Experimental Investigation of Solar Still Performance With Paraffin Wax as PCM

Abstract

The availability of fresh, safe and clean potable water is the major problem faced by most of the countries all
over the world. Many water purification technologies are developed out of which solar distillation or desalination is
being most economical and sustainable technology under development. The solar stills provide a great relief to the
remote areas where advanced purification technologies such as reverse osmosis, UV, electro dialysis cannot be used due
to cost constraints. Numbers of solar still designs were developed over last decade. This article studies stepped solar still
design with pyramidal glass cover used at domestic level. The solar stills are not commercialised or standardized due to
their limited yields. However with the current research and improvements they can be successfully commercialised for
future domestic applications. This paper discusses the performance of stepped solar still using paraffin wax as a phase
change material.