Investigation of the Effect of Parameters Related to the Absorbent Fabric on the Performance of The Stepped Solar Still Using the Taguchi Method

Providing fresh water has been one of the most important concerns of mankind and various methods have been used to solve this concern. In this regard, one of the simplest devices is the stepped solar still. In this research, the effect of using fabric as an absorbent material and its related parameters on the amount of freshwater production has been investigated experimentally. In this regard, stepped solar still has been built and the parameters related to the fabric and their interactions have been tested. These parameters were: type, color, number of layers, and the angle of the fabric relative to the surface of the steps, as well as the height of the water weir in each step. The experiments were designed using the Taguchi method. Among the examined parameters, the color and the material of the fabric have been identified as the most effective factors in increasing the volume of produced fresh water. The results showed that the maximum water production during the day was 2790 ml/m2 using black cotton fabric in three layers with an angle of 90 degrees relative to the steps' surface and a water weir height of 1 cm.