Solar Still Basin Measurements and Liner Material Variance for Improved Water Desalination Efficiency
| dc.contributor.author | Njuguna, Ruth Njoki | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-17T10:08:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-17T10:08:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-12 | |
| dc.description | A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Renewable Energy Technology in the School of Engineering and Architecture of Kenyatta University, 2025. Supervisors 1. Dr. Francis Njoka- Department of Energy, Gas and Petroleum Engineering, Kenyatta University 2. Dr. Joseph Muguthu- Department of Energy, Gas and Petroleum Engineering, Kenyatta University | |
| dc.description.abstract | Access to potable water is a persistent global challenge. To address this, clean drinking water can be obtained from the abundant saline sources through solar desalination. Solar stills offer a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution; however, their desalination efficiencies remain relatively low. The impact of basin width to length ration measurements and liner material variance on their performance have not been adequately evaluated. This study aimed to model the thermal performance of a single-slope solar still, assess the influence of basin liner materials and their thicknesses on desalination efficiency, and determine the optimal basin dimensions for improved freshwater production. This was done with the objective of improving the performance of a one-slope solar desalination still. MATLAB is employed in the model development and simulations. The developed model was validated using experimental data from literature. The analysis used Machakos Kenya (1.52 °S, 37.2 °E) climatic conditions as a reference. Five basin liner materials including aluminium, synthetic graphite, brass, galvanized iron and stainless steel were examined based on their thermal properties. Different width-to-length ratios ranging from 0.14 to 0.86 and basin liner thicknesses of between 2 mm and 6 mm were evaluated. A parametric study was conducted to determine the correlation between liner material thickness and basin dimensions, and their combined impact on freshwater yields. From the results, synthetic graphite exhibited the best performance, followed by aluminium, brass, galvanized iron and stainless steel with respective yields of 3835g/m2.day, 2626 g/m2.day, 1864 g/m2.day, 1545 g/m2.day and 1354 g/m2.day corresponding to efficiencies of 35.04%, 24.02%, 17.02%, 14.13% and 12.39%, respectively. Thus, synthetic graphite outperformed aluminium, brass, galvanized iron and stainless steel by 31.4%, 51.43%, 59.675 and 64.64%, respectively. A width-to-length ratio of 0.45 yields optimal results, while a liner material thickness of 4 mm is found to be ideal across all materials. The parametric study further revealed that width-to-length ratio has a higher significance on freshwater yields compared to liner material thickness. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/32788 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Kenyatta University | |
| dc.title | Solar Still Basin Measurements and Liner Material Variance for Improved Water Desalination Efficiency | |
| dc.type | Thesis |