Heat and mass transfer enhancement in a solar still using a photovoltaic-powered oscillating heated wall-jet inlet

Water scarcity is a major issue affecting millions of people worldwide, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. Simple but sustainable conventional solar stills have lower efficiency and reduced rates of water production. This study involves the design of an innovative solar-powered desalination device, which is different from earlier designs to make it more efficient. As a solution to these constraints, this research proposes a new design for an entrance gate to a solar still to utilize the wall jet flow with oscillated and heated walls to improve the production of vapors. A three-dimensional (3D) model of the proposed inlet gate integrated with a solar still was developed in OpenFOAM v2012 using the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) turbulence model. The system is designed to achieve better performance under adverse environmental conditions by incorporating a photovoltaic (PV) thermal panel that will enable the system to power the oscillation and heating systems sustainably. Based on the buoyant Boussinesq pimple foam solver to model the water concentration in detail, the suggested system has been shown to increase potable water production by more than 48% compared to traditional solar still systems, with a minimized time spent on production. Parametric analysis also streamlines the wall jet design, which underscores the possibility of achieving substantial gains in terms of water yield in waterdeficient areas. The findings of this research are useful to the manufacturers of solar panels and people working with desalination systems powered by solar energy.