[Paper Review] High efficient solar evaporation by airing multifunctional textile

Guilong Peng, Shichen Deng+4 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Dec 6, 2018

Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods4 citations

TL;DR

This study introduces an airing evaporation setup (AES) using multifunctional textile wicks for high-efficiency solar evaporation, achieving 87% energy efficiency and a 20% higher evaporation rate than conventional floating evaporation setups (FES) under 1 kW/m² solar irradiation. The enhanced performance stems from increased evaporation area and the system's low-cost, flexible, and portable design suitable for solar desalination, quick-drying textiles, and thermal insulation.

ABSTRACT

Solar evaporation is important for many applications such as desalination, power generation and industrial drying. Recently, some studies on evaporation reported obtaining high energy efficiency and evaporation rate, which are based on floating evaporation setup (FES) with nanomaterials. Here, we proposed a new cheap and simple setup, named as airing evaporation setup (AES). It shows that the energy efficiency of AES reaches up to 87 % under 1 kW/m2 of solar irradiation, which is 14% higher than that of FES. Meanwhile, the total evaporation rate of AES is about 20% higher than that of FES. The theoretical analysis reveals that the main reason for a better performance of AES is the increasing evaporation area. More interesting, AES could be used for designing portable systems due to its simplicity and flexibility. Furthermore, we show that AES and the corresponding wick material can be used in solar desalination, textile quick-drying and warm-keeping.

Motivation & Objective

• To develop a low-cost, simple, and efficient solar evaporation system for practical applications.
• To overcome the limitations of floating evaporation setups (FES) in terms of efficiency and scalability.
• To explore the potential of multifunctional textile wicks in enhancing evaporation performance.
• To enable portable and flexible solar evaporation systems for real-world deployment.
• To demonstrate the applicability of the system in solar desalination, textile drying, and thermal insulation.

Proposed method

• The authors designed an airing evaporation setup (AES) that uses a multifunctional textile wick to draw water from a reservoir to a thin, exposed layer for evaporation.
• The textile wick is engineered to enhance capillary action, ensuring uniform water distribution and maximizing surface area for evaporation.
• The system operates without floating components, relying on gravity and capillary transport instead of buoyant structures.
• Theoretical analysis was conducted to compare evaporation area and heat transfer efficiency between AES and FES.
• The system was tested under 1 kW/m² solar irradiation to measure energy efficiency and evaporation rate.
• The wick material was evaluated for durability, water transport, and thermal insulation in multiple applications.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can a simple, low-cost evaporation setup outperform conventional floating evaporation systems in efficiency and evaporation rate?
• RQ2 What role does increased evaporation area play in enhancing solar evaporation performance?
• RQ3 How does the multifunctional textile wick contribute to capillary water transport and thermal management?
• RQ4 To what extent can the AES be adapted for portable and multifunctional applications like desalination and textile drying?
• RQ5 What is the maximum energy efficiency achievable with a non-floating, textile-based solar evaporation system?

Key findings

• The AES achieved an energy efficiency of 87% under 1 kW/m² solar irradiation, which is 14 percentage points higher than the FES.
• The total evaporation rate of the AES was approximately 20% higher than that of the FES under identical solar conditions.
• Theoretical analysis confirmed that the increased evaporation area is the primary factor behind the improved performance of the AES.
• The multifunctional textile wick enabled efficient capillary transport and maintained stable water supply without floating components.
• The system demonstrated feasibility for portable applications due to its lightweight, flexible, and low-cost design.
• The AES and its wick material were successfully applied in solar desalination, rapid textile drying, and thermal insulation, confirming multifunctionality.