EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF A HYBRID SOLAR STILL SYSTEM USING PARABOLIC TROUGH CONCENTRATORS

The primary objective of this study was to conduct an experimental evaluation of the efficiency of a solar still integrated with parabolic trough concentrators (PTC). Two solar still systems have been fabricated, one being a conventional solar still (CSS) and the other a hybrid solar still (HSS) incorporating a phase change material (PCM) along with a parabolic trough concentrator (PTC).Investigations were carried out in the high-temperature environment of 10th of Ramadan city, Egypt. The performance of HSS systems, which included various masses of PCM with or without PTC, was analyzed in comparison to a conventional system. The focus was on assessing the operational temperature efficiency and freshwater output of the systems under study. The results suggest that the solar still combined with PTC exhibits elevated operational temperatures and enhanced productivity in contrast to the conventional solar still. The freshwater productivities of HSS setups with 2.5, 3, 3.5, and 4 kg of PCM showcase an escalation of 34.6%, 69.9%, 37%, and 9.6%, respectively, when juxtaposed with the conventional still. Conversely, in instances where solar stills incorporate identical PCM quantities without PTC, the improvements in freshwater productivity are 26.4%, 53.1%, 27.3%, and 6.9%, respectively, in comparison to the conventional still. Evidently, the solar still system enhanced with PCM and integrated with PTC (HSS) proves to be more effective and efficient than its counterpart.