Case Studies in Thermal Engineering (Jul 2024)
Examining the effect of water and glass surface temperature on the rate of generation and heat transfer in triangular double-slope single-basin solar still in Kerman province
Abstract
Freshwater is a fundamental ingredient and its shortage is a serious issue. High evaporation rates of some regions can be exploited for freshwater production using solar stills. Meanwhile, Kerman province in the south of Iran has a hot and dry climate and suffers from water shortages and drought. On the other hand, Iran has a lot of access to salt and open water and has a high evaporation capacity in many areas and has the facilities and technical knowledge in the field of using solar water desalinators. Therefore, in this research, the effect of temperatures of salty water and glass surfaces on the rate of freshwater production in Kerman province is investigated. A numerical approach is used in this study and experimental research is used as validation reference. Moreover, the grid independency study is performed with proper accuracy and an adequate number of meshes. In addition to, the rate of water production and average Nusselt number (Nuave) in different cases, temperature, mass fraction, streamlines and velocities are examined for evaluation of results. The results show that by increasing the glass surface and salty water temperatures and raising the difference between the salty water and glass temperatures, which is accompanied by an increase in the density gradient, the rate of freshwater production increases. Also, the highest rate has occurred at the water temperature of Tw = 65 °C and glass temperature of Tg = 61 °C.
