Development of a novel film condensation-based heat transfer model to estimate the productivity of conventional solar still

Kumar, Ram; Mishra, Dhananjay R.; Dumka, Pankaj

doi:10.22059/jser.2025.383742.1481

Development of a novel film condensation-based heat transfer model to estimate the productivity of conventional solar still

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Ram Kumar

Dhananjay R. Mishra

Pankaj Dumka

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, A.B. Road, Guna - 473226, Madhya Pradesh (India).

10.22059/jser.2025.383742.1481

Abstract

This manuscript describes the development of a film condensation model based on heat and mass transfer principles. The objective of the model is to estimate the amount of distillate yield derived from CSS. To verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed model, experiments were performed on CSS, and the results were compared with theoretical predictions derived from the model. Moreover, a well-established Dunkle model has also been applied to check the prediction strength of the proposed theory. The observation shows that the proposed model provides a prediction for the distillate output that is substantively close to the experimental result with a deviation of only 4.0%, whereas the overall distillate yield estimated from Dunkle's model shows a significantly higher deviation of 116.8%. These results underscore the superior accuracy and reliability of the proposed film condensation-based heat transfer model, especially in comparison to the Dunkle model, in predicting the performance and distillate output of passive solar stills.

Keywords

Desalination

Conventional solar still

Film condensation

Predictive model

Heat transfer