EFFICIENCY OF A SOLAR STILL AS A FUNCTION OF ITS MAIN PARAMETERS. PRODUCTION ESTIMATION FOR VALENCIA, SPAIN

ABSTRACT The basic equations of the thermal performance of a solar still as found in previous papers has been considered. An experimental study of the solar destilation process has been carried out in Valencia (Spain). With this purpose two different stills have been constructed, one of them provided with a floating absorber and prepared to minimize the thermal inertia. The studied parameters have been distributed in two groups: a) outer parameters: solar radiation, ambient temperature and wind speed b) inner parameters: water temperature, cover temperature and theirs difference A relationship between production and each one of these groups of parameters has been developed. With the aid of available outer parameters data for the last thre years in Valencia, we estimate the annual production of both stills for this location.