Brackish Water Desalination Using Solar Still with Built-in Heat Exchanger Coupled to Solar Collector

The present experimental and theoretical work investigates the continuous heating effect water of solar still basin. The solar still distillation system has been designed, installed and tested under real conditions in the Faculty of Petroleum Mining Engineering, Suez University, and Suez, Egypt. The system consists of three major components: single solar still, solar still with built in heat exchanger, flat-plate solar collector, and evacuated tube solar collector. The output behavior of the system is investigated using three different configurations: 1- Standalone solar still unit, 2- Solar still with built in heat exchanger coupled with flat-plate collector, and 3- Solar still with built in heat exchanger coupled with evacuated tube collector. The solar still different configurations are examined, concerning distilled water productivity. It is found that the output water from 3
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configuration, “solar still with evacuated tube collector”, more than twice that from standalone solar still for the same conditions. The improving the productivity is refers as a result of continuous heating of basin water from heat exchanger. The hybrid design of this system can use available heat, such as waste heat, coming from thermal processes nearby, optimizing exploitability of any available heat sources. A simple transient mathematical model is developed based on the energy-balance equations. Theoretical results in agreement with is experimental obtained results.