Performance comparison of a single slope solar still equipped with water heater and an external fan during summer and winter

Desalination of the brackish water in a solar still enhances by increasing the evaporation and condensation rate. In this paper, a comparison is made for the productivity of a single slope solar still that is equipped with a water heater and an external fan in summer and winter, by both experimental and numerical techniques. Heater is used to enhance the evaporation and the fan is used to promote the condensation. When using a 500 W heater, it was shown that an increase of up to 370% in the fresh water yield was observed. The effect of external fan that induces 7 m/s and 9 m/s wind speeds was also studied. In addition, a thermal modeling was done to simulate the desalination process using the principles of heat and mass transfer. Numerical results were validated by the experimental measurements. It is concluded that using water heater significantly enhances the productivity during both the summer and winter. However, employing an external fan increases the productivity in the summer, but decreases it slightly in the winter.