Design of portable shell and tube heat exchanger for a solar powered water distiller

Full text: This study presents theoretical considerations and results of a portable shell and tube heat exchanger in a solar water distiller system. The device is composed of glass heat exchanger which served as a condenser for vapor condensing which were produced in black paint solar absorber. It is also composed of a tank for salt water source and a tank for produced distilled water. Shell and tube was designed and simulated using an implicit numerical scheme. Simulation results showed that accumulated mass water greatly depended on the inlet vapor temperature and volume, heat exchanger material, coolant water temperature and volume. Thus, changing the material from stainless steel to glass in the same condition (vapor temperature, vapor volume, coolant temperature and coolant volume); results comes to an acceptable range. These inexpensive shell and tube heat exchangers with 500 mm length, 19 mm Tube diameter, 100 mm and 200 mm Shell diameters respectively for stainless steel and Pyrex Glass permitted to produce 40 Liter/ day distilled water from vapor with 378 K inlet temperature in atmosphere pressure. If inlet pressure increases, vapor temperature will decline and thereupon, heat exchanger efficiency tangibility will increase. (author)