Experimental investigation of the effect of using thermosyphon heat pipes and vacuum glass on the performance of solar still

A desalination system consumes energy for production of freshwater. Since the solar energy is a low-cost, environmentally clean, and available energy throughout the world, it could be the best source of energy for such systems. In this work, a modified desalination system is presented which uses advantages of thermosyphon heat pipes as a fast and high performance thermal conducting device, and at the same time, employs the advantages of evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) which are flexible and have high performance in adverse weather conditions. Results show considerable increase in the production rate of desalinated water and system efficiency with a maximum production rate of 1.02 kg/(m2 h) and maximum efficiency of 22.9%. Furthermore, the optimum water depth in the basin is measured to be 2 cm, which is the same as the length of the heat-pipe's condenser section in the basin. •An efficient solar desalination system is presented which uses heat pipes and ETCs.•Isolated bubbles are generated over the condensers of the heat pipes.•The maximum rate of production was measured as 1.02 kg/(m2 h).•The effect of using different materials for the cover of basin is investigated.•An optimal water depth was measured to be the length of heat-pipe's condenser.