Model to generate solar radiation values for solar distillation numerical simulations

• Published in: Desalination and water treatment 2021-05, Vol.222, p.47-59
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Bao The, Van Hoang, Viet, Le, Hiep Chi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Daily solar radiation values; Hourly solar radiation values; Markov transition matrix; Monthly average daily solar radiation; MTM library; Solar distillation numerical simulations; Solar stills
• ISSN: 1944-3986; 1944-3986
• DOI: 10.5004/dwt.2021.27117

Using solar stills to produce clean water for domestic use in developing countries is one of the affordable solutions. To avoid costly and time-consuming processes of solar still fabrication, numerical simulations are the perfect alternatives to predict the performance of the stills. The purpose of this study is to work out a model to generate the sequences of daily and hourly solar radiation in tropical countries that are very important to calculate or simulate any solar distillation systems. In this study, the modified Aguiar’s model is firstly used to generate daily clearness index series for Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, two cities presenting for two climate types in tropical region. Then a modified model of Graham is proposed to generate hourly clearness index sequences from generate daily clearness index series for these two locations. As being proved by some statistic configurations and the predicted distillate productivities of solar still simulations, two modified models are more accurate in predicting daily and hourly irradiances in comparison with original Aguiar’s and Graham’s model, respectively. Especially, the model to generate the sequences of hourly solar radiation values proposed in this study is much simpler in comparison to the original model of Graham. Therefore, both proposed models in this work are expected to be used to generate daily and hourly solar radiation sequences for any solar distillation simulation programs with very limited input parameters, including the latitude and monthly average daily clearness index values of the studied locations.