Performance analysis on inclined solar still with different new wick materials and wire mesh

• An inclined type solar still was experimentally tested with different new wick materials.
• The new materials are characterised for absorption, capillary rise, porosity, water repellence and heat transfer co-efficient.
• Wood pulp paper wick, wicking water coral fleece fabric and polystyrene sponge were chosen.
• Still with coral fleece and weir mesh–stepped absorber plate was more productive.

In this paper the performance of an inclined type solar still was experimentally investigated using different wick materials on different absorber plate configurations. In this work, the new materials are characterised for absorption, capillary rise, porosity, water repellence and heat transfer co-efficient to select a suitable material for the solar desalination application. Different wick materials are chosen for this analysis. Based on this analysis, water coral fleece material with porosity (69.67%), absorbency (2 s), capillary rise (10 mm/h) and heat transfer coefficient (34.21 W/m2 °C) is the most suitable wicking material for higher productive solar still. Performances of the still were compared with different wick materials (wood pulp paper wick, wicking water coral fleece fabric and polystyrene sponge) on the various absorber plate configurations (flat absorber, stepped absorber and stepped absorber with wire mesh). Maximum distillate achieved in the still was 4.28 l/day by using water coral fleece with weir mesh–stepped absorber plate.