Novel Cascade Solar Desalination Still: Mathematical, Numerical and Experimental Analysis

Abstract

Morocco is considered as a water-stressed country and is among the countries that face fresh water scarcity. However Morocco has an important solar energy and a significant amount of seawater and ocean. Therefore converting saline water to fresh water using solar energy is the perfect and the cleanest solution. Solar still is the simplest, cleanest and cheapest technology of solar desalination. In this paper a novel solar still with stepped-slope absorber plate and baffles was proposed and developed in order to enhance the thermal performance of the conventional solar stills. In order to validate the performance of the developed technology a comparative study were elaborated. A mathematical model was developed. The energy balance equations for the various elements of the solar still are formulated and numerically solved using the dynamic simulation program Matlab/SimulinkTM and the Euler explicit method programmed by C++. Also, the experimental process of the new construction was evaluated and validates the new pattern performance. The thermal performance was investigated and shows considerable improvement through the new construction.

Keywords

• Solar desalination
• brackish water
• stepped solar still
• cascade solar still
• heat transfer