Comparative Evaluation of Performance Parameters of Single Slope Solar Still with and without using Paraffin Wax

The old methods for producing drinkable water have problems with electricity, maintenance, proper space, etc. To overcome these problems, researchers have switched to a solar still for producing water in an efficient way. In contrast to conventional solar stills, various researchers have been working to increase the distillate output while simultaneously lowering the price per liter of distillate output by incorporating a variety of efficient techniques, which include solar still design configurations, stills with solar collectors, diverse use of energy storage materials, and many more. Therefore, the present study aims at enhancing fresh water production by the use of paraffin wax as a phase-changing material (PCM), which first absorbs and retains heat in latent form during sunlight hours and later it provides same stored heat to the basin water and hence maintains the basin water temperature even during absence of sunshine hours when the intensity of solar radiation starts decreasing drastically.  Also, the comparison of solar still with and without using paraffin wax is done based on energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, yield productivity, environmental analysis, economic analysis, and. It has been found that the maximum energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and total yield for the still with & without using PCM are 93.7% & 88.9%, 6.61% & 3.41% and 1493ml &1155ml in a 24-hour study in Gorakhpur, India. The economic and environmental analysis shows that the setup with PCM has a 16.6% shorter payback period and 22.6% greater CO2 mitigation as compared to without using PCM, with the values as 6.05 months and 6.84 tons, respectively. This study can be extended through the utilization of various energy storage materials or changing the design parameters of the solar sill.