Experimental study on a parabolic concentrator assisted solar desalting system

[Display omitted] •We optimized the augmentation of condense by enhanced desalination methodology.•Parabolic concentrator has been integrated with solar distillation systems.•We measured ambient together with solar radiation intensity. This paper presents a modification of parabolic concentrator (PC) – solar still with continuous water circulation using a storage tank to enhance the productivity. Four modes of operation were studied experimentally: (i) PC-solar still without top cover cooling; (ii) PC-solar still with top cover cooling, PC-solar still integrated with phase change material (PCM) without top cover cooling and PC-solar still integrated PCM with cooling. The experiments were carried out for the cooling water flow rates of 40ml/min; 50ml/min, 60ml/min, 80ml/min and 100ml/min. Diurnal variations of water temperature (Tw), ambient air temperature (Ta), top cover temperature (Toc) and production rate are measured with frequent time intervals. Water cooling was not cost effective, but adding PCM was.