A comparative study of the effect of internal reflectors on a performance of hemispherical solar distillers: Energy, exergy, and economic analysis

This comprehensive study aims to improve the cumulative production of the hemispherical distillates. This was achieved by utilization the reflective mirror and reflective aluminum foil sheets and installing them on the vertical internal surfaces of the distiller in order to increase the intensity of the solar radiation falling on the distiller basin. In order to achieve this goal, energy, exergy, and economic analyses were conducted to compare the effect of utilizing the reflective mirror and reflective aluminum foil sheets on hemispherical distiller performance. To realize this idea, three hemispherical distillers was constructed and tested under the same conditions, namely, Conventional Hemispherical Distiller with Black Painted Walls (CHSS-BPW), Modified Hemispherical Distiller with Reflective Mirror (MHSS-RM), and Modified Hemispherical Distiller with Reflective Aluminum Foil Sheets (MHSS-RAFS). The experimental results indicated that the utilizations of reflective aluminum foil sheets (MHSS-RAFS) improves the cumulative yield and thermal efficiency by 42.3% and 37.5%, respectively compared to CHSS-BPW. While the utilizations of reflective mirror (MHSS-RM) improves the cumulative yield and thermal efficiency by 6 May 2.6% and 57.26%, respectively compared to CHSS-BPW. The exergy efficiency of MHSS-RAFS and MHSS-RM improved by 69.61 and 123.1% compared to CHSS-BPW, respectively. The economic study indicated that the cost of freshwater produced from MHSS-RAFS and MHSS-RM reduced by 29 and 38%, respectively compared to CHSS-BPW.