Pyramidal Solar Stills via Hollow Cylindrical Perforated Fins, Inclined Rectangular Perforated Fins, and Nanocomposites: An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

A practical study was conducted to improve the performance of conventional pyramidal solar stills (CPSS) using two types of fins with differing geometries, as well as nanocomposites of TiO2 and graphene. The first fin was hollow, cylindrical, and perforated (HCPF), whereas the second fin was an inclined perforated rectangular fin (IPRF). The fins were integrated with the base of a solar still to evaluate their performance in comparison with a CPSS. The obtained experimental results demonstrated that the pyramidal solar still with hollow perforated cylindrical fins (PSS-HCPF) and the pyramidal solar still with inclined perforated rectangular fins (PSS-IPRF) produced more distillate than the PSS-HCPF and CPSS under all examined conditions. The daily productivities of the CPSS, PSS-HCPF, and PSS-IPRF were 3718, 4840, and 5750 mL/m2, respectively, with the PSS-HCPF and PSS-IPRF improving the productivity by 31.3% and 55.9%, respectively, compared to that of the CPSS. In addition, using nanocomposites with PSS-IPRF improved the daily distillate production by 82.1%.