Research Journal of Chemical Sciences ______ ______________________________ ______ ____ ISSN 2231 - 606X Vol. 2 ( 3 ), 64 - 67 , March (201 2 ) Res.J.Chem.Sci. International Science Congress Association 64 Short Communication The Performance of a Solar Water Distillation Kit fabricated from Local materials Ozuomba J.O. 1 , Edebeatu C.C. 1 , Opara M.F. 2 , Udoye M.C. 3 and Okonkwo N.A. 1 1 Solar Water Distillation Group, Faculty of Science, Madonna University, Elele, NIGERIA 2 Department of Science Education, Anambra State University, Uli, NIGERIA 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, NIGERIA Available online at: www.isca.in (Received 2 5 th December 201 1 , revised 7 th January 2012 , accepted 9 th Februry 2012 ) Abstract There is an urgent need for clean, pure drinking water in many countries. Often water sources are brackish and there are many costal locations where sea water is abundant but potable water is not abundant. Pure water is also needed in some industries, hosp itals and schools. Distillation is one of the processes that can be used for water purification and solar radiation can be the source of heat energy. A roof - type solar water distillation (RSWD) kit was fabricated and tested under actual environmental condi tions of Urualla, an ancient town in the Eastern part of Nigeria. The system includes four major components; a rectangular wooden basin, an absorber surface, a glass roof and a condensate channel. The RSWD was able to generate 2.3m 3 of distilled water with in six days. Though the condensate was not large enough compared to human need as is peculiar to many solar stills, the efficiency can be enhanced by using large solar absorber surface and by any method that ca n increase radiant energy. Key words : water distillation, solar energy, potable water, solar still. Introduction Water is a renewable natural resource of earth and is extremely essential for the survival of all living organisms 1 - 2 . In nature, more than 97% of water sources are brackish but potable water is not abundant 1,3 . Therefore, controlling of water quality is one of the essential issues of drinking water management 4 - 7 . Distillation is the most widely used process for water purification 8 . Naturally, solar energy heats water in the seas and lakes, and then evaporation takes place. Water vapour condenses in the atmosphere and returns to earth as rain water. Solar distillation represents one of the oldest techniques and is useful for the produ ction of fresh water from brackish or saline water in many parts of the world 9 . Among the many factors considered in the design and fabrication of a solar water distillation system are cost implication and efficiency. As a supporting technique for water pu rification, various types of solar stills have been developed and are being applied worldwide 10 - 13 . Generally, solar still systems have the advantage of low operating and maintenance costs and the shortcoming of low thermal efficiencies 14 . In this researc h work, we designed a roof - type solar water distillation (RSWD) kit to replicate the natural process of evaporation and condensation. In the RSWD system, a wooden rectangular box covered with black polyethylene absorber surface was the water tank. A glass roof was designed to rest onto the water tank. Beneath the glass roof was a gutter or condensate channel for driving out distilled water. The heating and evaporation took place on the absorber surface, while condensing process took place on the glass roof. Material and Methods Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a RSWD water basin whose interior has been covered with black polyethylene. The 91cm x 56cm rectangular water tank is 22cm deep. The water tap is for discharging of untreated water sample should the need arise. The condensate channel was made of aluminium sheets, while the wooden frame that formed the water basin also served as thermal insulator. Figure 2 shows the glass roof, outlets for distilled water and RSWD stand. Two sheets of glass, about 90.8cm long, 61.2cm wide and 3mm thick were rightly placed to form the glass roof. Each of the two edges of the glass roof was covered with a triangular glass sheet of two equal sides and a base of 57.8cm. A 2 - in - 1 chemmer fast epoxy glue was used to hold the glass roof in place. Solar energy warms the absorber surface and some of the water evaporates and condenses on the glass roof. The condensate flows into the condensate channel and is taken out through a hose pipe. The volume of distilled water produc ed hourly by the RSWD kit was measured for six consecutive days. The water sample was obtained from Urasi River. Urasi is one of the popular rivers located in the Eastern part of Nigeria. Hourly measurement of volume and temperature was carried out at Urua lla, one of the ancient communities in the Eastern Part of Nigeria. The atmospheric temperature was measured using a copper/constantan thermocouple. Research Journal of Chemical Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ____ ISSN 2231 - 606X Vol. 2 ( 3 ), 64 - 67 , March (201 2 ) Res.J.Chem.Sci International Science Congress Association 65 Figure - 1 The rectangular water tank on top of RSWD stand Figure - 2 The glass roof on top of the rectangular water tank Water tap Gutter Absorber surface Water inlet Water tank Glass roof Water tank Water tap Research Journal of Chemical Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ____ ISSN 2231 - 606X Vol. 2 ( 3 ), 64 - 67 , March (201 2 ) Res.J.Chem.Sci International Science Congress Association 66 Results and discussion Characterization of the solar water distillation kit was done on January 2010 at Urualla, Imo State, Nigeria. Table 1 is the hourly volume of distilled water produced by the RSWD on Day 1. The highest condensate of 78.0ml was recorded at 5pm and the maximum temperature was 40.0 0 C. The results obtained on the remaining five days ( t able 2 – t able 6) show that the RSWD still usually produces the highest volume of distilled water towards evening. A relationship exists between volume of distilled water and daily temperature. A comparable high volume of condensate usually overflows as the atmospheric tem perature reduces. Also, evaporation and condensation occurs overnight. Table 7 shows the relationship between the average daily temperature and total volume of distilled water collected for the day. Table - 1 Hourly volume and temperature measurement on Day 1 Time Volume per hour x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Atmospheric Temperature( 0 C) 8am 0.0 25.5 9am 1.0 27.5 10am 1.0 31.0 11am 6.0 33.0 12noon 6.0 35.0 1pm 19.0 37.0 2pm 24.0 37.0 3pm 47.0 38.0 4pm 68.0 40.0 5pm 78.0 36.5 6pm 19.0 34.0 7pm 51.0 32.0 Table - 2 Hourly volume and temperature measurement on Day 2 Time Volume per hour x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Atmospheric Temperature( 0 C) 8am 4.0 28.0 9am 2.0 29.0 10am 8.0 31.0 11am 4.0 35.5 12noon 24.0 34.0 1pm 19.0 37.0 2pm 42.0 36.0 3pm 63.0 36.5 4pm 69.0 37.5 5pm 57.0 35.5 6pm 26.0 33.0 7pm 24.0 34.0 Table - 3 Hourly volume and temperature measurement on Day 3 Time Volume per hour x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Atmospheric Temperature( 0 C) 8am 0.5 26.5 9am 2.0 28.0 10am 3.5 29.0 11am 1.0 29.0 12noon 3.0 32.0 1pm 2.0 33.5 2pm 33.0 34.0 3pm 48.0 34.5 4pm 42.0 33.5 5pm 51.0 33.0 6pm 20.0 32.0 7pm 39.0 30.0 Table - 4 Hourly volume and temprature measurement on Day 4 Time Volume per hour x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Atmospheric Temperature( 0 C) 8am 2.0 26.5 9am 4.0 28.0 10am 0.5 30.0 11am 0.0 32.0 12noon 6.5 32.0 1pm 5.0 35.0 2pm 38.0 35.0 3pm 29.0 37.0 4pm 53.0 36.5 5pm 63.0 34.0 6pm 28.0 31.5 7pm 35.0 28.0 Table - 5 Hourly volume and temperature measurement on Day 5 Time Volume per hour x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Atmospheric Temperature( 0 C) 8am 1.0 23.0 9am 1.0 27.0 10am 0.0 30.0 11am 0.0 33.0 12noon 0.0 36.0 1pm 18.0 36.0 2pm 80.0 36.0 3pm 78.0 39.0 4pm 24.0 39.0 5pm 32.0 36.5 6pm 40.0 33.0 7pm 12.0 32.0 Research Journal of Chemical Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ____ ISSN 2231 - 606X Vol. 2 ( 3 ), 64 - 67 , March (201 2 ) Res.J.Chem.Sci International Science Congress Association 67 Table - 6 Hourly volume and temperature measurement on Day 6 Time Volume per hour x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Atmospheric Temperature( 0 C) 8am 7.0 27.5 9am 0.0 29.0 10am 8.0 31.0 11am 0.0 32.0 12noon 11.0 35.0 1pm 32.0 35.3 2pm 34.0 36.4 3pm 56.0 37.0 4pm 104.0 35.0 5pm 51.0 33.0 6pm 26.0 32.0 7pm 33.0 30.0 Table - 7 The relationship between daily total volume and average temperature Day Total volume x10 - 3 (m 3 ) Average Temperature( 0 C) 1 385 33.9 2 429 33.6 3 298 31.2 4 382 32.1 5 365 33.4 6 471 32.8 Conclusion A roof - type solar water distillation kit was successfully fabricated and characterized under actual environmental conditions in the Eastern part of Nigeria. The system includes four major components; a rectangular wooden basin, an absorber surface, a glass roof and a condensate channel. The RSWD of surface area 0.5m 2 was a ble to produce2.3m 3 of distilled water within six days. Though the quantity of water was small compared to daily need of potable water, the efficiency of the distillation kit can be increased by using large absorber surfaces. Any measure that can occasiona lly reduce the surface temperature of the glass roof will increase condensation process. Also, using solar concentrators to channel radiant heat to the absorber surface can increase the efficiency of the RSWD system. Meanwhile, since the RSWD can be fabric ated with cheap and readily available local materials, somebody can fabricate a good number of it to meet daily demand of potable water. References 1. 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