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Frontiers in Energy

ISSN 2095-1701

ISSN 2095-1698(Online)

CN 11-6017/TK

Postal Subscription Code 80-972

2018 Impact Factor: 1.701

Front. Energy    2015, Vol. 9 Issue (2) : 180-186    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-015-0361-y
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Performance analysis of solar still with cow dung cakes and blue metal stones
Hitesh N. PANCHAL()
Mechanical Engineering Department, Gujarat Power Engineering and Research Institute, Mevad 382710, India
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Abstract

The aims of this paper is to investigate the effects of various materials inside the solar still on the increase of the productivity of potable water. Here, blue metal stones and cow dung cakes were used as materials. To investigate their effect, three identical solar stills with an effective area of 1 m square made from locally available materials were tested in climate conditions of Mehsana (23°50′ N 72° 23′). The first and second solar stills were filled with blue metal, stones and cow dung cakes, while the third one was taken as a reference which consisted of only blue paint at the basin. The experiments show that blue metal stones have the highest distillate output at daytime, followed by cow dung cakes solar still and reference solar still. On the other hand, the overall distillate output of blue metal stones and cow dung cakes at daytime as well as at night were 35% and 20% compared with that of reference solar still.

Keywords blue metal stones      cow dung cakes      distillate output      solar still      solar intensity     
Corresponding Author(s): Hitesh N. PANCHAL   
Just Accepted Date: 22 April 2015   Online First Date: 18 May 2015    Issue Date: 29 May 2015
 Cite this article:   
Hitesh N. PANCHAL. Performance analysis of solar still with cow dung cakes and blue metal stones[J]. Front. Energy, 2015, 9(2): 180-186.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-015-0361-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2015/V9/I2/180
Fig.1  Experimental setup
Fig.2  Blue granite gravel used in experiment
Fig.3  Cow dung cakes used in experiment
Sr. No.InstrumentAccuracyRangeError/%
1Thermometer±1°C0°C−100°C0.20
2Copper constantan thermocouple±0.1°C0°C−100°C0.5
3Solarimeter±1?W/m20−2500?W/m22.5
4Anemoter±0.1?m/s0−15?m/s10
5Measuring jar±10?mL0−1000?mL10
Tab.1  Accuracies and error for various measuring instruments [4]
QuantitySymbolExpression
Specific heatCp999.2+0.1434×Tv+1.101Tv26.75×108Tv3
Densityρ353.44/(Tv+273.15)
Thermal conductivityλ0.0244+ 0.7673 × 10−4Tv
Viscosityμ1.718 × 10−5 + 4.620 × 10−8Tv
Latent heat of vaporization of waterL3.1615 × 106× [1– (7.616 × 10−4Tv] when Tv>70°C; 2.49 × 106× [1–(9.4 × 10−4Tv + 1.312 × 10−7Tv2– 4.19 × 10−9Tv3] when Tv<70°C
Partial saturated vapor pressure at condensing cover temperaturePciexp(25.3175144)/(Tci+273)
Partial saturated vapor pressure at water temperaturePwexp(25.3175144)/(Tw+273)
Expansion factorβ(Tv+273.15)1
Tab.2  Temperature dependent physical properties of vapor [4]
Fig.4  Hourly variations of different temperatures of solar still
Fig.5  Hourly variations of solar stills
Fig.6  Variations of basin water temperatures inside solar stills
Fig.7  Variations of vapor temperatures of solar stills
Fig.8  Variations of distillate output of solar still in 7?days
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[1] R. LALITHA NARAYANA, V. RAMACHANDRA RAJU. Experimental study on performance of passive and active solar stills in Indian coastal climatic condition[J]. Front. Energy, 2020, 14(1): 105-113.
[2] Hitesh N PANCHAL, P K SHAH. Enhancement of distillate output of double basin solar still with vacuum tubes[J]. Front Energ, 2014, 8(1): 101-109.
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