Energy, exergy, economic and environmental evaluation of solar desalination system comprising different enhanced surface absorber plates

In the present work, energy, exergy, economic and environmental evaluation of single slope solar still (SS) using multiple enhancement techniques namely, sandblasting, milling, and shot-blast aided corrugation are investigated. Totally four SS types are considered, namely (1) conventional SS, (2) sandblasted surface absorber-SS, (3) milled surface absorber-SS, and (4) shot-aided corrugated surface absorber-SS. Among the methods employed, the shot-blasted aided corrugated-absorber SS produced a maximum yield of 3275 mL/m2/day, which was 1.46 times superior to that of traditional/conventional solar still (CSS) yield (2250 mL/m2/day). Activated carbon with black paint-based spray coating (14 vol%) improved mean absorptivity by 5 %, as a result, the thermal efficiency of the SS was increased up to 57.2 % as compared to traditional SS. The exergoeconomic factor of the SS with sandblasted, milling, and shot-blasted aided corrugation was SS was 25.2, 62.8, and 98.5 % respectively greater than CSS. More importantly, the energy payback time for CSS, sandblasted SS, milling SS, and shot-blasted SS were 1.49, 1.498, 1.396, and 1.065 years, respectively. Also, the exergy payback time for CSS, sandblasted SS, SS with milling, and SS with shot-blast aided corrugation were 5.99, 5.05, 3.90, and 3.23 years respectively. •The solar still absorber plate was enhanced using sandblasting corrugation with shot blasting, and milling process.•ACNMs were prepared with the pyrolysis of coconut shells.•The modified absorber surface was enhanced using 14 vol% of ACNMs coating.•The energy, exergy economic, and environment analysis of CSS and surface-modified SS are compared.