Abstract
This research article presents an experimental performance comparison of three cases, viz (1) conventional solar still, (2) single slope solar still incorporated with parabolic trough collector, and (3) single slope solar still incorporated with parabolic trough collector and packed layer of glass balls in the basin. The resulting heat due to incident solar energy on the parabolic trough collector is transferred by means of a finned piped (steel) loop heat exchanger that is immersed in the still basin. Experimentations were carried out during the winter with saline water depth 50 mm in the still basin. The packed layer of glass balls acts as a thermal storage medium to improve the heat transfer. The analysis shows that the case (3) has the highest freshwater productivity followed by the case (2) and (1), respectively. The percentage increase in the yield of solar still is 152 for case (3) and 130 for case (2) when compared to conventional solar still. Similarly, the highest solar still efficiency is reported for case (3) which is equal to 14.96% followed by the case (2) with 13.96% and the least is for case (1) with 13.5%. An economic analysis is also carried out for all the above-mentioned cases to show the feasibility of the integration of parabolic trough collectors with a packed layer of glass balls in the still basin. Both the efficiency improvement and the economic viability show that the proposed modifications are highly promising for the water-scarce regions.