An overview about influence of wick materials on heat and mass transfer in solar desalination systems

Over ongoing decades, the global demand for potable water is expanding quickly; at the same time, the supply of potable water is restricted due to fast advancement in industrialization, the devastation of trees, less awareness towards the plantation, and population growth. There are numerous freshwater production methods available in this world, in that solar-based still (Solar still) is one of the most normal and least expensive techniques. A lot of examinations have been portrayed experimentally and theoretically on the solar stills for evaluating its performance under different climatic and working environment. Heat and mass transfer are the two key factors that play a vital role in the evaluation of solar still's performance. In this study various experimental and theoretical methodologies that have been utilized to evaluate the heat and mass transfer analysis of solar stills using wick materials are critically reviewed. While looking into consideration, the reviewed articles demonstrate that the efficiency of the solar stills relies upon the various outside and inside working parameters. The result revealed that the wick materials with high porous values are produced better productivity than the low porous wick materials.