Experimental study of an integrated basin solar still with a sandy heat reservoir

In this study, an integrated basin solar still with a built-in sandy heat reservoir has been investigated experimentally under the climatological conditions of Zahedan (Latitude: 29.49, Longitude: 60.87), Iran. Selection of basin solar still was mainly due to simplicity in its operation process and technology, long durability, low operation and maintenance costs and its acceptable productivity. Integrated heat reservoir causes to have significantly higher solar still productivity during nights and cloudy days. Also, as the heat reservoir integrated with the solar still, it does not need pumping systems and operators for the night mode usage. In this research the experiments were carried out in 3 spring days at the University of Sistan and Baluchestan in Zahedan city, and the results were measured in the same manner for each day. In order to increase the accuracy, the glass temperature is measured in 12 nodes. The effect of spatial wind barrier on the still performance has been investigated. Also, the analysis of the input brackish water, desalinated water and the output salty water is reported. The results show that implementation of a sandy heat reservoir to a basin solar still enhances the daily productivity.