Innovative design of a dome-shaped solar distiller enhanced with a multi-tray conical absorber basin and fountain feeding supply: Experimental study with energy, exergy, and enviro-economic analyses

Augmentation of the condensation cover area of the distiller by using a newly dome-shaped solar distiller could be a low-cost and effective approach for maximization of the distillate product of conventional solar stills. This work aims to evolve an innovative design of a solar distiller that can achieve the highest performance improvement. A novel dome-shaped solar distiller with a multi-tray conical absorber basin and fountain feeding supply is introduced in this study to augment the vaporization rates within the distillation basin and thus augment the freshwater product. Two dome-shaped solar distillers are designed and examined: a modified dome-shaped solar distiller (MDSSD) and a traditional dome-shaped solar distiller (TDSSD), which act as a reference. The energetic, exergetic, and economical analyses of the two stills are conducted regarding freshwater production rate, daily energic and exergic efficiencies, and distillation product cost. The daily freshwater production reached 9.27 kg/m²/d for the MDSSD and 5.57 kg/m²/d for the TDSSD, achieving a 41.0 % enhancement relative to the TDSSD. More so, the daily energic efficiency of MDSSD and TDSSD is evaluated as 69.35 % and 49.30 %, achieving an increase rate of 40.65 % over TDSSD. The daily exergic efficiency of MDSSD and TDSSD reached 6.62 % and 3.40 %, representing an improvement rate of 94.70 %, respectively. Additionally, the findings of cost analysis show that the distilled water cost is appreciated as 0.05073 $/kg and 0.05418 $/kg for MDSSD and TDSSD, respectively. Hence, the MDSSD had a lower distilled product cost than TDSSD by 6.40 %.