Experimental investigation of spherical salt balls effect on solar distillers’ thermal performance at various water depths

• Published in: International journal of environmental science and technology (Tehran) 2023-06, Vol.20 (6), p.6685-6696
• Main Authors: Attia, M. E. H., Hussein, A. K., Abdul-Ammer, H. J., Arıcı, M., Ben Hamida, M. B., Younis, O., Abidi, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; basins; climate; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Science and Engineering; Iraq; latitude; Original Paper; Soil Science & Conservation; solar still; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 1735-1472; 1735-2630
• DOI: 10.1007/s13762-022-04724-5

In this research, a single slope solar distiller was fabricated and tested under the climate of Al- Hilla city, Iraq, with a tilt angle of 32.5° according to its latitude. The experimental tests were done in November 2021. Two types of distillers were examined, the first one was a classical type, while the other one was modified by adding twenty-five spherical salt balls in its basin. Furthermore, the impact of the water depth (1.5 and 2 cm) was also investigated. Therefore, two cases were tested as follows: 25 spherical salt balls for 1.5 cm water depth (Case 1) and 25 spherical salt balls for 2 cm water depth (Case 2). It was found that using salt balls has a good role in increasing the productivity of modified solar distillers. Also, the daily accumulated productivity of modified solar still (MSS-SB) for Case 1 was higher than for Case 2 and classical solar distiller by about 8.06% and 17.45%, respectively. The results show that the maximum productivity was attained by MSS-SB Case 1, which was 1568 g/m 2 , followed by 1451 g/m 2 for MSS-SB Case 2, and 1335 g/m 2 for classical solar still. Finally, a minimum depth of basin water should be used with salt balls to increase the efficiency of the solar still.