Design Construction and Performance Evaluation of a Quadro-Outlet Solar Distiller for Use under Biu Climatic Condition

Abstract

A Quadro-outlet solar distiller unit is a simple solar still with four collection points each for a side of the rectangular box covered with glass. Clean water is a key to human healthy life and thus providing clean water that is free of microbial contaminants and heavy ions is very necessary. The alarming increase in human population in the developing countries of Western Sahara including Nigeria coupled with the lack social amenities like electricity which could be used for pipe borne water production makes it very hard for the local communities to access clean water. Solar distillation process is highly recommended for its simplicity and that it requires only solar radiation which is readily available in these countries most especially the Northern Nigeria. In this paper, a Quadro-outlet type passive solar still was designed and fabricated using the available local materials in Biu (9.6117^oN, 12.1919^oE), North-Eastern Nigeria. Its performance was evaluated at different initial water depths ranging from 1.0 cm, to 2.5 cm at the interval of 0.5 cm. The daily cumulative yield was maximum, 2926 ml (≈ 3.0 L) at 1.0 cm initial depth and minimum, 1988 ml (≈ 2.0 L) at 2.5 cm initial water depth. The maximum computed instantaneous thermal efficiency (η_th) is 68 % at 1.0 cm initial water depth. The yield (both instantaneous and cumulative) for the Southern, Eastern slopes was averagely higher than that of the Northern, Western slopes.