Solar distillation with single basin solar still using sensible heat storage materials

In this experimental study, performance of a single slope single basin solar still have been analyzed with sand and servotherm medium oil (heat transfer oil) as passive storage material beneath the basin liner. The influence of varying depth of storage material for a given quantity of basin water is investigated and compared with the conventional solar still for same parameters. The experiments were conducted at Chandrapur city (19° 57′N, 79° 17′E) of Maharashtra state, India, during summer months. For both, sand and Servotherm medium oil, lower storage depths were found to yield higher productivity compared to conventional still. Also, with passive storage, overnight productivity was found enhanced while daylight productivity lowered.