Theoretical and experimental investigation on a novel design of wick type solar still for sustainable freshwater production

Abstract Water scarcity is among the major crucial issues confronting humanity, caused by the world’s growth in population, the socio-economic development and the global climate change. Several desalination technologies are available to tackle the increased freshwater water demand. Therefore, the solar energy-driven distillation is among the most conceivable alternatives for supplying safe water with reducing the energy cost. The conventional solar distiller is a sustainable and economical process. However, the overall productivity is generally low. In this study, conceptual improvements on the design and distillation process of a wick type solar still are presented for the purpose of overcoming the low efficiency of the classic system. The novelty of this study is presented in combining three ideas to improve the still efficiency through creating an alternative mode of condensation based on forced convection, achieving a substantial gain in the specific weight and automating the distillation process. Hence, reducing the heat losses and enhancing the still productivity are achieved while maintaining the simplicity of the distiller and without calling for any complicated or cost-intensive technology. Furthermore, this investigation offers an innovative analytical process based on mathematical modelling tools as well as, an experimental approach. The results inferred that the advanced system produces significantly high distillate outputs of about 4.03 L.m−2.d-1 for an average of 380 W.m−2 of mean solar radiation. Thereafter, the numerical results were experimentally validated, and it was proven that the efficiency of the advanced solar still was enhanced by 32% in comparison to the conventional solar still. The physic-chemical and bacterial analysis of the produced water revealed that the improved solar still can supply good quality of drinking.