Evaluating the Impact of Internal Fan Integration on the Performance of Solar Stills Linked to External Air-Cooled Passive Condenser

Solar stills are recognized as one of the most promising solutions to address water scarcity issues, especially in arid and remote regions. In recent years, researchers have focused on enhancing the performance and productivity of solar stills to make them more efficient and viable. The aim of this research is to explore ways to improve the distillation efficiency of solar stills. To achieve this, a conventional basin-type solar still was designed and constructed, featuring an air cooled passive external passive condenser and an internal circulating fan. These modifications aim to increase the efficiency of the condensation process by improving heat exchange and vapor condensation rates. The solar still has an effective area of 1 m², with a glass cover mounted at an inclination of 30° to the horizontal. The condensed water is gathered either through the condensers or by flowing down the sloped glass cover into a collection trough. Results showed a 12% increase in glass cover condensation and a 95.5% increase in external condenser condensation when the fan was operating, leading to an overall enhancement of 27.87% in condensation efficiency.