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Thermal modeling, characterization, and enviro-economic investigations on inclined felt sheet solar distiller for seawater desalination

  • Green Technologies for Sustainable Water
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Abstract

Sustainable desalination can be achieved by adopting renewable energy-based low-cost and low-impact desalting techniques. In this investigation, capability of inclined felt sheet solar distiller in desalting seawater is assessed by evaluating its performance, distillate water quality, economics, and environmental impacts. The distiller with 1.18-m2 aperture area produced around 4.60 L/day of distillate for a cumulative incident solar radiation intensity of about 20.52 MJ/m2 day. Its pollutant removal efficiency is very much superior to other available solar stills reported in literatures. Thermal model developed for estimating distiller’s performance is able to predict its productivity with reasonable accuracy (only 8.0% deviation from experimental values) and was used for estimating distiller’s performance in various seashore locations in India with varying clear days (191 to 246). Yearly mean distillate production and thermal and exergy efficiencies of the proposed distiller range between 3.60 to 4.50 L/day, 36.45 to 42.39%, and 2.85 to 3.65%, respectively, in east seashore locations of India. Moreover, 18.46 tons of CO2, 132.72 kg of SO2, and 54.20 kg of NO emission can be mitigated by adopting the distiller for potable water production. Distillate production cost of inclined felt sheet solar distiller is in the range of 1.15 to 2.29 INR/L and highly depends on the interest rate at which the distiller is financed. Generation of reasonable quantity of high-quality potable water at low cost with huge environmental benefits makes proposed inclined felt sheet solar distiller a suitable option for quenching thirst in coastal and remote locations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641114, India

    Sharon Hilarydoss, Drupad Chand & Belmin Benny

  2. Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600036, India

    Krithika Delhiraja & Ligy Philip

  3. Heat Transfer and Thermal Power Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600036, India

    Kalvala Srinivas Reddy

Authors
  1. Sharon Hilarydoss
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  2. Krithika Delhiraja
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  3. Kalvala Srinivas Reddy
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  4. Ligy Philip
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  5. Drupad Chand
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  6. Belmin Benny
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Kalvala Srinivas Reddy, Ligy Philip, Sharon Hilarydoss;

Methodology: Sharon Hilarydoss;

Formal analysis and investigation: Sharon Hilarydoss, Krithika Delhiraja;

Writing—manuscript preparation, reviewing, and editing: Sharon Hilarydoss, Krithika Delhiraja; Drupad Chand, Belmin Benny;

Resources: Kalvala Srinivas Reddy, Ligy Philip;

Supervision: Kalvala Srinivas Reddy, Ligy Philip

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sharon Hilarydoss.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Nomenclature

Parameter

Unit/Value

Condensing surface area, (Ag)

1.18 m2

Conduction heat loss through insulation (Qcd(fs-a))

W

Convection heat transfer from felt sheet to glass cover (Qc(fs-g))

W

Convection heat transfer from glass cover to ambient (Qc(g-a))

W

Distillate production rate (\( \dot{m} \))

Kg/s

Emissivity of condenser, (εg)

0.88

Emissivity of water, (εfs)

0.95

Evaporating surface area,(Afs)

1.18 m2

Evaporation heat transfer from felt sheet to glass cover (Qe(fs-g))

W

Exergy efficiency (ηex)

%

Gap between felt sheet and glass cover,(W)

0.10 m

Insulation thickness, (di)

0.03 m

Lewis number (Le)

-

Molecular weight of water vapor, (MW)

18.0 kg/kmol

Mole fraction of water vapor (MFW)

-

Partial pressure of evaporating surface (Pfs)

Pascal

Partial pressure of condensing surface (Pg)

Pascal

Radiation heat transfer from felt sheet to glass cover (Qr(fs-g))

W

Radiation heat transfer from glass cover to ambient (Qr(g-a))

W

Rayleigh number (Ra’)

-

Specific heat capacity of condenser,(Cg)

670.0 J/kg-K

Specific heat capacity of evaporator,(Cfs)

477.0 J/kg-K

Stefan-Boltzmann Constant, (σ)

5.67 x 10-8 W/m2-K4

Surface temperature of Sun, (Ts)

5727.0 º C

Temperature of glass cover (Tg)

° C

Temperature of felt sheet (Tfs)

° C

Thermal conductivity of glass wool, (Ki)

0.038 W/m-K

Thermal conductivity of air-vapor mixture (Kav)

W/m-K

Thermal efficiency (ηth)

%

Total pressure, (Pt)

101325.0 Pa

Universal gas constant, (R)

8314.0 J/kmol-K

Wind velocity (V)

m/s

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Hilarydoss, S., Delhiraja, K., Reddy, K.S. et al. Thermal modeling, characterization, and enviro-economic investigations on inclined felt sheet solar distiller for seawater desalination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 63572–63588 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10831-y

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