The performance of a modified solar still using hot air injection and PCM

• A solar air collector-coupled modified solar still with phase change material have been investigated
• A comparison between modified still with and conventional still is carried out
• The augmentation of freshwater productivity for modified still reached 109 % compared to conventional still

A double passes solar air collector–coupled modified solar still, with Phase Change Material (PCM), have been experimentally investigated to enhance the freshwater productivity. The influence of the injected hot air on the performance of a modified still, with PCM, is investigated. A comparison between a modified still, with both PCM and hot air injection, and the conventional still is carried out to evaluate the enhancement in the freshwater productivity. The experiments were carried out under the same atmospheric conditions. The experimental results show that, the freshwater productivity approximately reached 9.36 (L/m2 day) for the double passes solar air collector–coupled modified solar still, with PCM, while its value is recorded 4.5 (L/m2 day) for the conventional still. The freshwater productivity of the double passes solar air collector–coupled modified solar still with PCM is 108% higher than that of the conventional still on average. This percentage is obtained during the period from June to July 2015 under the Egyptian climatic conditions.