An Experimental Study on the Effect of the Energy Storage Materials in Solar Still
T. V. Arjunan1, H. S. Aybar2 and N. Nedunchezhian3
1Automobile Engineering Department, P. S. G. College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India.
2Mechanical Engineering Department, Eastern Mediterranean University, G. Magosa, Mersin 10, Turkey.
3Automobile Engineering Department, Institute of Road and Transport Technology, Erode, Tamilnadu, India.
ABSTRACT
In this experimental study, an attempt has been made to store excess heat energy in solar stills during daytime for the continuation of the process at night. To investigate the effect of different energy storage materials on the productivity under the same climatic conditions, two identical solar still units are fabricated with the effective area of 0.5 m2. The performance of the still is examined and evaluated through implementing the following effective parameters: (a) different materials such as black granite, pebbles, blue metal stone are used as sensible heat storage; (b) paraffin wax is used as a latent heat storage (Phase Change Material — PCM); and (c) fixed mirror on the inner wall surfaces to reflect the radiation into the basin water. The experimental result shows that, among the sensible heat storage materials black granite is given better output than others for 24 hours period and the paraffin wax gives more productivity during the night time (17:00 o’clock – 09:00 o’clock). It is also observed that, combinations of reflector and storage materials improve the productivity
considerably.
Keywords: Solar still, Back wall, Energy storage
materials, Water depth, Paraffin wax.
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