Numerical Investigation of Single Slope Solar Still Performance With Different Designs: Energy, Exergy, Economic and Environmental Analysis, and Optimization

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ABSTRACT Recently, research into the development of solar stills has received wide attention, with the aim of enhancing their productivity and efficiency. This study invests solar energy to desalinate salt water and obtain pure water using solar distillation devices. The single‐slope solar still was developed to be tested using different geometries of the absorption surface. Where this was investigated numerically, this study includes a comparative analysis of conventional solar stills and those equipped with different absorber plate geometries (arched, polygonal, semicircular, and semi‐elliptical) to evaluate each performance. Using COMSOL version 6.2, 3D models were created, and governing equations were applied to them. With the absorber plate area fixed at 0.25 m2, the solar still with polygonal (PSS), semicircular (SCSS), semi‐elliptical (SESS), and arc‐shaped (ACSS) absorber plate geometry were tested. The results showed a significant increase in freshwater yield, especially with the semi‐elliptic absorbers, where the yield was enhanced by 60%, compared to the conventional solar still with the same absorber plate area. This resulted in a 59.5% increase in the thermal efficiency of solar still. The economic perspective showed that the cost of producing 1 L has decreased by about 37.5%. Moreover, a semi‐elliptical solar still significantly reduced the amount of carbon emitted to the environment by 54.1% compared to a traditional one, making it an important option for enhancing sustainability. The study concluded that the single‐slope solar still with a semi‐elliptic absorption plate is the most suitable option for domestic water desalination applications.

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