Inflatable plastic solar still with passive condenser for single family use

Abstract

Plastics have been the preferred choice of material for the commercial production of the solar stills. However, most of the currently available solar stills are either too big or too small for satisfying drinking water needs of a single family. Furthermore, methods for increasing the production of water from a solar still are often difficult and costly to integrate in a solar still. Here, we show the effect of adding a plastic channels as passive condenser on an inflatable solar still. The still has a basin area of 1.8 m2. The tests were performed in lab conditions at different water temperatures. The production of water achieved from the still at a water temperature of 73 ° C was 0.75  l/h. Furthermore, the production of water increased to more than 0.95  l/h with use of air flow over the the passive condenser to mimic wind or with use of wet tissue on the passive condenser to mimic evaporation cooling.