A modified solar desalination system using evacuated tube collector

Solar energy is turning to one of the important types of clean energies, due to its availability, and its potential for wide range of applications. In this work, a new passive solar desalination system is introduced, which benefits from excellences of twin-glass evacuated tube collectors. For the first time, the evacuated tube collector is not only used as the solar thermal collector, but also as a basin to heat the water. Hence, the thermal resistance between the collector and basin is virtually eliminated. Results show a considerable increase in the rate of desalinated water production and the maximum production reaches up to 0.83kg/(m2·h). It was observed that the maximum rate of the production occurs when the tube is in inclination angle of 35°, and filled 80% with water. Moreover, it is seen that filling the tube with a stainless steel wool can enhance the production rate up to 1.01kg/(m2·h). It was observed that optimum inclination angle is 35°, which is the latitude of location of the experiments. Moreover, a theoretical model is presented in order to evaluate the system's efficiency in quasi-steady state conditions. •A modified desalination uses an evacuated tube collector to directly heat water.•A quasi-steady state theoretical model is presented for this desalination system.•Adding stainless steel wool enhances the heat transfer and increases the yield.•The yield and efficiency reach up to 1.01kg/(m2·hr) and 65.6%, respectively.