Effects of varying weather parameters on solar still performance
This study presents an empirical model based on experimental results of a simple single-slope conventional... See more
This study presents an empirical model based on experimental results of a simple single-slope conventional
solar still’s daily yield of distilled water, productivity, and thermal efficiency. The model
assumes that the still efficiency can be factored as a function of three independent weather parameters
beside solar radiation: atmospheric temperature, wind speed, and dew point. The effect of the
latter parameter has seldom been studied. Correlation analysis showed that relative humidity and
atmospheric pressure are dependent on those three, and their effects on still performance are only
signatures of the three independent weather variables. Hence, they are not included in the modeling.
The model predicts that temperature, dew point temperature, and wind speed have a percentage
effect of 73.5%, 12.2%, and 14.3%, respectively, on still efficiency. The experiment was conducted over
a seven-week period from last week in August to end of second week in October 2022 in Zakho city,
Kurdistan, Iraq. This period was characterized by variable weather parameters such as solar radiation,
wind speed, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure, dew point, and relative humidity.
These variable weather conditions resulted in a wide range of variable daily yields and thermal
efficiency values, ranging from 1,200–4,250 mL/d and 26%–45%, respectively. The analysis suggests
that the average daily still thermal efficiency is linearly proportional to the incoming total daily solar
radiation, with daily deviations from this linear average caused by other variable weather parameters.
2023-06