Techniques of improving rate of heat transfer in Solar Still as a Solar-Thermal Desalination device – A Review

Mechanical (Renewable Energy) Engineering

Pure drinking water is an essential need of human being. Solar desalination is one of the simplest methods used for distillation of saline water and the devices are called solar stills. The desalination in single sloped solar still has very low output of water. Hence, the notion of double sloped solar still has been created to increase the performance of solar stills. There are many methods to increase the heat transfer inside solar stills, as use of Nanofluids and attaching different types and shapes of fins on the absorber plate. Nanofluids are more efficient heat transfer medium for utilizing thermal energy for solar applications. As the addition of fins attached to absorber plate increases water evaporation rate, various shapes of fins can used for maximized output. This paper reviews the various ways of enhancing the rate of heat transfer in solar stills as solar-thermal desalination devices.

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