Augmenting thermal performance in tubular solar stills: A multifaceted strategy with wick cords, integrated baffles, reflectors, and nano-PCM

This study investigates the enhancement of freshwater production using a modified cords wick tubular solar still (CWTSS) compared to a traditional tubular solar still (TSS). The CWTSS design increased freshwater yield by 102 % over the baseline TSS. Also, the impact of using baffles (CWTSS-B) was tested. Incorporating reflectors into the CWTSS (CWTSS-B-R) further improved performance, achieving a 201 % increase in production with reflectors and 160 % without reflectors, highlighting the significant role of reflectors in solar energy capture and distillation efficiency. Various wick cord numbers (12, 22, 32, and 42) were tested to identify the optimal configuration. The use of nanoparticle-enhanced Phase Change Material (PCM) in the CWTSS (CWTSS-PCM) resulted in a 240 % production increase compared to the TSS, demonstrating the effectiveness of PCM in thermal energy storage and management. The most significant improvement was observed in the CWTSS-fan configuration, which employed a fan and an external condenser, leading to a 256 % increase in water production, reaching 15,300 mL/m2 compared to 4300 mL/m2 for the TSS. The modified design's freshwater production cost was $0.01/L, a 50 % reduction from the conventional design's cost of $0.02/L.