IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i13p3985-d587685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental Investigations on Steam Generation in Nanofluids under Concentrated Solar Radiation

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Jin

    (Laboratory of Fundamental Science on Ergonomics and Environmental Control, School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Guiping Lin

    (Laboratory of Fundamental Science on Ergonomics and Environmental Control, School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China)

  • Haichuan Jin

    (Laboratory of Fundamental Science on Ergonomics and Environmental Control, School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China)

Abstract

Developing renewable energy, especially solar energy related, is of great importance for securing our future energy society. Steam generation in nanofluids based on solar radiation has been increasingly studied. It has been determined that the efficiency of steam generation is significantly enhanced when nanoparticles are seeded into the fluid owing to their unique radiative heat transfer performance. The nanoparticles trap solar energy inside the fluid and convert it into thermal form, which dramatically accelerates the steam generation process. In this study, we experimentally investigated different nanofluids that directly absorb solar energy to generate steam. Ag nanofluid, Au nanofluid and MWCNT nanofluid with different concentration have been carefully investigated. We analyzed the temperature increase and steam generation combined with the calculation of the efficiency factor from radiative heat transfer. The heating power and steam generation power of different nanofluids and the same nanofluid with different concentrations were compared. For Au nanofluid with concentration of 0.5 wt‰, the absorbed solar energy for heating the volume and generating steam is 6 and 40 times higher than those of pure water, respectively. We concluded that localized boiling generates steam rapidly in nanofluids based on the observation of three types of nanofluids. Furthermore, the heating power and steam generation power of different nanofluids increase with concentration. Moreover, the difference between the efficiency factors results in varied volume heating and steam generation efficiencies for different nanofluids despite identical concentrations.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Jin & Guiping Lin & Haichuan Jin, 2021. "Experimental Investigations on Steam Generation in Nanofluids under Concentrated Solar Radiation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:13:p:3985-:d:587685
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/13/3985/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/13/3985/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark A. Shannon & Paul W. Bohn & Menachem Elimelech & John G. Georgiadis & Benito J. Mariñas & Anne M. Mayes, 2008. "Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades," Nature, Nature, vol. 452(7185), pages 301-310, March.
    2. Hadi Ghasemi & George Ni & Amy Marie Marconnet & James Loomis & Selcuk Yerci & Nenad Miljkovic & Gang Chen, 2014. "Solar steam generation by heat localization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Gupta, M.K. & Kaushik, S.C., 2010. "Exergy analysis and investigation for various feed water heaters of direct steam generation solar–thermal power plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1228-1235.
    4. Jin, Haichuan & Lin, Guiping & Zeiny, Aimen & Bai, Lizhan & Wen, Dongsheng, 2019. "Nanoparticle-based solar vapor generation: An experimental and numerical study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 447-459.
    5. George Ni & Gabriel Li & Svetlana V. Boriskina & Hongxia Li & Weilin Yang & TieJun Zhang & Gang Chen, 2016. "Steam generation under one sun enabled by a floating structure with thermal concentration," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 1-7, September.
    6. Kyuyoung Bae & Gumin Kang & Suehyun K. Cho & Wounjhang Park & Kyoungsik Kim & Willie J. Padilla, 2015. "Flexible thin-film black gold membranes with ultrabroadband plasmonic nanofocusing for efficient solar vapour generation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Huang, Jian & He, Yurong & Hu, Yanwei & Wang, Xinzhi, 2018. "Steam generation enabled by a high efficiency solar absorber with thermal concentration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 1282-1291.
    8. Jin, Xin & Lin, Guiping & Zeiny, Aimen & Jin, Haichuan & Bai, Lizhan & Wen, Dongsheng, 2019. "Solar photothermal conversion characteristics of hybrid nanofluids: An experimental and numerical study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 937-949.
    9. Zeiny, Aimen & Jin, Haichuan & Lin, Guiping & Song, Pengxiang & Wen, Dongsheng, 2018. "Solar evaporation via nanofluids: A comparative study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 443-454.
    10. Tian, Y. & Zhao, C.Y., 2013. "A review of solar collectors and thermal energy storage in solar thermal applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 538-553.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jin, Haichuan & Lin, Guiping & Zeiny, Aimen & Bai, Lizhan & Wen, Dongsheng, 2019. "Nanoparticle-based solar vapor generation: An experimental and numerical study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 447-459.
    2. Wang, Xinzhi & He, Yurong & Liu, Xing & Cheng, Gong & Zhu, Jiaqi, 2017. "Solar steam generation through bio-inspired interface heating of broadband-absorbing plasmonic membranes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 414-425.
    3. Huang, Qichen & Liang, Xuechen & Yan, Chongyuan & Liu, Yizhen, 2021. "Review of interface solar-driven steam generation systems: High-efficiency strategies, applications and challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    4. Aikifa Raza & Jin-You Lu & Safa Alzaim & Hongxia Li & TieJun Zhang, 2018. "Novel Receiver-Enhanced Solar Vapor Generation: Review and Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, January.
    5. Shubo Liu & Yi Yang & Kuiyuan Ma & Haichuan Jin & Xin Jin, 2022. "Experimental Study of Pulsating Heat Pipes Filled with Nanofluids under the Irradiation of Solar Simulator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Huang, Jian & He, Yurong & Chen, Meijie & Wang, Xinzhi, 2019. "Separating photo-thermal conversion and steam generation process for evaporation enhancement using a solar absorber," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 244-252.
    7. Fan, Qi & Wu, Lin & Liang, Yan & Xu, Zhicheng & Li, Yungeng & Wang, Jun & Lund, Peter D. & Zeng, Mengyuan & Wang, Wei, 2021. "The role of micro-nano pores in interfacial solar evaporation systems – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    8. Xin Jin & Guiping Lin & Haichuan Jin & Zunru Fu & Haoyang Sun, 2021. "Experimental Research on the Selective Absorption of Solar Energy by Hybrid Nanofluids," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Gong, Biyao & Yang, Huachao & Wu, Shenghao & Tian, Yikuan & Yan, Jianhua & Cen, Kefa & Bo, Zheng & Ostrikov, Kostya (Ken), 2021. "Phase change material enhanced sustained and energy-efficient solar-thermal water desalination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    10. Zhou, Zhaozixuan & Gong, Junyao & Zhang, Chunhua & Tang, Wenyang & Wei, Bangyang & Wang, Jiandong & Fu, Zhuan & Li, Li & Li, Wenbin & Xia, Liangjun, 2023. "Hierarchically porous carbonized Pleurotus eryngii based solar steam generator for efficient wastewater purification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    11. Tsogtbilegt Boldoo & Jeonggyun Ham & Eui Kim & Honghyun Cho, 2020. "Review of the Photothermal Energy Conversion Performance of Nanofluids, Their Applications, and Recent Advances," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-33, November.
    12. Mu, L. & Chen, L. & Lin, L. & Park, Y.H. & Wang, H. & Xu, P. & Kota, K. & Kuravi, S., 2021. "An overview of solar still enhancement approaches for increased freshwater production rates from a thermal process perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    13. Zhang, Wei & Li, Zhenlin & Zhang, Canying & Lin, Yusheng & Zhu, Haitao & Meng, Zhaoguo & Wu, Daxiong, 2022. "Improvement of the efficiency of volumetric solar steam generation by enhanced solar harvesting and energy management," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 820-829.
    14. Yu, Zhen & Cheng, Shaoan & Gu, Ruonan & Li, Yihang & Dai, Shaoling & Mao, Zhengzhong, 2021. "Interfacial solar evaporator for clean water production and beyond: From design to application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    15. Liu, Xing & Wang, Xinzhi & Huang, Jian & Cheng, Gong & He, Yurong, 2018. "Volumetric solar steam generation enhanced by reduced graphene oxide nanofluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 302-312.
    16. Guo, Qijing & Yi, Hao & Jia, Feifei & Song, Shaoxian, 2022. "Vertical porous MoS2/hectorite double-layered aerogel as superior salt resistant and highly efficient solar steam generators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 68-79.
    17. Ma, Sainan & Chiu, Chun Pang & Zhu, Yujiao & Tang, Chun Yin & Long, Hui & Qarony, Wayesh & Zhao, Xinhua & Zhang, Xuming & Lo, Wai Hung & Tsang, Yuen Hong, 2017. "Recycled waste black polyurethane sponges for solar vapor generation and distillation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 63-69.
    18. Luo, Xiao & Wu, Dongxu & Huang, Congliang & Rao, Zhonghao, 2019. "Skeleton double layer structure for high solar steam generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1032-1039.
    19. Huang, Jian & He, Yurong & Hu, Yanwei & Wang, Xinzhi, 2018. "Steam generation enabled by a high efficiency solar absorber with thermal concentration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 1282-1291.
    20. Zhang, Lenan & Xu, Zhenyuan & Bhatia, Bikram & Li, Bangjun & Zhao, Lin & Wang, Evelyn N., 2020. "Modeling and performance analysis of high-efficiency thermally-localized multistage solar stills," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:13:p:3985-:d:587685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.