Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Analysis of Magnetic Field Effect on Improvement the Performance of Stepped Solar Still

This study focuses on improving the performance of a solar-powered desalination unit by investigating the effect of a magnetic field applied by a solenoid using a numerical solution method. The calculations in this work are based on a solar desalination device with seven steps. Since oxygen is a Paramagnetic gas the moist airflow in this solar desalination could be checked by applying an external magnetic field through a solenoid. The governing equations for the problem have been discretized using the finite volume method. The effects of the applied magnetic field generated by the solenoid are investigated in terms of flow streamlines, contour plots of velocity, and pressure, both in ignoring and considering the influence of magnetic field intensity. Three different combinations of NI (N is the number of solenoid turns, and I is the electric current intensity) are examined with values of 2.5 × 10⁴, 2.5 × 10⁵, and 10 × 10⁵. For the applied magnetic field with NI = 10 × 10⁵, it has been observed that the evaporation rate reaches its maximum value in all stages of the solar desalination water slide, resulting in an increased water evaporation rate in the solar desalination device. The evaporation rate has approximately reached the maximum value of 1.02 × 10⁻¹ (kg/s) in all parts of the solar desalination device.