A solar still augmented with an evacuated tube collector in forced mode

A single slope solar still has been integrated with an evacuated tube collector (ETC) and operates in forced mode. Thermal model of integrated system has been developed to predict performance of solar still under New Delhi (India) climatic conditions. The daily yield has been obtained as 3.47 kg for basin water depth 0.01 m and at mass flow rate of 0.006 kg/s. However, the optimum performance has been found to be at mass flow rate of 0.06 kg/s for basin water depth 0.03 m. The optimum daily yield has been obtained as 3.9 kg with energy and exergy efficiencies as 33.8% and 2.6% respectively during typical summer day. The average annual yield per unit of solar collector area has been estimated higher than the natural mode.