Feasibility of desalination by solar stills for small community scale freshwater demand. (15th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hota, Sai Kiran; Hada, Suryabhan Singh; Keske, Catherine; Diaz, Gerardo
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 379:Part 1(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12-15
• Subjects: Solar stills -- Solar desalination -- Levelized cost of water -- California -- Rural communities; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134595
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: Solar stills are conventional desalination systems based on direct solar heating. While their productivity is limited, their simple construction and low maintenance requirements makes them an attractive and feasible option for community-scale desalination. This study shows that low-cost solar stills are capable of producing sufficient freshwater for small disadvantaged communities at costs lower than competing technologies. A variety of solar still materials are investigated showing that the cost of freshwater produced is sensitive to the solar still cost. Inexpensive carbon black particles dispersed in the water are used to increase solar still performance, and a set of low-cost solar still materials are identified from a pool of candidate materials to minimize water production cost by means of optical and energy analyses. In addition, communities with fewer than 10000 residents are identified in the reference region of California to perform an energy analysis to determine freshwater productivity yield and the cost of freshwater production. It is determined that a 10000 m 2 solar still could produce freshwater meeting the requirements of small rural communities costing less than $ 7.71 / m 3 . Attractive investment options are available that could reduce the cost of water produced to less than $ 1.75 / m 3 . Solar stills were found to be feasible when comparing the cost of freshwater produced with a comparable photovoltaic reverse osmosis system. The proposed methodology can be extrapolated to determine the feasibility of solar still-based desalination systems in other geographical locations. From the results of the analysis, solar stills are proposed for effectively producing low-cost freshwater to increase the accessibility of freshwater in small rural communities. Graphical abstract: Highlights: Low-cost solar stills can produce freshwater for rural communities at competitive costs Several solar-still materials were studied for sensitivity analysis of freshwater cost Inexpensive carbon black particles dispersed in water increase solar still performance A LCOW analysis is performed to analyze the cost of freshwater produced