Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Thermal Parameters for Desalination in a Single-Slope Solar Still

Abstract

Water is a vital component of life that is abundantly available on planet Earth. However, a significant amount of the world’s water is not fit for direct use and drinking due to salinity and contaminants. Salinity coupled with the impacts of population growth, industrialization, climate change, and pollution has led to the decreasing supplies of safe drinking water. The desalination process has emerged as a decisive solution to meet the increasing demand for potable water. The distillation process particularly through a solar still, has gained importance for the purity of salty and contaminated water using solar energy. Solar stills have the potential to solve the problem of drinking water, especially in remote areas and villages. A simulation-based study was conducted to analyze the desalination process in a single slope solar still using ANSYS Fluent in Peshawar, Pakistan (coordinates: 34.0151°N, 71.5249°E). The study was focused on investigating the various parameters including glass temperature, water temperature, heat transfer coefficient, and volume fraction of water and vapors. The simulation results illustrate the significance of various parameters influencing the performance of the solar still and provide crucial information about the temperature profile and condensation formation, which plays a vital role in the overall efficiency of the desalination process within the solar still.