PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT OF A TUBULAR SOLAR STILL, USING CFD SIMULATION Print

In recent years, due to scarcity of drinking water, scientists have conducted many studies to find several optimization methods for solar desalination systems. Solar stills use clean solar energy without any noise and any pollution. Therefore, they can be the best alternative for conventional desalination devices. The intention of this work is the CFD simulation of two-dimensional laminar natural convection inside a tubular solar still. In this manner, the governing equations of mass, momentum, energy and concentration are solved by a finite volume method. Furthermore, we investigate the effects of trough geometry, cover radius, water depth, and position of the trough on the productivity of the tubular solar still. The results are in a good agreement with the results of previous reported experimental data. The results showed that the tubular solar still with circular trough is the best choice to have a maximum productivity. Moreover, the best height between the trough and the cover was found at 124.9mm, and the optimum water-depth and optimum cover-radius are 48mm and 80 mm, respectively.