Comparative performance of aluminium copper and iron solar stills

Three different metal sheets have been used in the fabrication of three different single sloping solar stills of the same surface geometry. The metals were galvanized iron, aluminium and copper. This paper presents the performance of the different stills operating under the same environmental conditions. The observed distillate yields was greatest for copper, then aluminium and lastly, iron still. The differences in the yields is attributed to the differences in the thermal conductivities of the metals. The equivalent local costs for the fabrication of the copper, aluminium and iron stills are respectively $160, $95 and $60. Taking the long run costs into consideration, the copper still is preferred because of its availability, durability, weldability and relatively higher conductivity of 380Wm-1K-1 value. (author). 9 refs, 2 figs, 2 tabs