IMPROVEMENT IN WATER COLLECTION SYSTEM AND SURFACE INTERACTION FOR A LOW-COST FLOATING SOLAR STILL

• Main Author: Fernando Lauvandy, Alexander
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik (Rekayasa, enjinering dan kegiatan berkaitan)
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/57810
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Water is one of the most abundant elements on earth, covering 75% of the earth’s surface (Kalogirou, 2005). Population growth, meaning higher freshwater demand and limited supply of fresh water, results in increasing water scarcity. Solar still, utilizing thermal energy from solar to distillate saltwater, offers a method of affordable desalination, which suitable for rural application. Previous work have been conducted in designing and prototyping a low-cost floating solar still. One major drawback from the first prototype design is around the low condensing efficiency, specifically the unfavourable surface interaction on the solar still cover and poor water collection system. This work is focused on 1) improving the water collection system by attaching an anti-fog film on the solar still cover to modify the surface-condensate wetting characteristics; and 2) adding the water collection mechanism on the vertical side of the solar still cover to increase the collected water. Surface interaction characteristics are measured using a self-developed contact angle goniometer. In each experiment, the mass of water collected was measured and condensing efficiency thus could be calculated. Experiment results showed significant increase in the collection efficiency for the latest cover (15.74%) compared to the previous work (6.15%) due to the addition of the water collection mechanism on the vertical sides of the cover. Cover filmed with anti-fog film also showed an absolute 5.25% increase in the collection efficiency attributed to the better surface interaction between the droplet and the cover, which increased the water collection rate.