Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275

Influence of water depth on internal heat and mass transfer in a

plastic solar still
M.K. Phadatare*, S.K. Verma
Mechanical Engineering Department, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University,
Lonere 402103, Maharashtra State, India
Tel. +91 (2112) 254978; Fax: +91 (2112) 254424; mphadatare2005@yahoo.co.in

Received 1 February 2006; Accepted 9 March 2007

Abstract
In this work, an attempt has been made to study the effect of water depth on the internal heat and mass transfer
in a single basin single slope plastic solar still. The experimental still was fabricated from Plexiglas. The bottom and
all sides of the still are made from a sheet of black Plexiglas (3 mm thick). The cover is made from a transparent
Plexiglas of the same thickness. The solar still was sealed to reduce the leakage of vapor to the surroundings. The
study covers the influence of different environmental and operational parameters on the still productivity.
Environmental parameters include solar intensity, ambient temperature and wind speed. Operational parameters
include feed water quantity and basin water depth. The operational parameter such as depth of water in the basin is
varied from 2 cm to 12 cm to find out its influence on internal heat and mass transfer and hence the productivity of
the still. The maximum distillate output of 2.1 L/m2/day was obtained with water depth in still basin 2 cm. The
maximum efficiency of the experimental still varies from 10% to 34%. The results indicated that with increase in
depth of basin water, still productivity decreases.

Keywords: Solar energy; Desalination; Productivity; Plastic solar still; Basin water depth

1. Introduction problem. The solar energy is naturally and freely

Solar desalination is gaining more importance
for obtaining potable water. The main advantage
of this process is that it does not utilize costly
conventional fossil fuels, which create pollution
*Corresponding author.
available. Though the solar desalination plants
require skilled labor, its maintenance cost is low.
In many areas of the world, the desalination of
seawater is a common method of producing
drinking water, which is currently increasing in
importance. Many desalination techniques have
been developed during the past decades.

0011-9164/07/$– See front matter © 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2007.03.006
268 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275
Thermally driven desalination plants such as
multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), multiple
effect distillation (MED or ME), are the majority
of high capacity desalination installations. The
operating temperatures of these thermally driven
and conventionally powered processes are in the
range of about 70 to 120ºC [1]. These technolo-
gies are expensive. In addition, the use of con-
ventional energy (hydrocarbon fuels) sources to
drive these technologies has a negative impact on
the environment.
Solar desalination processes, on the other
hand, present a promising alternative that can
partially support human needs for fresh water
with a renewable, free and environmental friendly
energy source. The problem of the relative higher
water production cost of solar desalination sys-
tems over conventional energy resources systems
triggered scientists and engineers to investigate
various means of improving system productivity,
thermal efficiency and reliability in order to
reduce water production costs. For many reasons,
seawater desalination can be considered to be an
application of great interest for solar energy
because:
C a shortage of fresh water in many regions of
the world lacking conventional energy resour-
ces where there are good insolation levels and
abundant seawater resources;
C there is a certain coincidence between the
seasonal and daily demands of fresh water and
availability of solar radiation [2].
Performance of solar stills can be improved if
a considerable part of the heat of evaporation can
be recovered. Mink et al. [3] proposed an air-
blown solar still with heat recycling to accom-
plish this requirement. They reported on a three-
fold increase in yield using the heat recovery.
However, the paper does not describe the material
used for the prototype except for the casing
material, which is copper. If the still in intended
to desalinate seawater the authors only talk about
feedstock reading corroding materials such as
copper will most likely cause problems because
hot water is extremely aggressive. It seems that
the laboratory scale solar still was not fully
investigated with respect to practical application.
However, concerning a prototype plant under real
conditions, the choice of appropriate materials is
one of the most important issues.
In this study plastic solar still is considered.
Generally the structural materials used in a solar
still are wood, galvanized iron, aluminum,
asbestos cement, masonry bricks and concrete. It
has been observed that the use of galvanized iron
for basin or distillate channel is not good choice
since it corrode, when in contact with saline
water. Aluminum can also be used but it also
corrodes at high temperature. Wood can be used
in small still but with time it gets damaged.
Similarly the choice for the transparent cover can
be either glass or plastic film. The problems with
glass are its vulnerability to mechanical damage;
high weigh and requirement of special skill to fix
the cover.
Due to presence of salty water the metallic
surface of the still gets corroded rapidly thereby
reducing the life of the still, which is a serious
disadvantage of the system. In order to eliminate
this problem Plexiglas is selected as the building
material for the still, resulting into a plastic still
[4].
The building materials were a sheet of black
Plexiglas for bottom and all four sides and trans-
parent Plexiglas for the cover. For insulating the
system glass wool (thermal conductivity = 0.044)
is used. The function of this arrangement is to
reduce the bottom and side heat losses from the
solar still and also to enhance the life of the still
due slow deterioration of the material (Plexiglas)
in comparison to that of the conventional mater-
ials (metals).
The plastic solar still with cover slope of 20E
is modeled and analyzed. The results of proposed
mathematical model are in good agreement with
those of the experimental result [5]. Many
attempts have been made to enhance the pro-
 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275
ductivity of this plastic still. It was found that
using the honeycomb structure of aluminum in
the plastic solar still increase the solar still
productivity by 20% (at water depth of 11 cm)
[6].
2. Theoretical study
The internal heat transfer in the still from
basin water to condensing cover can take place in
three ways mainly by convection, radiation and
evaporation.
2.1. Convective heat transfer
The heat transfer inside the still takes place by
free convection. This is because the actions of
buoyancy force due to the variation in density of
humid fluid that occurs on account of temperature
difference in the fluid. The rate of heat transfer
from the basin water surface to condensing plastic
cover can be find by
qcw = hcw (Tw!Tg)
The coefficient hcw can be found out from the
following equation [7].
hcw = 0.884 [(Tw!Tg) + (Pw!Pg) (Tw + 273)/
(268.9×103!Pw)]1/3
2.2. Radiative heat transfer
For a small cover inclination and large width
of the still, the water surface and cover are con-
sidered as parallel surfaces. The rate of radiative
heat transfer from water surface to cover is given
by
qrw = h rw (Tw–Tg)
The radiative heat transfer coefficient is given by
[8]
269
hrw = geff σ[(Tw + 273)2 + (Tg + 273)2]
[Tw + Tg + 546]
σ = 5.669×10!8 W/m2.K4
geff = [1/gg + 1/gw!1]!1
gg = gw = 0.9
2.3. Evaporative heat transfer [9]
qew =hew (Tw!Tg)
hew = 16.273×10!3 hcw (Pw!Pg) /(Tw!Tg)
The total inner heat transfer coefficient from the
water surface to the condensing cover is given by
h1w = hcw + hrw + hew
2.4. Energy balance
The heat flux components at various still
elements are as in Fig. 1. The energy balance
equations for various still elements can be written
with the following assumptions:
1. The plastic solar still is leakproof.
2. The heat capacity of the plastic cover,
absorbing material and insulation is negligible.
C Energy balance for the cover:
αNg I(t) + (qrw + qcw + qrw) = qrg + qcg
C Energy balance for basin water:
αNw I(t) + qw = (MC)w Tw /dt + qrw + qcw +qew
C Energy balance for basin:
αNb I(t) = qw + [qcb + qs (Ass/As)]
C Heat transfer coefficients:
hlg = 5.7 +3.8 V [10]
270 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275

Fig. 1. Schematic of single slope plastic solar still.

Ub = [1/hw + 1/(Ki /Li)+ 1/ (hcb + hrb)]!1 [11]

Ut = [1/hlg + 1/hlw]!1

UL = Ut + Ub

qloss = UL (Tw!Ta)
Fig. 2a. Plastic solar still.
The hourly yield is calculated as

Mew = (qew /L)×3600 = [hew (Tw!Tg)/L]×3600

The instantaneous efficiency is given by

ηi = qew / I(t) = [(hew hlg)/(h1w + hlg)] (Tw!Ta) [12]

3. System description
A single sloped plastic solar still was designed
and constructed. The unit consists of an acrylic
box having four sides and a base. The overall Fig. 2b. Still boxes made from Plexiglas (front view).
dimensions of the still are: length =176 cm, width
= 85 cm, lower side height =32 cm, higher side
height = 60 cm, basin liner area (As) = 1.446 m2, distilled water output, and the third hole is in the
and the cover area (Ac) = 1.44 m2. backside for feeding. The sides and the base are
The sides are made of black acrylic sheets painted black to increase the solar absorptivity.
3 mm thick. Two of these sides are of rectangular All the four sides and base are insulated with
shape, while the other sides are trapezoidal. Three glass wool of 2.5 cm thick. The insulation is
holes are made, two of which are for drainage and applied on the wall by adhesive. A collection
 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275
Fig. 2c. Still boxes made from Plexiglas (rear view).
Fig. 2d. Application of glass wool insulation.
Fig. 2e. Black painted inner sides and steel joints.
channel is used for still box to collect the
condensed water. This channel is fixed to the
lower rectangular side of the still box. The acrylic
box is kept in wooden box. The condensing
surface in the still unit is an acrylic (Plexiglas)
271
Fig. 2f. Plastic solar still in wooden box on stand.
cover only. The cover of still is adjusted on the
edge of the rectangular sides with an angle of
20E. Silicon rubber sealant is used to prevent
leakage from any gap between the cover and still
box. A 2-L plastic beaker is used to measure the
hourly yield through the daytime. PVC and
hosepipes are used to discharge the distillate from
the still to the bottle (Fig. 2).
4. Results and discussion
The experiments were conducted from Jan. 6
to Jan. 20, 2006, to investigate the effect of basin
water depth on productivity of plastic solar still.
Hourly measurements were made for ambient
temperature, basin water temperature and cover
temperature from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the
experimental period. These temperatures were
measured with the aid of copper-constant thermo-
couples and recorded by Data Logger. Krishi
Vikas Kendra, Baramati (India) provided the
hourly weather data, i.e., solar radiation and wind
speed from their weather station where experi-
ments were conducted. For different water depths
viz. 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1, 0.12 m during
clear sunshine hours, heat transfer coefficients
and instantaneous efficiency were estimated from
272 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275

Table 1
Measured and recorded data for a typical day, Jan. 8, 2005

Sr. no. Time, h Solar radiation, Wind speed, Ambient temp., Basin water Cover temp.,
I(t), W/m2 v, m/s Ta, EC temp., Tw, EC Tg, EC

1 7 0 0 8 13 9
2 8 1 0 9.7 14 10.6
3 9 311 0 14 15.8 20.5
4 10 499 0.1 18 20.3 29.9
5 11 463 0 20.8 27.4 36.5
6 12 781 0.1 22.8 33.8 40.4
7 13 686 0.1 23.8 41.1 42.5
8 14 702 0.2 25.5 44.2 43.3
9 15 622 0.1 26 45 41
10 16 450 0 26.8 48 39.8
11 17 176 0 28 45 34.1
12 18 9 0 22.3 40 28.3
13 19 0 0 20.2 36.4 24.2

Fig. 4. Variation of instantaneous efficiency with depth.

Fig. 3. Variation of distillate with depth.

decreases. It is maximum for minimum basin

collected data for plastic solar still. Table 1
represents the collected data for a day (8/1/2006).
Table 2 represents maximum solar radiation and
corresponding ambient temperature, basin water
temperature, cover temperature and distillate pro-
duction (L/m2/day). Every morning at 7 a.m., the
water is fed in the still basin up to desired level.
On the next day at the same time distillate output
is measured and water is again fed into the still
basin to next level. Fig. 3 explains the variation
of distillate output with depth of basin water. As
depth of basin water increases the output
water depth. Fig. 4 shows the variation of instan-
taneous efficiency with increase in water depth. It
increases with increase in water depth. The
instantaneous efficiency is calculated for mea-
sured solar radiation at 2 p.m., every day. The
maximum basin water temperatures were
recorded for various water depths. It decreases as
basin water depth increases. The maximum basin
water temperature recorded was 53EC for a 2-cm
depth. This is shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 6 illustrates
the variation of basin water temperature and
condensing cover temperature with maximum
 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275 273

Table 2
Measured and recorded data for various basin water depths
Sr. no. Date Basin water Distillate Maximum solar Corresponding values for
depth, m production, radiation, W/m2
L/m2/day (at 2 p.m.)
Ambient Basin water Cover temp.,
temp., Ta, EC temp., Tw, EC Tg, EC
1 8/1/06 0.02 2.1 747 27.5 53 45.2
2 10/1/06 0.04 1.9 781 28 48 43.3
3 12/1/06 0.06 1.8 787 32.3 47.5 46.5
4 14/1/06 0.08 1.75 832 32.5 45.6 49
5 16/1/06 0.10 1.8 794 29.5 41.9 46.3
6 18/1/06 0.12 1.85 838 32.2 43 50.6

Fig. 5. Variation of basin water temperature with depth.

Fig. 7. Variation of heat transfer coefficient with basin
water depth.

and evaporation. The variation of heat transfer

Fig. 6. Variation of basin water temperature and con-
densing cover temperature with maximum solar radiation
and basin water depth.
solar radiation and basin water depth. The heat
transfer from the water surface to the condensing
plastic cover inside the plastic solar still occurs in
three different modes viz. convection, radiation,
coefficients with basin water depth is shown in
Fig. 7. The evaporative heat transfer coefficient is
maximum and radiative heat transfer coefficient
is minimum where as the convective heat transfer
coefficient is the least. More evaporative heat
transfer coefficient is desirable for more output.
The heat transfer in solar distillation can occur in
the two modes i.e. external and internal heat
transfer. The external heat transfer mode is
governed by conduction, convection and radiation
processes, which are independent of each other.
These heat transfers occur outside the solar dis-
tiller from the cover, bottom and side insulation.
The heat transfer within the solar distiller is
referred to as internal heat transfer mode, which
consists of radiation, convection and evaporation.
The convective heat transfer occurs simul-
274 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275

cient and evaporative heat transfer coefficient

is highest.

6. Symbols
Ac — Area of cover, m2
As — Area of basin liner, m2
Ass — Area of solar still sides, m2
hcw — Convective heat transfer coefficient
from water to cover, W/m2 EC
hw — Convective heat transfer coefficient
from basin liner to water, W/m2 EC
Fig. 8. Variation of heat transfer with basin water depth.
hcb — Convective heat transfer coefficient
from bottom insulation to ambient,
W/m2 EC
taneously with evaporative heat transfer and these
hrb — Radiative heat transfer coefficient
two heat transfer processes are independent of
from bottom insulation to ambient,
radiative heat transfer. Fig. 8 explains the varia-
W/m2 EC
tion of internal and external heat transfer in
hrw — Radiative heat transfer coefficient
plastic solar still. The internal heat transfer modes
from water to cover, W/m2 EC
are increasing with basin water depth. The
hew — Evaporative heat transfer coefficient
external heat transfer from cover and bottom is
from water to cover, W/m2 EC
remaining constant with varying basin water
h1w — Total heat transfer coefficient from
depth. It is affected by ambient temperature and
water to cover, W/m2 EC
wind speed.
h1g — Total heat transfer coefficient from
cover to atmosphere, W/m2 EC
I(t) — Total solar radiation, W/m2
5. Conclusions
Ki — Thermal conductivity of insulating
C The maximum distillate output of 2.1 L/ material, W/m EC
m2/day was obtained with a water depth in a L — Latent heat of vaporization, J/kg
2-cm still basin. Li — Thickness of insulation, m
C The maximum efficiency of the experimental (MC)w — Heat capacity of water mass in
still varies from 10% to 34%. It was found basin, J/m2 EC
that the efficiency is maximum for a water Mew — Distillate output from still, L/m2/day
depth of 12 cm. Pg — Partial pressure at cover tempera-
C Using Plexiglas as the building material for ture, N/m2
the solar still, the cover temperature exceeds Pw — Partial pressure at basin water tem-
the basin water temperature when solar perature, N/m2
intensity exceeds 550 W/m2 (9.00 a.m. to 3.00 qcw — Convective heat transfer from water
p.m.). to cover, W/m2
C The radiative heat transfer coefficient is qrw — Radiative heat transfer from water to
higher than the convective heat transfer coeffi- cover, W/m2
 M.K. Phadatare, S.K. Verma / Desalination 217 (2007) 267–275 275

qew — Evaporative heat transfer from water References

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