Enhancement of modified solar still integrated with external condenser using nanofluids: An experimental approach

• The effect of using nanofluids on the solar still performance is investigated.
• The solar still with external condenser increases the productivity by about 53.2%.
• Using nanofluids improves the solar still water productivity by about 116%.

The distilled water productivity of the single basin solar still is very limited. In this context, the design modification of a single basin solar still has been investigated to improve the solar still performance through increasing the productivity of distilled water. The experimental attempts are made to enhance the solar still productivity by using nanofluids and also by integrating the still basin with external condenser. The used nanofluid is the suspended nanosized solid particles of aluminum-oxide in water. Nanofluids change the transport properties, heat transfer characteristics and evaporative properties of the water. Nanofluids are expected to exhibit superior evaporation rate compared with conventional water. The effect of adding external condenser to the still basin is to decrease the heat loss by convection from water to glass as the condenser acts as an additional and effective heat and mass sink. So, the effect of drawn vapor at different speeds was investigated. The results show that integrating the solar still with external condenser increases the distillate water yield by about 53.2%. And using nanofluids improves the solar still water productivity by about 116%, when the still integrated with the external condenser.