Evaluating the influence of coir fibres on solar still efficiency and economic viability

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KGISL Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641 035, Tamilnadu, India
² Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rathinam Technical Campus, Coimbatore 641 021, Tamilnadu, India
³ Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nandha College of Technology, Perundurai 638 052, Tamilnadu, India
⁴ Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad 500 090, Telangana, India
⁵ Professor, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, PSN College of Engineering and Technology, Tirunelveli 627 152, Tamilnadu, India
⁶ Professor, KLEF (Deemed to be University) KL University, Guntur 522 302, Andhra Pradesh, India
⁷ Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nandha College of Technology, Perundurai 638 052, Tamilnadu, India

^* Corresponding author: dr.r.girimurugan@gmail.com

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to determine the Coir fibres (CF) utilization in solar stills (SS) to boost the quantity of freshwater production. By placing dry CF fibres in the absorber basin, researchers were able to accelerate the rate at which water evaporated from the SS. Under various CF densities, the freshwater production of the absorber basin was measured (8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, and 26). The outcomes demonstrated that yield was raised by 27.23 percent after 18-fiber SSCF was added to the absorber basin. There were 14.27 percent, 19.40 percent, 24.57 percent, 25.00 percent, 16.28 percent, and 6.23 percent yield improvements for solar stills with 8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, and 26 fibres in the absorber basin, respectively, as compared to a CSS. The results demonstrate that compared to CSS, the cost to produce one litre of freshwater with SSCF is reduced by 23.1%. The return of investment for SSCF is much more immediate than it is for CSS. An estimated ₹242 was needed to produce 1 litre of freshwater using CSS, while an estimated ₹199 was needed to produce 1 litre of freshwater using SSCF. The payback time for SS was only 6.23 months, which was significantly less than that of solar panels. CF are preferable to other materials for use in the solar still due to their lower cost and higher energy efficiency.