3E enhancement of freshwater productivity of solar still with heater, vibration, and cover cooling

Abstract This study focused on experimentally increasing the productivity of freshwater from solar stills. The performance of a single solar still system could be augmented with the combination of an electric heater, vibration motion, and thermoelectric cooling. The study investigated the effect of combining two of these components and finally combining all of them on freshwater productivity. The electric heater and vibration motion are used to enrich the evaporation rate while thermoelectric coolers are used to enhance the condensation rate, leading to high freshwater productivity. The proposal, construction, and testing of two identical solar stills performed under the local climate conditions of the city of Alexandria in northwestern Egypt during the summer and winter times. The two solar stills had a 1 m2 base area. An electric heater of 450 W was placed inside the modified solar still. The modified solar still was fixed on four coiled springs. A 1 hp power DC motor, an inverter, a control unit, and two 330 W photovoltaic solar panels were attached to the modified solar still. Eccentric masses were mounted on the rotating disk attached to the DC motor to generate the vibration. The daily output of freshwater was measured experimentally for the modified case and the conventional solar still under the same climate condition. The daily rates of freshwater productivity in summer were investigated for four cases and the conventional one. Results showed that the peak daily freshwater productivity achieved with the solar heater, thermoelectric coolers, and vibration motion was 12.82 kg/day, with a maximum estimated cost of 0.01786 $/L/m2.