Investigating the performance of a hybrid WO3+ CuO/water nanofluid active solar still

Alshareef, Rayed S

doi:10.2298/TSCI251222094A

THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

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Rayed S Alshareef

INVESTIGATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A HYBRID WO3+ CUO/WATER NANOFLUID ACTIVE SOLAR STILL

ABSTRACT

Water conceals life, and the need for water is growing alarmingly. Distilled water can be produced using solar stills. A heat exchanger attached to the solar collector and solar still system was designed and evaluated for the current study. Research was conducted on the impact of nanofluids on the productivity of solar stills and solar collectors. Two-step methods were used to produce CuO/WO3-water nanofluids. The volume concentrations of nanofluids were 0.015%, 0.03% and 0.045%. There was proof of nanofluid stability. The thermal conductivity of nanofluids increased by 21%. The maximum Instantaneous efficiency of solar collectors reached 86.9%. The greatest increase in thermal efficiency was 71.2% at a volume concentration of 0.045% and a flow rate of 0.062 m3/hr. The heat-removal factor was increased to 0.94. A daily production of 5.88 kg of distilled water can be achieved using a CuO+WO3/water nanofluid at 0.045% concentration. The overall solar still efficiency incorporating pump consumption was 49.78%. According to the given work, when nanofluids are used instead of water, the ratio of solar still efficacy augmentation reaches 71.2%. Hybrid CuO+WO3/water nanofluids have been shown to enhance energy absorption, thermal conductivity, solar still productivity, and efficiency

KEYWORDS

Active solar still, CuO-WO3/water, hybrid nanofluid, heat exchanger

PAPER SUBMITTED: 2025-12-22

PAPER REVISED: 2026-03-10

PAPER ACCEPTED: 2026-03-19

PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2026-07-11

DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI251222094A

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Investigating the performance of a hybrid WO3+ CuO/water nanofluid active solar still

© 2026 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence