Thermal Performance Study of the Single Slope Evacuated Tube Integrated Desalination System
Abstract
Water scarcity is one of the major issue globe is facing these days and due to its increasing trend the world is under stress. Use of water for various applications (agriculture, drinking, etc.) is affected because of mixing of wastewater in fresh water resources. It is predicted that by 2025, 1/4th of the population of the world will suffer from water scarcity and 2/3rd of the world’s population will be affected by high water stress. Major countries enlisted for water stress are Africa, Asia, America and Europe. Desalination is one of the most effective methods to meet the growing demands of the fresh water. Among the various types of desalination, solar water desalination is one of the most important and reliable method of producing fresh water. Therefore, in present study, evacuated tubes based single slope desalination system (ETC-SS) is designed and investigated for best efficiency. The study was conducted in the climatic conditions of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir with latitude of 32.9915° N and longitude 74.9318° E. The average solar radiation is of about 800 W/m2. Thermal performance of the system is studied with distillate output and solar radiation. This study was performed with 40 and 60% basin depth of the designed system. The trend in basin depth with 40% was noted better for distillate output in comparison with 60% depth. The results revealed that study for the desalinate output with different depth of the system shows remarkable changes. The system efficiency when compared with previous traditional types or other modified types of solar still is found with better efficiency and output. The output of the design system is observed for suitable to produce 3.5 to 4 litres of water in a day. So, this type solar based energy system is good for sustainable environment.
