Internal and external improvements of wick type solar stills in different configurations for drinking water production– A review
Mariem Jobrane, Achim Kopmeier, Aliza Kahn, Henry‐Michel Cauchie, Adel Kharroubi, Christian Penny
Abstract
Water scarcity is one of the major problems facing the worldwide humankind due to the growing population, water pollution and climate change. Therefore, producing freshwater using simple low-cost technology, has become a main challenge for researchers. Recently, several research studies aiming the improvement of the solar still devices have inferred that the wick type solar stills are among the most effective and efficient distillers. In the present work, an attempt is made to present the current status of wick solar stills, highlighting the main innovations and improvements. The geometrical design, wick arrangements and heating system integration appear to have significant effects on enhancing the freshwater productivity of the wick type solar still. The wick solar distiller in tilted shape increases the efficiency by around 60% in comparing to the conventional system. Installing a rotating wick cloth provides high efficiency between 66% and 84%. Integrating a parabolic concentrator solar tracking system with wick solar still enhances the productivity by 676%. Furthermore, this work critically reviewed the influence of providing various wick materials on the thermal efficiency of not only the conventional distillers but also of several configurations of solar still device. This comparative review presents a reference guide for future researchers intending to improve the performance of wick type solar stills and focus on the most efficient techniques.