A research team at Khalifa University has developed a device to generate and crystallize steam from sunlight. It produces fresh water from seawater and collects salt, without secreting brine solutions. It also does not require fossil fuels to provide energy, as the device simulates the natural transpiration process of mangrove plants (exit Water in the form of steam from parts of the plant exposed to the air, especially the leaves. The device can also be used directly to treat brine solutions with zero liquid release, leaving dry salt as the only side product.
Professor at Khalifa University, Dr. Tejun Zhang, said that the research team was inspired by the idea of innovation from nature to develop an efficient and scalable solution that can contribute to addressing the problem of water scarcity globally, while at the same time reducing the environmental impact to the minimum possible, and extracting Valuable minerals.
He added that the team discovered that the performance of steam generators using solar energy declines due to the loss of the ability to absorb light, not due to the natural blockage of pores by salt, in addition to the team’s discovery that the presence of salt can actually improve the evaporation process, even in the absence of light, indicating that this The team’s findings help pave the way for the efficient use of solar energy and fresh water production.
He explained that the device mimics the properties of salt-tolerant plants, as the device uses a corrosion-resistant, porous absorbent stem, and multi-layered leaves consisting of nano-structured networks of titanium, which are characterized by their extreme water tolerance and low cost, to form a salt resource due to the capillary action, which allows the generation of… Steam and passive collection of salt on an ongoing basis, and salt is deposited in the water at the edges during the evaporation processes that take place during the day, which leads to the formation of a porous spot, pointing out that at night, gravity takes its course, causing the salt spots to separate when the leaves get wet again. With salt water, these porous salt spots also improve the performance of evaporation processes.
Zhang reported that, if natural sunlight is available, the device can produce 2.2 liters of fresh water per day for every square meter of real sea water, which is a sufficient amount to meet an individual’s drinking water needs. He indicated that when the device was operated inside enclosed spaces, it achieved an efficiency rate of 94% in terms of artificial seawater treatment, with a salinity of 3.5% when exposed to light with an intensity equivalent to that of the sun.
The research team monitored the results using a scalable device that generates and crystallizes steam from sunlight, using technology with protected intellectual property rights.
The results are available in the form of a publicly available research paper entitled Sustainable Biomimetic Distillation Using Solar Energy, with Edge Crystallization for Passive Salt Collection and Zero Brine.
. The device can produce 2.2 liters of fresh water per day for every square meter of seawater.
. The device can be used directly to treat brine solutions with zero liquid discharge.
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