Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Sustainability (Switzerland), cilt.18, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
Freshwater scarcity is a critical global challenge, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions like southern Iraq. This study evaluates the thermal and distillate performance of a conventional single-slope solar still under extreme summer conditions in Basrah, Iraq. The objective is to analyze and validate a coupled theoretical–experimental model for predicting temperature fields and freshwater productivity. The model incorporates transient energy and mass balance equations with temperature- and salinity-dependent thermophysical properties. Experiments were conducted using brackish water from the Shatt al-Arab River (salinity: 5.2 g/kg), and measured temperatures and productivity were compared against simulations over a 24-h period. Strong agreement was achieved between experimental and theoretical results, with (Formula presented.) for temperature predictions and (Formula presented.) for hourly productivity. Maximum hourly yield reached (Formula presented.), with a total daily productivity of (Formula presented.), The daily thermal efficiency was found to be 26.90% experimentally and 28.20% theoretically. A positive linear relation between the thermal gradient (Formula presented.) and hourly productivity was also established. The findings confirm the reliability of the developed model and highlight the potential of solar distillation as a sustainable freshwater source for high-temperature regions.