Contactless steam generation and superheating under one sun illumination

Thomas A. Cooper, Seyed H. Zandavi, George W. Ni, Yoichiro Tsurimaki, Yi Huang, Svetlana V. Boriskina and Gang Chen ()
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Thomas A. Cooper: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Seyed H. Zandavi: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
George W. Ni: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yoichiro Tsurimaki: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yi Huang: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Svetlana V. Boriskina: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gang Chen: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Steam generation using solar energy provides the basis for many sustainable desalination, sanitization, and process heating technologies. Recently, interest has arisen for low-cost floating structures that absorb solar radiation and transfer energy to water via thermal conduction, driving evaporation. However, contact between water and the structure leads to fouling and pins the vapour temperature near the boiling point. Here we demonstrate solar-driven evaporation using a structure not in contact with water. The structure absorbs solar radiation and re-radiates infrared photons, which are directly absorbed by the water within a sub-100 μm penetration depth. Due to the physical separation from the water, fouling is entirely avoided. Due to the thermal separation, the structure is no longer pinned at the boiling point, and is used to superheat the generated steam. We generate steam with temperatures up to 133 °C, demonstrating superheated steam in a non-pressurized system under one sun illumination.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07494-2

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