by the intensity of solar radiation and ambient temperature which in turn explains the intensive state of the PSBSD. It is found that the chemical potentials and the intensive states of the different phases of the system established a relation between the equilibrium of liquid and vapor mixture with specifications of temperature components of the PSBSD. It is also found that the efficiency of the PSBSD is 38.135% with a distillate yield of 4.280 l/m2day over 24 h cycle.

Keywords

• Gibbs phase rule
• Chemical potential
• Solar still
• Equilibrium