Experimental study on productivity enhancement of an improvised inclined solar still

Experimental studies are carried out on the inclined solar still with baffle plates for enhancing its performance. The baffles placed in the inclined solar still act as a solar collector which helps in increasing the contact time with solar radiation thereby raising the saline water temperature. Experiments are carried out during winter and early summer climate of Chennai, India. Experimental parameters, such as ambient temperature, solar radiation, glass temperature, water temperature and distillate output are recorded. Hourly productivity is found to be higher during sunny days. The estimated production of fresh water through analytical study is 3.50?kg/m² per day for a minimum mass flow rate of 0.0833?kg/min. The actual experimental yield is 2.793?kg/m² per day. Also, the inlet saline water temperature affects the yield and the latter is found to be highest at 48.5°C.