The heat -positioning solar seawater dilute process has attracted much attention due to its efficient water evaporation potential.The previous work focused on the development of new optical materials and optimized thermal management to improve the evaporation rate of the system.However, the water production rate of seawater dilute device has nothing to do with the performance of the evaporator, which makes the transform of the improved systems evaporation rate into actual water production rate is challenging.
Recently, Academician Zhu Meifang of Donghua University/Professor Xu Guiyin team The basic structure of the seawater desalination system analyzes the systems energy transmission and mass transmission coupling process in detail, and in -depth discussing the industrialized design strategy of the system .The work is " Strange Integration and Architecture of Solar-Driven InterFaCial design from Miniaturization Designs to Industrial Applications " Published in the Nature Water periodical (Doi: 10.1038/S44221--024-00200-1).The work clarifies the significance of steam condensation in improving the water production rate and emphasizes the importance of potential thermal recovery.The industrial design, application scenarios, current limitations, and potential costs of the seawater desalination system are analyzed.In addition, this work also introduces the potential of hybrid systems in future anti -interference, fast response, and all -weather seawater desalination system design.
Introduction
Seawater desalination technology has been widely used to solve the problem of water resources.In recent years, as the global advocating carbon neutrality, solar seawater with ubiquitous solar energy as the power has been pushed to the forefront.Solar seawater is diluted into low -income water -deficient countries (Figures 1A, 1B) with abundant solar resources, especially the Middle East, North Africa, and South African countries (Figure 1c) provided a broad prospect for solutions.The basis of the concentration solar seawater dehydration technology is to collect solar heat, heated seawater into steam, and then collect fresh water by condensing (Figure 2A).The concentrated solar seawater fading system represented by solar energy distillation, multi -stage flashing, air humidification and dehumidification can achieve more than 1,000% of system efficiency (the ratio of potential heat production to the heat input of freshwater).Direct distillation of solar energy uses a simplified system to avoid long -distance conveying of steam through integrated evaporator and condenser.However, their thermal conversion performance is poor and energy is easy to dissipate, so the efficiency of solar energy into steam is lower (30%~ 45%) (Figure 2B).The emerging solar interface seawater dehydration (SID) overcomes these problems. It adopts the heat absorption and transmission mechanism of thermal local energy to achieve real -time use of solar calories and avoid energy loss caused by thermal conversion and transmission (Figure 2C).The system can maintain high efficiency under low optical concentration and low evaporation temperature conditions.However, in terms of centralized or distributed families, the problem of expanding SID to industrial design has been ignored.This work analyzes the design and optimization strategy of the scale of SID systems, shows optimized SID devices in different application scenarios, and summarizes the industrialization potential of the SID system.In addition, this work is also based on the foundation of the past, from laboratory -level equipment performance to future actual industrial efficiency, analyzes the feasible industrial solutions from theory to reality.
Figure 1: World Water Resources and solar resources distribution.a global overall water risk index.B shows the relationship between water risks in different regions of the world and the relationship between domestic GDP.
Figure 2. Swatch diagram of solar seawater desalination process.A The principle and structure of the traditional concentration of solar seawater desalination process.B traditional solar distillers based on the bottom heating mode and solar volume evaporation schemes using nanoparticles.C SID process principles and structure.
A solution from theory to practical
When the balance costs, the water production is industrialized SID designThe most critical indicator.Multi -level design is more valuable than single design.Compared with the pure thermal driver system, the hybrid driver system is expected to solve the system changes and weather changes from the natural environment.Figure 3 shows the principles and examples of multi -level systems using high -performance solar hybrid.The solar absorber translates short -wave radiation into electrical energy storage, and transforms long wave radiation into the thermal energy -driven system to run.Increasing solar light can be achieved by appropriate light concentration measures.When the solar light fluctuates, the stored electricity can help the driving system to maintain stable operation.It is worth noting that insufficient solar radiation at night will cause the seawater to dilute the system for a long time to stop, resulting in a low system average productivity.Generally, the coastal areas are full of wind and sufficient light, which can be converted into electrical energy to store it. The collection of clean energy can continue to run at night, and it can also power the water pumping pumps, water storage tanks and other equipment.Therefore, paying attention to the systems anti -interference, rapid response and all -weather performance are very valuable for future design high -performance SID systems.
Figure 3. Sign out of the SID system running all-weather.
Application prospects and economic analysis
The front system structure is simple, easy to build and maintain.The miniaturized prefabrication equipment can be produced economically and efficiently, and can be applied to various occasions, including individual families, islands, near -sea water areas, post -disaster emergency emergency, field adventure and offshore industrial facilities.In contrast, the rear system has a high water production rate.However, its manufacturing cost is higher than the front system.The system is mainly suitable for areas with long sunshine, poverty -stricken areas, and lack of electricity and energy.
Economic feasibility is the main driving force of the SID process application. Only when SID is close to or even lower than tap water and bottle water, SID has commercial competitiveness.In the previous SID system (Table 1), the cost of freshwater production can be as low as $ 0.4 per ton, which shows its huge economic potential.In addition, because the rear/hybrid drive system requires additional components, this may lead to increased system cost.However, the water production of the rear system is significantly higher than the front system (Table 1), and at the same water production, the area required for the rear system is smaller.Freshwater production costs mainly depend on the cost of equipment and the cost of occupying space.Material costs can be optimized through technological upgrades, but land is unable to renewable resources, so the rear SID system has a significant cost advantage.In addition, SID also has more environmental and social advantages. If carbon dioxide emissions are reduced, these should be considered in the future to comprehensively evaluate their technical economy.
Table 1. Comparison of water production rate of different system types.
Summary and outlook
Sid has great potential in alleviating global water crisis and reducing carbon footprints.The front SID system has attracted great attention with its prominent adaptability, low cost and easy production.The development of miniaturization front SID devices also brings hope for family and individual use.The rear SID system can reduce the light loss of steam and condensate water. At the same time, it can use high -performance condenser materials to improve the steam condensation effect, thereby improving the efficiency of water production.In addition, the multi -level design of the submersible heat recovery system has improved the performance of the rear SID system and created a new era of industrial applications.In order to achieve commercial feasibility, the rear system must be balanced between water productivity, equipment life and cost.Large -scale industrial applications can also create socio -economic benefits by reducing carbon emissions.The hybrid SID solution that stored solar energy and introduced other clean energy has also appeared. It can also realize the anti -interference, rapid response and all -weather operation of the seawater dilute system.
The SID system will produce an additional process when producing fresh water, that is, the release of steam submarine heat and the concentration of seawater.The potential thermal energy released by the steam can be converted into electrical energy through a series of functional materials/structures through the physical chemical process (such as friction, thermal electricity, voltage and water volume, etc.).Although the electricity generated is small, it is not enough for commercial or industrial applications, it still has great potential in meeting the needs of lighting and power supply for small electrical equipment.On the other hand, the concentration of seawater has enriched the chemical resources in the seawater.The concentrated salt water contains other economic value mineral salts, such as lithium and uranium, using the SID system for enrichment to save a lot of energy and technical work, thereby economic extraction of these mineral salts.This work explores the potential applications of SID from the aspects of seawater desalination and marine resources development, and clarifies its important role in solving the global water crisis and marine resources development.
Source: High molecular science frontier
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