Sharif Digital Repository

Solar stills are considered an environmentally friendly technique to produce fresh water. The condensation surface plays an essential role in controlling the efficiency of the solar still. This main parameter is critically affected by the wettability of the condensation surface that affects the condensation mechanism, namely drop-wise or film-wise condensation. This study aims to enhance the efficiency of solar stills by altering the surface wettability hence changing the condensation mechanism using nanomaterials. In this experimental work, different condensation surfaces were coated by silicone nanoparticles to change the condensation mechanism from film to dropwise. Scanning electron... 

The condensation process is of great importance in many heat transfer devices in which a large amount of energy must be transferred. Furthermore, condensation is a crucial part of energy conversion and affects the energy efficiency of thermal desalination plants and solar stills. During the condensation process in solar stills, an essential part of the energy is transferred through the condensation surface to produce fresh water. Therefore, the condensation surface plays a significant role in the working efficiency of solar stills. The wettability of the condensation surface influences the condensation mechanism, which, in turn, affects the efficiency of solar stills. This study aims to... 

Wettability is one of the most important factors which significantly influences solar still efficiency. Moreover, it determines the condensation mode, i.e., filmwise or dropwise condensation. In the present study, materials with different wettability were applied as the condensing surface to evaluate the effect of wettability on the distillate production of a single slope solar still. To compare the effects of dropwise and filmwise condensation on the condensate yield, the wettability of the condensing surface was changed by applying a nano-silicon solution according to a dip coating technique. All the experiments were conducted at three surface inclination angles. The results revealed that...