Impact of modification in the geometry of absorber plate on the productivity of solar still – A review.

[Display omitted] The scarcity of drinking water is a worldwide major issue in the current scenario. Using the solar still, an abundantly available saline water can be desalinated to obtain drinking water. However, solar still faces the issue of low productivity. The area of contact between the absorber plate of the solar still and the saline/impure water plays a crucial role in the evaporation of saline/impure water to obtain distilled water. The modifications in the geometry of the absorber plate is one of the enhancement techniques to improve the productivity of solar still. In the article, the impact of the fins integrated absorber plate, use of baffles, use of corrugated and stepped absorber plate was reviewed on the productivity of solar still. The effect of geometrical parameters of fins, baffles, steps and corrugations has also been reviewed. The use of fins on absorber plate reduces the thermal resistant to heat flow and distributes the heat along the water depth. The use of fins and baffles reduces the preheating time of saline water. The use of corrugated and stepped absorber plates increases the exposure area for the absorption of solar energy and the contact area among the absorber plate and saline water. For the same mass of saline water, the use of fins was observed better than the use of corrugation. Whereas for the same depth of water, the use of corrugation was observed better than the use of fins. The summary of results of the latest state-of-art-of literature on modification in the geometry of absorber plates is presented in tabular form. The discussion on comparative study among the various configuration of geometrical modification, key findings, and the scope of future scope is presented at the end of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]