eer ing C Government Of Gujarat

in
ng o
Government Engineering Colleg
E

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g e , Va l sa d .
Government Polytechnic Campus, Kosamba
Bhagadawada, Valsad - 396 001.
G o

Phone / Fax : (02632) 241960

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Ref. No. : Date

PREPARED BY: - GUIDED BY:-
PUSHPA MR. K.V. MODI
SANNNI CHUDASAMA Assistant Prof.,
MIHIR GONAWALA MECH. ENGG.
ANKUR PANCHAL DEPARTMENT.
JATIN PARMAR

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGG.

GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE, VALSAD
 Introduction
Solar energy
Applications of solar energy
Solar energy & environment
Solar energy & global
warming
Physical characteristics of
water
Methods of converting
brackish water into potable
water
Guidelines for selection of
appropriate technique
Water distillation principles
Types of solar water
Experimental setup
Design of a solar still
Components of a solar still
How a solar still works?
Parameters on which solar
still output depends
Advantages and
disadvantages
Performance of a solar still
Output of a solar still
Results
Conclusion
Some other stills
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 Shortage of drinking water - the biggest
problem of the world in this century due to
unsustainable consumption rates.

Ocean constitute 97%

Remaining 3% is the fresh water present in

atmosphere ,polar ice , ground water and other
inaccessible forms.

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 Only 0.014% is directly available to human being
and that too is not evenly distributed.

More than 80 countries and 40% population is

facing the scarcity of water.

So, its important to develop new clean water

sources.

Desalination of sea water is an important

alternative since only inexhaustible source is the
ocean. ng
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 Particularly important for locations where solar
intensity is high and there is a scarcity of fresh
water.

For smaller outputs, simple solar stills could be

preferred because of their low costs.

A number of countries including West-Indian

Islands, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and
Australia, uses these type of solar distillation
units. ng
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 Another aspect of saline water distillation is that
it will never run out its raw material, because
the facility is located right next to the ocean.

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SOLAR ENERGY
 Solar energy is radiant energy that is produced
by the sun.

About 15 percent of the suns energy that

hits the earth is reflected back into space.
Another 30 percent is used to evaporate
water, which produces rainfall. Solar energy
also is absorbed by plants, the land, and the
oceans. The rest could be used to supply our
energy needs. ng
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 No air or water pollution.

One of the most viable energy sources for the

future.

You can save on a huge amount of money and

electricity by utilizing the renewable solar
energy.

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 No other energy can be as environment-friendly
as the Solar Energy.

It does not pollute the air when being converted

into electricity by solar panels or other thermal
devices. Industrial or electric power plants
which run on electricity produce carbon
emissions that pose as a hazard for the
environment and all the living beings.

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 If you are concerned about the serious effects
of Global Warming, think again. Solar energy is
the savior here as it does not produce
greenhouse effect which is the major cause of
global warming.

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 Total Dissolved Solids - TDS

"Dissolved solids" refer to any minerals, salts,

metals, cat ions or anions dissolved in water.
This includes anything present in water other
than the pure water (H20) molecule and
suspended solids.

Suspended solids are any particles that are

neither dissolved nor settled in the water.

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 High levels of TDS are caused by the presence of

Potassium,

Chlorides

Sodium.

Toxic ions (lead arsenic, cadmium, nitrate and

others) may also be dissolved in the water.

When TDS levels exceed 1000mg/L it is generally

considered unfit for human consumption.
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 DIFFERENT SOURCES TDS
Ideal Drinking water from reverse osmosis, 0-50 PPM
distillation, deionization, microfiltration,
etc..
Often considered acceptable range for 50-140 PPM
carbon filtration, mountain springs or
aquifers.
Average tap water. 140-400 PPM

Hard water. 170 PPM or above

Less desirable 200-300 PPM

Unpleasant levels from tap water, aquifers or 300-500 PPM

mountain springs. ng
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The EPA's maximum contamination level. 500 PPM

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 Turbidity

Turbidity in the water is suspended insoluble

matter including coarse particles (mud,
sediment, sand etc.) that settle rapidly on
standing.

The standard unit is that which is produced by

one milligram of finely divided silica (fullers
earth) in one litre of distilled water.

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 pH

The indicator for acidity or alkalinity, or basic,

is known as the pH value.

The pH of pure water is 7. In general, water

with a pH lower than 7 is considered acidic, and
with a pH greater than 7, basic.

The measurement of alkalinity and pH is needed

to determine the corrosiveness of the water.
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 Taste and Odour

The extent of taste or odour is measured by a

term called odour intensity.

Water to be tested is gradually diluted with

odour free water, and the mixture at which the
detection of odour by human observation is just
lost, is determined. The number of times the
sample is diluted represents the threshold odour
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 Distillation: The saline water is evaporated using
thermal energy and the resulting steam is
collected and condensed as final product.

Vapour Compression: Here water vapour from

boiling water is compressed adiabatically and
vapour gets superheated. The superheated
vapour is first cooled to saturation temperature
and then condensed at constant pressure. This
process is derived by mechanical energy.
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 Reverse Osmosis: Here saline water is pushed at
high pressure through special membranes
allowing water molecules pass selectively and
not the dissolved salts.

Electro-dialysis: Here a pair of special

membranes, perpendicular to which there is an
electric field are used and water is passed
through them. Water does not pass through the
membranes while dissolved salts pass selectively.
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 In distillation; thermal energy is used while in
vapour compression, reverse osmosis, electro-
dialysis etc., some mechanical and electrical
energy is used.

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 Quantity of Fresh Water Required and its End
Use.

Available Water Sources, such as Sea, Ponds,

Wells, etc.

Proximity to nearest Fresh Water Sources.

Availability of Electric Power at the Site or Close

by.

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 Cost of Supplying Fresh Water by Various
Methods.

Cost and Availability of Labor in the Region.

Maintenance and Daily Operational

Requirements.

Life Span of the Water Supply System.

Economic Value of the Region.

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 The temperature, at which a substance changes
it state from liquid to vapour is called a boiling
point, and it is different for different
substances. This difference can be used to
separate substances, and as such can be used for
water purification.

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The process is relatively simple:

The dirty water is heated to the boiling point

and thus vaporizes.

It becomes steam, while other substances

remain in solid state, in boiler.

Steam is then directed into a cooler where it

cools down and returns to liquid water

The end result is water, purified of additional

substances found in it before distillation. ng
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 Distillation will remove from water almost
anything, even heavy metals, poisons, bacteria
and viruses.

It does not remove substances that have boiling

points at a lower temperature than water, like
oils, petroleum, alcohol and similar substances,
which in most cases don't mix with water.

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 Single Basin Solar Still

Wick Type Solar Still

Multiple Effect Solar Still

Hybrid designs etc.

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 There are a number of ways in which solar stills

can usefully be combined with another function

of technology. Three examples are given:

Rainwater collection: By adding an external

gutter, the still cover can be used for rainwater

collection to supplement the solar still output.

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 Greenhouse-solar still. The roof of a greenhouse
can be used as the cover of a still.

Supplementary heating. Waste heat from an

engine or the condenser of a refrigerator can be
used as an additional energy input.

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 We have kept the area of the inner tray as n
1 m2, so that we can evaluate the output and
the efficiency on per m2 basis.

According to a research paper by D. W.

Medugu and L. G. Ndatuwong, the best angle of
inclination of glazing is 10-15, so we have kept
it as 13.5.

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 Outer Tray

Inner Blackened Tray

Transparent Cover ( Glazing)

Condensate Channel

Insulation

Supply and Delivery System

Stand

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 Outer Tray: Outer tray is made of 18 gauge G.I.
sheet, by cutting and bending and then joining by
welding.

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 Inner Blackened Tray:- Inner blackened tray is
made of alluminium, and it is painted with heat
absorbing black paint on the inner side.

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 Glazing: For glazing, Toughened Glass is used,
which is fitted in alluminium frame.

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 Condensate Channel: Condensate channel is
made of alluminium & screwed on the inner side
of the frame to collect the condensed water.

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 Insulation:- Insulation is provided between outer
and inner trays. 1 thick sheet of PUF
(Polyurethane Foam) is used as insulation
material.

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 Sealing Gasket:- Sealing gasket of rubber is
used, to provide sealing between the glazing
frame and the upper bent face of G.I. tray.

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 Stand:- Stand is used to support the still above
ground level.

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 It consists of a blackened inner tray containing
saline water at a shallow depth, over which is a
transparent air tight cover (glazing) that
encloses completely the spaces above the basin.

The cover is sloped towards a collection trough.

Solar radiation is transmitted through glass and

is absorbed as heat by blackened surface in
contact with the water to be distilled.

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 As water heats up, it begins to evaporate and
the warmed vapour rises to a cooler area.
Almost all impurities are left behind in the
basin.

The vapour condenses on the underside of the

cooler glazing and accumulates into water
droplets or sheets of water and runs towards the
collection tray.

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 Climatic Parameters
Solar Radiation
Ambient Temperature
Wind Speed
Outside Humidity
Sky Conditions

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 Design Parameters
Single slope or double slope
Glazing material
Water depth in Basin
Bottom insulation
Orientation of water distillation system
Inclination of glazing
Spacing between water and glazing
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 Operational parameters
Water Depth
Preheating of Water
Colouring of Water
Salinity of Water
Rate of Algae Growth
Input Water supply arrangement
(continuously or in batches)
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 Simple design basic construction performed by
local people from locally available materials.

No hard maintenance requirements (no hard

tech exchange parts like batteries, filters,
membranes).

Simplicity in operation.

Almost no operation cost.

High water quality produced. ng

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 Low output.

Yield very sensitive to solar irradiation

variations.

Require large areas of land for installation.

Prone to microbial contamination during low

temperature operation.

Continuously decreasing effectiveness

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General operation requires
Installing the still with a southern aspect in
northern side of the equator or northern aspect
in southern side of the equator
Adding water to fill and flush the basin. The tray
must be kept filled with feed water, to prevent
scale formation caused by the basins drying out.
Recovering the distillate from the collection
reservoir.

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 Solar stills require constant maintenance if they
have to efficiently produce freshwater.
A solar still plant is labor intensive but the
maintenance work does not require special know-
how:
Keeping the glass clean on both sides (recurring
maintenance problem)
Plugging of leaks
Renewing paint
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Replacing glass
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 Solar still efficiency refers to,

energy used in vaporising water in the still

incident solar energy on the still

The performance of a solar water distillation

system is generally expressed as the quantity of
water produced by each unit of basin area in a
day i.e. cubic meters or litres of water per
square meter of basin area per day. ng
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 Efficiency is defined as

= wh / H
where,
w = Weight of distillate per m2 per day.

h = Enthalpy change from cold water to vapour.

H = Solar radiation intensity per m2 per day.

Here area of the water surface is to be
considered.
h includes the latent heat of vaporization,
which is being taken as average value 594.5 ng
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kcal/kg (2489 kJ/kg).

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 An approximate method of estimating the output
of a solar still is given by
Q = E x G x A / 2.3
where:
Q = daily output of distilled water (litres/day)

E = overall efficiency

G = daily global solar irradiation (MJ/m)

A = aperture area of the still i.e., the plan areas

for a simple basin still (m)
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 In a typical country the average, daily, global
solar irradiation is typically 18.0 MJ/m
(5 kWh/m). A simple basin still operates at an
overall efficiency of about 30%. Hence the
output per square meter of area is:

Daily output = 0.30 x 18.0 x 1 / 2.3

= 2.3 litres (per square meter)

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Sr. No. Performance Relations (l/m2 d) References

1 mw = 0.215 +0.00385 I(t) Grunne et al. (1962)

2 mw = 0.0172 I(t) 1.1668 Lawand & Boputiere (1970)

3 mw = 0.000369 I(t)1.54 Battele (1965)

4 mw = 4.132x10-3I(t) [1+{ I(t)/110}] Zaki et al. (1983)

5 mw = 1.18 x 10-4 I(t)1.54 Madani & Zaki (1989)

6 mw = 0.0086 I(t) + 0.0636Ta + 0.6333v Garg & Mann (1976)

7 mw = 0.013 I(t) 3.5959 Garg & Mann (1976)

8 mw = 0.1323 W0.3 (Tin Tu) - 1060 Malik et al (1982)

9 mw = 0.00354 I(t) Maun et al (1970)

10 mw = 2.295 x 10-4 I(t) 0.0139 Natu et al (1979)

 Test Result for GECV Water

TDS (ppm) pH
BEFORE DISTILLATION 817 7.0
AFTER DISTILLATION 47.3 6.9
DISTILLATE OUTPUT 3.53 litre
AVERAGE EFFICIENCY 45. 54%

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 68 Ambient Temp.
65
66
64 62 Plate Temp.
61
62
60 Glass Temp.
57
58
Temperature. C

55
56
54 52
52
50 48
48 46
46
44
42 39 39
40 38 38
37 37
38 36 36
36
34
34 35 35 35
32 33 34 34 34
33
30
09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00

Time
0.7 0.66
0.61
0.58
0.6
0.5
0.5 0.45 0.45
Output. litre

0.4

0.3
0.18
0.2
0.1
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Time
 Test Result for Saline Water

TDS (ppm) pH
BEFORE DISTILLATION 3380 7.1
AFTER DISTILLATION 385 7.0
DISTILLATE OUTPUT 3.2 litre
AVERAGE EFFICIENCY 35. 005%

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 68 Ambient Temp.
66 63
64 Plate Temp.
62 59
60 58 Glass Temp.
58
Temperature. C

56 54
54 51
52 50
50
48
46 44
43
44
42
40 38 38 38
37 37 37
38 35 35
36
34 36 36
34 35 35
32 34 32
32 33
30
09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00

0.7 Time
0.61
0.6 0.57
0.55

0.5 0.47
Output. litre

0.4
0.4 0.35

0.3

0.2 0.16

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09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00

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Time
 Results For Different Depths Of Water

OUTPUT OF
DEPTH OF WATER DISTILLED
DATE SAMPLE
WATER
cm litre
23/04/2011 GECV Water 1 3.53
24/04/2011 GECV Water 1.5 3.1
25/04/2011 GECV Water 0.5 3.3
26/04/2011 Saline Water 1 3.2
27/04/2011 Saline Water 1.5 2.9
28/04/2011 Saline Water 0.5 3.0
 We can easily distill saline water by solar water
distillation.

The GECV Water is distilled and its TDS are

reduced from 817 ppm to 47.3 ppm, and the
daily output of distilled water is 3.53 liter for 1
cm depth in tray.

The saline water is distilled and its TDS are

reduced from 3380 ppm to 385 ppm, and the
daily output of distilled water is 3.2 liter for 1
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 The best depth of water for maximum output
is 1 cm.

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