The impact of the corrugated absorber shape on the performance of a hemispherical solar still for water desalination: an experimental study

Solar stills utilization has received great interest in arid isolated regions. In this study, experimental approaches have been investigated to prove the impact of the corrugated absorber shape on the hemispherical solar still performance. Four geometric corrugated shapes including present flat, triangular, semi-circular, square forms were tested for the corrugated absorber. Five hemispherical solar distillers have been fabricated and tested. The first distiller includes flat absorber (HSD-FA), the second distiller includes square corrugated absorber (HSDSA), the third distiller includes semi-circular corrugated absorber (HSD-SCA), the fourth distiller includes triangular corrugated absorber (HSDTA), and the fifth distiller is conventional (CHSD). The first and second distillers were compared with the CHSD on the first day. On the second day, the third and fourth distillers were compared with the CHSD as well. Experimental results obtained showed that, the total freshwater yield of the HSD-FA, HSDSA, HSDSCA and HSDTA were improved by 16.67, 27.08, 39.58 and 48.96%, respectively, compared over that of the CHSD. These results prove that the use of the triangular corrugated absorber shaped provides the highest thermal efficiency, and the optimum corrugated absorber shape is the triangular corrugated absorber shape.