Table 1 Reviews on solar still
S. no. | Researcher | Context | Conclusion/remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Tiwari et al. (2003) | Present status, past work, and future potential of solar still | From the economical view point, double slope fibre-reinforced plastic still was found efficient than others Passive solar stills were concluded more suitable for domestic purposes and active solar stills for commercial applications |
2. | Aybar (2007) | Recent studies on solar still | Performance of solar still depends on various design, meteorological and water parameters. Multi-basin, multi-slop and solar still coupled with solar collector were suggested as improved and efficient designs |
3. | Murugavel et al. (2008) | Methods to improve the performance of single basin passive solar stills | Orientation and inclination of condensing cover depend on the latitude of the place. Glass and rubber were found most efficient condensing and basin material Mirrors as reflectors were considered efficient for solar stills |
4. | Aybar and Assefi (2009) | Direct and indirect type solar distillation systems | Indirect solar distillation gave higher distillate output but the system is complex, costly and needs high maintenance |
5. | Arjunan et al. (2009) | Development techniques and status of solar desalination in India | Solar distillation is considered as the most attractive and reliable solution of fresh water for remote areas and small communities Cover cooling, lower water depth, absorbing materials, wick, multi basin and tubular still reported to give higher yield |
6. | Sampathkumar et al. (2010) | Various types, technological development, modeling, and future scope of active solar still | Energy storing material in stepped solar sill coupled with solar pond results higher yield Kumar and Tiwari model was concluded the most suitable for evaluating internal heat transfer coefficients |
7. | Kaushal and Varun (2010) | Types of solar still | Selection of solar still mainly depends on local and operating conditions |
8. | Kabeel and El-Agouz (2011) | Researches and improvement parameters of solar still | Solar still productivity improves with lower water depth, condensing cover inclination equal to latitude of place, with energy storage materials, sun tracking system, reflectors, flat plate collector, and phase change material |
9. | Balan et al. (2011) | Passive solar distillation along with design analysis | Wick type solar still was concluded an efficient solar still design Use of reflectors significantly improves the performance of solar still |
10. | Velmurugan and Srithar (2011) | Productivity improvement factors analysis of solar still | Numerous operational parameters such as free surface area of water, water glass temperature difference, and inlet water temperature. Greatly affect the performance of solar still Use of sponges, fins, still with double glass, collectors, storage tank, wicks, reflectors, condenser, additives, etc. Improves the performance of solar still |
11. | Ali et al. (2011) | Techno-economical review of various indirect solar desalination techniques | Indirect solar desalination could provide a solution to fulfill the demand of potable water in an economical way |
12. | Ayoub and Malaeb (2012) | Critical review on developments in solar still desalination systems Cost analysis | Intensive research is needed in material optimization, system reliability, design sustainability of solar desalination system without affecting its basic advantages |
13. | Compain (2012) | Different desalination technologies with solar energy | Combination of most common water desalination technologies with solar energy gives low cost, cleaner, efficient and fuel energy replacement techniques |
14. | Shatat et al. (2013) | Need, challenges and various techniques of water desalination process Development and opportunity of solar water desalination technology | Low cost, inexhaustible and clean solar energy combined with different water desalination technologies provides a better alternative for water desalination in economics and environmental aspects |
15. | Sivakumar and Sundaram (2013) | Design, operational and meteorological parameters of solar still | Productivity of solar stills greatly enhances by energy storing materials, sun tracking systems, condensing cover cooling, reflectors, wick materials, stills with collectors, solar pond, and cooling tower Performance of still is highly dependent on location and experimental conditions |
16. | Ranjan and Kaushik (2013) | Energy, exergy and thermo-economic analysis of solar distillation system | Energy and exergy efficiency of the conventional solar system was observed to be in the range of 20–46 and 4–5 % and can be increased up to 62 and 8.5 %, respectively. Per liter cost of distilled water was estimated in the range of US $ 0.014–0.237 For higher productivity, efficiency and economical point the solar distillation system must be integrated with other solar devices |
17. | Murugavel et al. (2013) | Development and efficiency improvement methods of inclined type solar still | Reflectors, water flowing over condensing surface; phase change materials and wick greatly enhance the productivity of the inclined still |
18. | Manikandan et al. (2013) | Status and analysis of various wick type solar stills | Use of wick in the still is considered as an efficient and economic technique to improve the productivity |
19. | Xiao et al. (2013a) | Design developments, analysis and heat and mass transfer models for solar still | Under different climatic conditions, different design guidelines provided for yield improvement of solar stills Dunkle’s relation was preferred for Grashof number less than 2.51 × 105 and for greater values Adhikari’s correlation was recommended Future research was suggested for the development in solar still |
20. | Khayet (2013) | Economics, energy consumption and water production cost analysis | Development and optimization of solar desalination by membrane distillation can reduce energy consumption and water production cost |
21. | Muftah et al. (2014) | Study of performance parameters and cost analysis of solar still | Distillation productivity can be enhanced for a particular location through the operating and design conditions Almost all parameters which affect the productivity of basin type solar stills were reviewed except some important parameters like effect of vacuum technology and use of nanoparticles |
22. | Sharon and Reddy (2015) | Various solar energy integrated desalination technologies | Solar desalination was considered as an efficient, environment friendly fresh water solution Present and future work related to development in solar desalination technologies was suggested along with their pros and cons, problems and remedies, economic and environmental impact |
23. | Kabeel (2015) | Performance improvement techniques of stepped solar still | Stepped solar still was concluded as an effective and efficient solar still device Use of reflectors, thermal storage medium, glass cover cooling, sun tracking, wicks with stepped solar still highly improve its efficiency Tray/step depth, width, shape and design significantly affect the performance of stepped solar still |
24. | Yadav and Sudhakar (2015) | Different domestic solar still designs along with performance and economic analysis | Solar still with their different designs was considered as an attractive solution to fulfill domestic fresh water demand but still needs efficient and optimized domestic designs to make the technology commercialized |
25. | Gugulothu et al. (2015) | Thermal energy storage in solar distillation system | Latent heat storage was considered efficient than sensible heat storage. Combination of sun tracking system and energy storage with solar stills is recommended for future work |
26. | Durkaieswaran and Murugavel (2015) | Special designs of single basin passive solar still | Higher surface area of solar collector can increase the productivity of solar still. It is concluded that there is a scope of improvement in the existing designs to make the system efficient and economical |
27. | El-Sebaii and El-Bialy (2015) | Advanced designs of solar desalination systems with cost analysis | Double basin, triple basin and stepped solar stills with reflectors gave higher distillate output with lowest production cost |
28. | Kumar et al. (2015) | Single and multi-effect passive and active solar stills system with their merits and demerits | Solar radiation intensity, ambient conditions, condensing cover cooling, flat plate external reflector, and salinity were considered important parameters of solar still Research work on multi-effect and multi-stage evacuated stills was suggested for future scope of improvement |