Productivity enhancement of single‐slope solar still using oxy‐hydrogen gas as fuel: An experimental approach

• Published in: International journal of energy research Vol. 45; no. 6; pp. 8189 - 8201
• Main Authors: Nabil, Tamer, Khairat Dawood, Mohamed M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-05-2021; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Burning; Desalination; Dimensions; Drinking water; Dry cells; Evaporation; Evaporation rate; Fresh water; Freshwater; Fuels; Gas generators; Inland water environment; oxy‐hydrogen gas (HHO); Productivity; productivity development; Saline water; Seawater; Solar energy; Solar panels; Solar power; solar still; Sustainability; Water depth; Water desalting
• ISSN: 0363-907X; 1099-114X
• DOI: 10.1002/er.5762

Summary
This study is modification of the conventional single‐slope solar still to improve in the day‐to‐day production of potable water. The studied solar still is modified to active solar still using new technique which uses oxy‐hydrogen (HHO) gas burning as a fuel to increase the temperature of the saline water in the solar still. The power sustainability of HHO gas that used in sea water desalination is one of the main research goals. HHO dry cell is implemented to generate the required amount of HHO gas which is used as fuel of gas furnace. The traditional gas furnace uses HHO gas as fuel without modifications. Two identical HHO gas generators and a gas furnace are integrated with a solar still and four solar panels have power 1000 W, each photovolatic solar module has dimensions 1650 mm × 992 mm × 46 mm. The suggested solar still is fabricated and verified for selected months (June, July, and August) with the meteorological conditions of Ismailia, Egypt. The ratio between the solar still absorber plate area to HHO dry cell plate area is 125. The modified system is designed to work throughout the whole day. The saline water is discharged from the solar still to the furnace and splashed intermittently into the still to increase the evaporation rate and to rise the fresh water productivity. The influence of saline water depth on the performance of solar still is studied at 1 and 2 cm. The modified solar still has daily productivity 19.1 and 13.16 kg/m2/d but its efficiency is lower than the conventional solar still by 41.5% and 55.6% at 1 and 2 cm water deepness, respectively.
This study is modification of solar still that uses HHO gas burning as a fuel. Two identical HHO gas generators and a gas furnace are integrated with a solar still and 4 solar panels have power 1000 W. The modified solar still has daily productivity 19.1 and 13.16 kg/m2/day but its efficiency is lower than the conventional solar still by 41.5% and 55.6% at 1 and 2 cm water deepness, respectively.