Augmentation of freshwater productivity in single slope solar still using Luffa acutangula fibres

Abstract

The prime intention of the current research is to enhance the freshwater productivity of the solar still (SS) by using Luffa acutangula fibres (LAF). The dried LA fibres were introduced into the absorber basin of solar still to enhance the wet surface area through its porous structure that leads to augmented evaporation of water from the absorber basin. The effect of the number of LAF in absorber basin such as 10,13,14,15,16,20 and 25 on freshwater productivity was estimated. The results revealed that SSLAF with 15 fibres in the absorber basin increased the yield by 25.23%. Besides, solar still with 10,13,14,16,20 and 25 fibres in the absorber basin increased the yield by 12.27%, 17.45%, 22.04%, 22.69%, 14.64% and 4.09% respectively when compared to conventional solar still (CSS). The average thermal efficiency of the SSLAF with 15 LAF was increased by 28.35% whereas, for 10,13,14,16,20 and 25 LAF, the average thermal efficiency was increasedby 11.05%, 16.99%, 22.53%, 19.93%, 11.29% and 3.9% respectively when compared to CSS.The economic analysis resulted that the cost per litre freshwater yield from the SSLAF is 22.5% lower than CSS. Also, the payback period of SSLAF is comparatively lesser than that of CSS.

Materials design and system structures of solar steam evaporators

“…Porous materials have a high vapor rate. Sendhil Kumar Natarajan and coworkers utilized the low‐cost and eco‐friendly natural materials to obtain better evaporation rate 44–47 . Due to the porous and arched structure of bamboo, a bamboo charcoal with high absorbance by carbonizing bamboo was obtained 48 .…”

Sustainability assessment of single slope solar still with glass cover cooling using naturally available fibers

“…The decrease in production was mainly due to the more fibers that absorbed more water as well as hindered the incoming solar radiation. Hence, an optimum number of fibers in the basin was later proposed for the enhancement of potable water productivity using fibers 13,14 . Panchal et al studied the performance of solar still with graphite powder and black paint coated on the absorber for enhancing freshwater productivity.…”

“…Hence, an optimum number of fibers in the basin was later proposed for the enhancement of potable water productivity using fibers. 13,14 Panchal et al studied the performance of solar still with graphite powder and black paint coated on the absorber for enhancing freshwater productivity. It was reported that the solar still with modified absorber enhanced the yield by about 17% compared with the productivity of CSS.…”

Combined enhancement of evaporation and condensation rates in the solar still for augmenting the freshwater productivity using energy storage and natural fibres

“…It was found that the productivity was augmented by 129% compared to the CSS. Suraparaju & Natarajan (2021a) studied the impact of porous luffa fibres on the productivity of the solar still. It was noted that the optimum number of fibres to be placed in the solar still was 15 and the productivity enhanced with 15 fibres was about 25.23% compared to the CSS.…”