Stepped Solar Thermal Desalination Systems

Reduction of basin water depth is a key parameter to improve the distillate production rate of solar stills. Minimal basin water depth indicates minimal heat capacity thereby, water temperature rises rapidly leading to high evaporation rates. In case of stepped solar thermal desalination system, the presence of steps increases the evaporator area exposed to solar radiation. In addition, it also helps to maintain thin film of water over the evaporator surface. These advantages lead to high basin water temperature and better performance of stepped solar thermal desalination system in comparison to conventional basin solar still. Up to date versions of stepped solar still along with its detailed thermodynamic modeling and salient features has been elaborated in detail.