Performance modeling of fin‐enhanced <scp>phase change material</scp> solar stills using <scp>MATLAB</scp> : A numerical approach

Abstract Scarcity of clean water is one of the world's most pressing challenges, particularly in remote and arid regions. Solar stills for desalination is a renewable and cost effective method of producing fresh water from sea water. This study presents a dynamic numerical analysis of a pyramid‐shaped solar still integrated with phase change material (PCM), using a transient MATLAB model. The model also uses a 2D finite difference approach to simulate the heat conduction process of PCM and air zones to predict the temperature field in the domain. The latent heat effect is modeled by enthalpy method, which can help to predict the phase change behavior of the PCM. MATLAB was used to build the full numerical model, which includes the empirical correlations, the experimental parameters, and the transient input data of solar radiation and ambient temperature for an hour‐by‐hour basis for 24 h. This involves a one‐dimensional transient heat and mass transfer analysis of the solar radiation, basin water, glass cover, ambient air, and the PCM layer. The fin enhanced PCM (FPCMs) configuration at 2 cm depth achieved the highest cumulative distillation (7.3 kg/m 2 ), confirming the advantage of combining thermal storage and extended heat transfer surfaces. Simulation results are the time dependent temperature of water, the temperature of the glass cover and PCM, hourly efficiency, evaporative heat losses and the distillate output for a day.