THE USE OF SOLAR DISTILLERS IN SALT WATER DESALINATION

Abstract

In this study, solar energy was utilized to distillate and purify saline water throw a conventional solar still.. which is considered one of the best solutions to over come the potable water shortage in remote arid areas. The experiments were conducted at four saline water depths (1, 2, 3 and 4 cm from the still bottom) and at two levels of water salinty (15000 ppm and 35000 ppm). But this system is not popular because of its lower productivity, so the aim of this study is to used another systems to increase the performance of the solar desalination. Wick solar still using one of the methods to increase the productivity is by decrease the volumetric heat capacity of the basin. The use of tilted wick material in the basin will increase the evaporation area and enhance the production. Research experiment was statistically designed and practically applied at the Solar Energy Laboratory, Dept. of Agric. Eng., Fac. of Agric., Ain Shams University, Cairo (φ=30°N).