Designing, fabrication and performance analysis of solar still for purification of water

Abstract

Solar stills of four different capacities were fabricated and tested for water distillation. The distilled water production rate performance (PRP) was analyzed. The highest rate of PRP was recorded between 11.30 am and 12.30 noon in all the solar stills studied. It was 0.0287 L/m²/hr in unit I, 0.0288 L/m²/hr in unit II, 0.0279 L/m²/hr in unit III and 0.0267 L/m²/hr in unit IV.  The study reveals that the solar stills. The pH of distilled condensate was 7.0 indicating neutral character. The TS, TDS, TSS, sulphates, phosphates and chlorides were reduced to zero after the solar distillation in all the four solar stills. It insures that the distilled water is ‘Pure’ water.