Analysis of Thermosyphon Water Purification System

Access to drinking water is becoming increasingly challenging for people all around the world. Effective, affordable and sustainable water purification system development requires attention of engineers and scientists. This study proposed a thermosyphon water purification system which works with solar energy. The conventional system for heating water using solar energy has been updated with the implementation of thermosyphon and a dual basin design, replacing the previous single basin configuration. This modification enhanced the efficiency of solar still. The research conducted analysed the efficiency of utilizing water and paraffin wax as the heat transfer fluid and phase-changing material, respectively, in contrast to the use of molten salt and lithium carbonate as the heat transfer fluid and phase-changing material, respectively. Performance is analysed by selecting a mathematical model and developing a MATLAB code for it. The maximum water output increased by 14.28% while the maximum temperatures recorded were increased by 0.42, 1.8, 0.58 and 0.6% for base, upper glass, first plate and last plate respectively when phase-changing material and heat transfer fluid selected was Lithium Carbonate and Molten Salt respectively.