One of the most pressing challenges facing human society is the lack of freshwater, Traditional desalination is energy-intensive, posing challenges in energy-scarce regions, especially in less developed nations. Solar stills are a promising alternative but face efficiency limits due to design constraints. Previous studies have employed techniques like integrating reflectors and combining them with other solar still to enhance the evaporation section, but these have resulted in bulky and space-consuming vertical solar still (VSS) designs. This research proposes and evaluates a new vertical solar still (VSS) design to boost freshwater production by increasing evaporation rates. The study uses numerical simulations with Fluent 18.2 and indoor experiments to evaluate the new VSS design. The proposed VSS design introduces a wire mesh plate as an expanded surface behind the wick, improving heat and mass transfer processes at three distinct radiation rates (in two designs: fully mesh plate and partially mesh plate). The study shows that the fully mesh VSS design can boost efficiency by 10.72 %, producing 1384 of freshwater, while the partially mesh VSS design can increase efficiency by 6.2 %, yielding 1328 . Wire mesh technology effectively enhances evaporation rates, addressing desalination energy challenges.

中文翻译：

---

金属丝网对立式太阳能蒸馏器影响的数值和实验研究


人类社会面临的最紧迫的挑战之一是淡水缺乏，传统的海水淡化是能源密集型的，给能源稀缺地区，特别是欠发达国家带来挑战。太阳能蒸馏器是一种很有前途的替代方案，但由于设计限制而面临效率限制。之前的研究采用了集成反射器并将其与其他太阳能蒸馏器相结合等技术来增强蒸发部分，但这些技术导致了体积庞大且占用空间的垂直太阳能蒸馏器（VSS）设计。这项研究提出并评估了一种新的立式太阳能蒸馏器（VSS）设计，通过提高蒸发率来提高淡水产量。该研究使用 Fluent 18.2 的数值模拟和室内实验来评估新的 VSS 设计。所提出的 VSS 设计引入了金属丝网板作为吸芯后面的扩展表面，改善了三种不同辐射率下的传热和传质过程（两种设计：全网状板和部分网状板）。研究表明，全网状VSS设计可将效率提高10.72%，产生1384淡水，而部分网状VSS设计可将效率提高6.2%，产生1328淡水。丝网技术有效提高蒸发率，解决海水淡化能源挑战。