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

Muntadher Mohammed Ali Saeed; Hassanain Ghani Hameed; Assaad Alsahlani

doi:10.1002/htj.23402

journal article Jun 04, 2025

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

Muntadher Mohammed Ali Saeed

Hassanain Ghani Hameed

Assaad Alsahlani

Heat Transfer Vol. 54 No. 6 pp. 4102-4123 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/htj.23402

Abstract

ABSTRACTRecently, 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.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

46

[1]

Experimental Investigation on Thermal Performance of Solar Air Heater using Nano-PCM

Muntadher Mohammed Ali Saeed, Hassanain Ghani Hameed, Hayder Azeez Neamah Diabil

Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics an... 10.37934/arfmts.117.1.8397

[2]

10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.125596

[3]

10.1016/j.seta.2024.104137

[4]

10.1016/j.solener.2024.113127

[5]

10.21622/resd.2024.10.2.1015

[6]

10.1039/d4ee03525a

[7]

10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16535

[8]

10.1615/computthermalscien.2024053130

[9]

10.1080/14484846.2021.2023348

[10]

10.1016/j.solener.2025.113281

[11]

10.1016/b978-0-443-21788-3.00001-9

[12]

10.21622/resd.2024.10.2.1015

[13]

10.1093/ce/zkae093

[14]

10.1016/j.seppur.2024.131200

[15]

10.1016/j.est.2025.115557

[16]

10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05002-8

[17]

10.1007/s10973-024-13904-z

[18]

10.1016/j.dwt.2024.100733

[19]

10.1080/21622515.2025.2458093

[20]

Enhancing freshwater yield in conical solar stills utilizing external reflective mirrors: An experimental approach

Mohammed El Hadi Attia, Abd Elnaby Kabeel, Nour A. Moharram et al.

Solar Energy 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113287

[21]

10.1115/1.4063255

[22]

Synergizing environmental and technological advances: Discarded transmission oil and paraffin wax as a phase change material for energy storage in solar distillation as a step towards sustainability

Subbarama Kousik Suraparaju, Mahendran Samykano, Ramasamy Dhivagar et al.

Journal of Energy Storage 10.1016/j.est.2024.111046

[23]

10.1002/htj.23258

[24]

10.1016/j.est.2024.112980

[25]

10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.123123

[26]

10.1093/ijlct/ctae004

[27]

10.1016/j.est.2024.115091

[28]

10.1002/htj.23049

[29]

10.1016/j.seta.2021.101728

[30]

10.1016/j.solener.2020.12.051

[31]

Mohammed M. "Numerical and Experimental Study for Enhancement of Single‐Slope Solar Still Productivity Using PCM" Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences (2019)

[32]

10.1016/j.renene.2021.02.081

[33]

Productivity estimation of a single-slope solar still: Theoretical and numerical analysis

N. Rahbar, J.A. Esfahani

Energy 10.1016/j.energy.2012.10.023

[34]

Saeed M. M. A. "Numerical Investigation for Single Slope Solar Still Performance With Optimal Amount of Nano‐PCM" Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences (2019)

[35]

Dumka P. "Conventional Solar Still Augmented With Saltwater Bottles: An Experimental Study" Journal of Solar Energy Research (2024)

[36]

10.1016/j.desal.2020.114856

[37]

10.1016/j.desal.2024.117964

[38]

10.1016/j.csite.2023.103310

[39]

10.1016/j.dwt.2024.100051

[40]

10.3390/w15030610

[41]

10.3390/app12178561

[42]

10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123232

[43]

10.1016/j.desal.2024.118400

[44]

10.1016/j.est.2025.115360

[45]

Hidouri K. "Environmental Studies for Various Simple and Hybrid Solar Still Configurations: A Comprehensive Review" JJournal of Thermal Engineering (2021)

[46]

10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.124556

Cited By

2

Experimental evaluation of an innovative horizontal solar air heater incorporating thermal energy storage using paraffin wax, graphite, and internal reflector enhancements

Muntadher Mohammed Ali Saeed, Balasem Abdulameer Jabbar Al-quraishi · 2026

Journal of Energy Storage

Metrics

2

Citations

46

References

Details

Published: Jun 04, 2025
Vol/Issue: 54(6)
Pages: 4102-4123
License: View

Authors

M

Muntadher Mohammed Ali Saeed

Engineering Technical College/Najaf Al‐Furat Al‐Awsat Technical University Najaf Iraq

H

Hassanain Ghani Hameed

Engineering Technical College/Najaf Al‐Furat Al‐Awsat Technical University Najaf Iraq

A

Assaad Alsahlani

Engineering Technical College/Najaf Al‐Furat Al‐Awsat Technical University Najaf Iraq

Cite This Article

Muntadher Mohammed Ali Saeed, Hassanain Ghani Hameed, Assaad Alsahlani (2025). Numerical Investigation of Single Slope Solar Still Performance With Different Designs: Energy, Exergy, Economic and Environmental Analysis, and Optimization. Heat Transfer, 54(6), 4102-4123. https://doi.org/10.1002/htj.23402

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

You May Also Like