TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental study on the performance of an enhanced stepped solar still aided by PCM materials with external reflectors
AU - Alhadri, Muapper
AU - Alshammari, Shaher
AU - Alshammari, Abdulhamid F.
AU - Muneer, Saqib
AU - Ahmed, Mohamed M.Z.
AU - Sharshir, Swellam W.
AU - Elashmawy, Mohamed
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2026/2/15
Y1 - 2026/2/15
N2 - Water scarcity is increasing rapidly and becoming increasingly serious in many parts of the world. Solar still is a promising desalination technology for the future. However, the solar still's productivity is relatively low and needs substantial enhancements. This study developed a low-cost simplified solar still system utilizing phase change tubes and external reflectors, based on the concept of the stepped solar still (SSS). Copper tubes were filled with paraffin wax as PCM material and placed inside the saline water in six trays inside the SSS. Three cases were studied and compared. SSS: conventional device as a reference case, PCM-SSS: SSS plus PCM material, and PCM-ER-SSS (PCM-ER-SSS): PCM-SSS plus external reflectors. All experiments were conducted in a real field under climatic conditions of Suez City in Egypt. Results revealed that the water productivity of the three cases was: 4.5 L/m2day, 7.44 L/m2day, and 8.5 L/m2day, respectively. The three cases' thermal efficiencies were 36.35 %, 66.76 %, and 89 %, respectively, achieving water production costs per liter (CPL) of $0.009, $0.007, and $0.007, respectively. Using PCM tubes and external reflectors (PCM-ER-SSS) enhanced the yield and thermal efficiency by 88.9 % and 89 %, respectively, and reduced the CPL by 22.77 % compared to SSS.
AB - Water scarcity is increasing rapidly and becoming increasingly serious in many parts of the world. Solar still is a promising desalination technology for the future. However, the solar still's productivity is relatively low and needs substantial enhancements. This study developed a low-cost simplified solar still system utilizing phase change tubes and external reflectors, based on the concept of the stepped solar still (SSS). Copper tubes were filled with paraffin wax as PCM material and placed inside the saline water in six trays inside the SSS. Three cases were studied and compared. SSS: conventional device as a reference case, PCM-SSS: SSS plus PCM material, and PCM-ER-SSS (PCM-ER-SSS): PCM-SSS plus external reflectors. All experiments were conducted in a real field under climatic conditions of Suez City in Egypt. Results revealed that the water productivity of the three cases was: 4.5 L/m2day, 7.44 L/m2day, and 8.5 L/m2day, respectively. The three cases' thermal efficiencies were 36.35 %, 66.76 %, and 89 %, respectively, achieving water production costs per liter (CPL) of $0.009, $0.007, and $0.007, respectively. Using PCM tubes and external reflectors (PCM-ER-SSS) enhanced the yield and thermal efficiency by 88.9 % and 89 %, respectively, and reduced the CPL by 22.77 % compared to SSS.
KW - CPL
KW - Glass cover
KW - Phase change tubes
KW - Reflectors
KW - Solar
KW - Stepped solar still
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023830743
U2 - 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124940
DO - 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124940
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105023830743
SN - 0960-1481
VL - 258
JO - Renewable Energy
JF - Renewable Energy
M1 - 124940
ER -