Study of the performance of the inverted solar still integrated with a refrigeration cycle

In this paper, an experimental study of an inverted solar still integrated with a refrigeration cycle at different water depth and feed saline water temperature is presented. Experiments were conducted under the climatic conditions of Muscat, Sultanate of Oman during the month of July. When the temperature of the feed saline water was 35 °C, it was observed that the daily yield obtained were 6670, 4940 and 3930 ml/day at water depths 8, 6 and 4 cm, respectively. On the other hand, when the temperature of the feed saline water was 30 °C, it was observed that the daily yielded distilled water obtained were 9500, 10080 and 6400 ml/day at water depths 8, 6 and 4 cm, respectively. In terms of the productivity of the solar stills, the results of this work were compared with that of documented literature. It was found that higher daily yield of fresh water was achieved in case of the refrigerated inverted solar still as compared to the conventional inverted solar still. Moreover, the daily production of the refrigerated inverted solar still was found to be increased by increasing the water depth in comparison to the conventional inverted solar still where the inverse behavior was reported.