Design Construction and Testing of a Commercial Wick-Type Solar Still

Abstract

The aim of this work is to improve the productivity and the efficiency of a solar still by introducing a new design, to be used in a large scale in Sudan. This work covers design, construction, and testing of a wick-type solar still to be used for commercial purposes. One unit of a Wick-type Still is constructed and tested at the roof of the North Building of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of Khartoum. Experiments were conducted in August, September and October 1998. The results on the performance of the still are discussed and the performance curves are plotted. A configuration design is illustrated in brief and the economical analysis is made. The construction cost of the Still is 144220 Sudanese ponds equivalent to $72.11 and the cost of distillate produced is 26.8 Ls/litre equivalent to 0.0134 $/litre over a life expectancy of fifteen years