Frontiers in Energy

 Front. Energy    2020, Vol. 14 Issue (1) : 105-113     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-018-0536-4
 RESEARCH ARTICLE
Experimental study on performance of passive and active solar stills in Indian coastal climatic condition
R. LALITHA NARAYANA1(), V. RAMACHANDRA RAJU2
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTUK), Kakinada 533003, India
2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzivid 521201, India
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 Abstract This present work is aimed to examine the effect of mass flow rate on distillate output and performance of a solar still in active mode. Outdoor experiments were conducted at the coastal town, Kakinada (16°93′N/83°33′E), Andhra Pradesh, India. A solar still with a 30° of fixed cover inclination, 1m2 of effective basin area, and a flat-plate collector (FPC) with an effective area of 2 m2 were used. An attempt was also made earlier in passive mode to optimize the water depth for the same solar still for maximum yield and distillation efficiency. For the passive still, it is observed that the capacity of heat storage and heat drop are significant parameters that affect the still performance. For the selected still design, the study reveals that 0.04 m water depth is the optimum value for specific climatic conditions. In the active solar still, with the optimum water depth, different flow rates of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 L/min are considered through FPC. It is observed that both the mass flow rate and the variation of internal heat transfer coefficients with the mass flow rate have a significant effect on the yield and performance of the still. The experimental results show that the combination of 1.5 L/min mass flow rate and an optimum water depth of 0.04 m leads to a maximum yield for the active solar still. The enhanced yield of the active solar still is 57.55%, compared with that of the passive solar still, due to increase in area of radiation collection and more heat absorption rate. Corresponding Author(s): R. LALITHA NARAYANA Just Accepted Date: 20 December 2017   Online First Date: 02 February 2018    Issue Date: 16 March 2020
 Cite this article: R. LALITHA NARAYANA,V. RAMACHANDRA RAJU. Experimental study on performance of passive and active solar stills in Indian coastal climatic condition[J]. Front. Energy, 2020, 14(1): 105-113. URL: http://journal.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-018-0536-4 http://journal.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2020/V14/I1/105
 Fig.1  Line diagram of an active solar still coupled with FPC Fig.2  Photograph of a passive solar still Fig.3  Photograph of an active solar still coupled with FPC Tab.1  Ranges and least counts of measuring instruments Tab.2  Hourly average values calculated using 24hr experimental data for a passive solar still with an optimum water depth Fig.4  Variation of hcw with water depth using K&T model Fig.5  Variation of hew with water depth using K&T model Fig.6  Variation of ∑m and hD with water depth Tab.3  Values obtained for various water depths in passive mode for the observations of 24 h from K&T model Fig.7  Variation of hcw with mass flow rate using K&T model Fig.8  Variation of hew with mass flow rate using K&T model Fig.9  Variation of ∑m and hD with mass flow rate Tab.4  Hourly average values calculated using 24hexperimental data for an active solar still at an optimum water depth of 0.04 m and mass flow rate of 1.5 L/min Tab.5  Values obtained for various mass flow rates in active mode for the observations of 24 h from K&T model Tab.6  Comparative analysis of samples
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