Experimental investigation of single-basin solar still using solid staggered fins inserted in paraffin wax PCM bed for enhancing productivity

The single-basin solar still is one of the effective ways of desalinating the seawater at an affordable price. But, the productivity of solar still is low and many kinds of research are under progress to enhance the yield. In this regard, a single-basin solar still with a solid staggered pin finned absorber inserted into a paraffin wax bed is developed to investigate the yield enhancement. This investigation is carried out by varying the seawater depths of the absorber basin from 2 to 4 cm in the developed solar still. The obtained results are compared with conventional solar still without fins and PCM bed. It is observed that the yield obtained in the developed solar still with 2-cm depth is having greater productivity when compared to other cases of seawater depths (3 cm and 4 cm). The yield of modified solar still and conventional solar still at 2-cm water depth is 3750 mL/m² and 3017 mL/m² respectively. It is also observed that thermal efficiency of the developed single-basin solar still is increased by 12.23%, 22.66% and 24.26% respectively compared to the conventional solar still for the seawater depths of 4 cm, 3 cm and 2 cm. In addition to that, it is observed from the economic analysis, the cost per litre potable water produced from modified solar still and conventional solar still is ₹ 2.1 and ₹ 2.25 respectively. Also, the environmental analysis is carried out to analyse the carbon credit from the developed single-basin solar still and found that the carbon credit gained from modified still and conventional solar still is $ 172.8 and $ 137.9 respectively. Based on this investigation, it is observed that the developed single-basin solar still with solid staggered pin finned absorber inserted into paraffin wax bed can be effectively used for the drinking water production to overcome the water scarcity.