Experimental assessment of square fin number variation on energy and exergy performance in double-slope solar stills under Tunisia weather conditions
Ons Ghriss, Nabiha Mekki, Sirine Dhaoui, Moataz M. Abdel‐Aziz, Abdallah Bouabidi, Mohammed El Hadi Attia
Abstract
This experimental study examines the effect of incorporating different numbers of fins in solar distillers for enhancing the evaporation rate and boosting productivity. A series of experiments were developed and tested to investigate the impact of varying number of fins. Four configurations were designed: a conventional double slope solar still (CDSSS) used as a reference, and three modified stills equipped with 6 fins (DSSS-6F), 12 fins (DSSS-12F), and 15 fins (DSSS-15F), respectively. The results demonstrated a significant increase in productivity for the fin-enhanced systems, particularly the DSSS-12F, which achieved the highest daily water output of 3.01 kg/m 2 , representing a 54.50 % improvement over the CDSSS, which produced 1.95 kg/m 2 . In terms of energy efficiency, the DSSS-12F reached 76.8 %, marking a 54.11 % enhancement compared to the baseline design. Exergy efficiency also saw notable gains; DSSS-12F achieved an efficiency of 0.53 %, a 78.43 % increase over the conventional system. The economic analysis of the systems further highlighted the advantages of the fin-enhanced designs. Notably, DSSS-6F, DSSS-12F, and DSSS-15F achieved payback periods of 46, 36, and 41 days, respectively, in contrast to the 50-days payback period for the conventional CDSSS. This faster return on investment was especially pronounced for DSSS-12F, which demonstrated the highest performances.