Analysis of Drip Process on Foam Bed to Improve the Distillate Yield Rate on Pyramid Solar Still

Abstract

Technology of solar distillation technology is well established. However, application of locally available material in a manner techno-economically conducive to distillation has been always a point of investigation. In this paper, design, development and experimental results of four sloped pyramid shape top cover solar still is presented. The principal objective has been to use locally available foams to increase the distillate output. Experiments are carried out under the climatic conditions of Coimbatore, India (11° North, 77° East) under typical clear sky days. The system designed and developed is operated into two modes, (i) with thin water layer on the absorber and (ii) with black colored foam of varying dimensions are used in basin bed. The stainless steel basin of length 98.6 cm, breath 98.6 cm and 12.5 cm is used for water storage. An increase in condensate due to capillary rise is observed. System was further evaluated by recording variation in foam temperature, cover temperature, air temperature, ambient temperature and distillate output.