Abstract

This study investigated the performance of an improved incline solar water desalination (ISWD) system under the influence of two different weather conditions (winter and summer seasons) in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. The experimental investigation studied the effects of solar radiation intensity, wick on the plate absorber and the bare plate absorber on the daily production and efficiency of the ISWD system. The results obtained from this investigation were compared with other researcher works (mathematical and experimental) in literature. The experimental results of the system (with wick) gave daily production (Pd) as 6.41 kg/m2 day in summer (with an experimental duration of 8:00 am to 16:00 pm) while it was 3.327 kg/m2 day (with an experimental duration of 8:30 am to 15:30 pm) in winter. One major comparison was with the theoretical results by Aybar (2006) which yield between 3.5 to 5.0 kg/m2 day (7:00 am to 7:00 pm) for summer season. The summer experimental result was higher than the predicted theoretical result range by Aybar (2006). One possible reason for disagreement between the experimental investigation and the theoretical prediction in summer was that the theoretical work did not put into consideration the re-use of the exit water (that is, higher temperature) as feed water for the system as used in the experiment. The daily efficiency () was found to be 52.4% in summer season while the efficiency dropped in winter to 43.6%.

Key words: Solar desalination, incline solar water desalination, solar still, daily production, potable water.