Table 5.
Recent studies on the performance of solar distillers using feed water preheating technologies
| Ref | Nature | Solar still type | Improvement-techniques | Results | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahmoud et al. (2018) | Experimental + Theoretical | Single slope | HDH desalination unit + solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) panels combined with solar concentrator |
• The system yield was about 17 kg/m2 at basin water temperature 80 °C • Electrical efficiency of PV/T reached 7.8% and 9.4% for the preheated water and air, respectively |
The yield decreases with increases in the circulating air flow rate and the basin height |
| Sathyamurthy et al. (2015) | Experimental + Theoretical | Semi-circular | Semi-circular trough with baffles | The daily yield is 3 kg/m2 with daily efficiency of 38% | The daily yield improved by 16.66% |
| Kabeel and Abdelgaied (2019) | Experimental | Single slope | Photovoltaic/thermal panels with reflectors + air injection system |
• The daily yield reached 6034 ml/m2 with an improvement of 40.98% • Overall efficiency reached 33.55% • Distillate water cost reached 0.014 $/L |
Using an air injection system reduced the distillate water cost by 28.57% compared to reference distillers |
| Badran and Al-Tahaineh (2005) | Experimental | Single slope | Mirrors + Flat plate collector | The productivity increased by 36% | - |
| El-Sebaii et al. (2011) | Experimental + Theoretical | Single slope | Shallow solar pond as preheating unit | The maximum daily production reached 6.68 kg/m2 and average efficiency reached 47.54% | - |
| Fallahzadeh et al. (2020) | Experimental + Theoretical | Pyramid-shaped | Evacuated tube solar water collector | The daily yield reached 6970 ml/m2 and water cost reached 0.0137 $/L | - |
| Amiri et al. (2021) | Experimental + Theoretical | Single slope |
Parabolic trough collector with tracking systems |
Daily yield reached 8 L/m2 Energy efficiency reached 63% |
- |
| Hassan et al. (2020) | Experimental | Single slope | Parabolic trough solar collector integrated with oil heat exchanger | The daily yield reached 8.77 L/m2; Thermal efficiency 40.3%; Water cost reached 0.01937 $/L | Use of these desalination systems mitigated CO2 compared to other desalination systems depending on fossil fuel |
| Alwan et al. (2020) | Experimental | Single slope | Flat plate solar water collector + rotating hollow drum | Productivity reached 5.5 L/m2 day with an improvement of 292%, and the distillate water cost reached 0.048 $/L | The yield improved by 292% compared to reference distillers |
| Azari et al. (2021) | Experimental | Single slope | V-groove solar air collector as preheating unit | The yield, energy, and exergy efficiencies improved by 170%, 170%, and 257%, respectively compared to reference unit; Water cost reached 0.03$/L | - |
| Sharma et al. (2022) | Experimental + Theoretical | Single slope | Evacuated tubular solar collector | Daily fresh water yield reached 7.1 kg/m2 | |
| Thakur et al. (2021) | Experimental | Single slope | V-type solar concentrator | Daily yield reached 5.47 L/m2, energy efficiency reached 57.4%, and exergy efficiency reached 3.8%; water cost reached 0.0102 $/L | Use of V-shape concentrator as preheating unit and minimum water depth are useful to augment the highest performance |