Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination
Solar desalination holds significant promise for the water-energy nexus. Recent advances in passive solar desalination using thermal localization show great potential for high-efficiency freshwater production, which is particularly beneficial for areas without well-established water and energy infra...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/132657 |
| _version_ | 1811075282493243392 |
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| author | Zhang, Lenan Xu, Zhenyuan Zhao, Lin Bhatia, Bikram Zhong, Yang Gong, Shuai Wang, Evelyn |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Zhang, Lenan Xu, Zhenyuan Zhao, Lin Bhatia, Bikram Zhong, Yang Gong, Shuai Wang, Evelyn |
| author_sort | Zhang, Lenan |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Solar desalination holds significant promise for the water-energy nexus. Recent advances in passive solar desalination using thermal localization show great potential for high-efficiency freshwater production, which is particularly beneficial for areas without well-established water and energy infrastructure. However, there is a significant knowledge gap between laboratory scale innovation and commercial adoption. In this review, we discuss two critical factors – water production and reliability – which, if addressed systematically, could enable high-performance thermally-localized solar desalination systems. We show that optimizing heat and mass transfer of the entire device and recycling the latent heat of condensation are important to enhance total water production. Meanwhile, we discuss the potential of novel system architectures and fluid flow engineering to enable anti-fouling and robust desalination devices. In addition, we present techno-economic analysis that highlights the balance between water production, reliability, and cost. A criterion for economic feasibility is provided by comparing the price of desalinated water with commercially available bottle and tap water, which provides a roadmap for future development of solar desalination technologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:03:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/132657 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:03:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1326572022-09-30T18:39:53Z Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination Zhang, Lenan Xu, Zhenyuan Zhao, Lin Bhatia, Bikram Zhong, Yang Gong, Shuai Wang, Evelyn Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Solar desalination holds significant promise for the water-energy nexus. Recent advances in passive solar desalination using thermal localization show great potential for high-efficiency freshwater production, which is particularly beneficial for areas without well-established water and energy infrastructure. However, there is a significant knowledge gap between laboratory scale innovation and commercial adoption. In this review, we discuss two critical factors – water production and reliability – which, if addressed systematically, could enable high-performance thermally-localized solar desalination systems. We show that optimizing heat and mass transfer of the entire device and recycling the latent heat of condensation are important to enhance total water production. Meanwhile, we discuss the potential of novel system architectures and fluid flow engineering to enable anti-fouling and robust desalination devices. In addition, we present techno-economic analysis that highlights the balance between water production, reliability, and cost. A criterion for economic feasibility is provided by comparing the price of desalinated water with commercially available bottle and tap water, which provides a roadmap for future development of solar desalination technologies. 2021-09-29T14:31:53Z 2021-09-29T14:31:53Z 2021-03 2020-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1754-5692 1754-5706 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/132657 Zhang, Lenan. "Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination." Energy & Environmental Science 14, 4 (March 2021): 1771-1793. © 2021 The Royal Society of Chemistry http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0ee03991h Energy & Environmental Science Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ application/pdf Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) |
| spellingShingle | Zhang, Lenan Xu, Zhenyuan Zhao, Lin Bhatia, Bikram Zhong, Yang Gong, Shuai Wang, Evelyn Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination |
| title | Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination |
| title_full | Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination |
| title_fullStr | Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination |
| title_full_unstemmed | Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination |
| title_short | Passive, high-efficiency thermally-localized solar desalination |
| title_sort | passive high efficiency thermally localized solar desalination |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/132657 |
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