Exergy, economic and enviro-economic analysis of single slope finned solar still with nano enhanced PCM

Abstract

Solar desalination is an eco-friendly technique for turning brackish water into fresh water. This study evaluated the performance of a single basin solar still utilizing different materials and configurations to assess their economic and environmental viability. The solar stills have been tested in four different cases: conventional solar still (CSS) with 2 cm water depth in the basin, solar still with fins only (SSWF), solar still with fins and phase change material (PCM), and solar still with fins and PCM enhanced with NiO₂ nanoparticles (SSWF+Nano PCM). The results indicated that the SSWF+Nano PCM configuration outperformed the others, exhibiting energy and exergy improvements of 52.89% and 27.63%, respectively, compared to CSS. Additionally, environmental-economic analysis revealed that SSWF+Nano PCM had lower net CO₂ emissions and higher carbon credits earned compared to CSS. Moreover, the cost of production and payback period for SSWF+Nano PCM are found to be more favourable compared to the other configurations.