Kinerja Sistem Solar Still dengan Menggunakan Cangkang Kelapa Sawit

Abstract

The shortage of fresh water is increasing with the rapid growth of human population, industry and environmental pollution. This water scarcity can be overcome by using a solar still to convert sea water into fresh water. Solar still has a simple construction and is easy to manufacture, but has the disadvantage of low fresh water production. In this study, the productivity of fresh water was increased by increasing the heat energy absorbed by the solar still using oil palm shells as a heat storage material. The oil palm shells are placed in the basin. There were 4 solar stills built, namely a conventional solar still (SS1), a solar still with 5 kg of palm shells (SS2), a solar still with 3 kg of palm shells (SS3) and a solar still with 1 kg of palm shells (SS4). Four solar stills were analyzed with regard to temperature, fresh water productivity, energy, exergy, and economic analysis. The results showed that the use of palm shells increased fresh water productivity by 10-39%, energy efficiency by 13.6%, and exergy by 25.38%. Solar still using oil palm shells has a lower fresh water productivity cost than conventional solar still, which is 0.043 $/L/m2.