A systematic study of the evaporation performance of column-type 3D solar evaporators with variations in the surrounding temperatures

Abstract

Interfacial solar vapor generation has received much attention as a promising solution to the water scarcity problem. Various evaporation systems capable of significant performance have been developed over the past few years, and solar energy-to-vapor limitations can be overcome by adopting the concept of a three-dimensional (3D) evaporator, enabling the use of surrounding energy in the evaporation process. The degree of surrounding energy utilization depends on the temperature difference between the surrounding air and the evaporation surface, and the air temperature in a solar still – which is indispensable in practical applications – is much higher than the ambient temperature. Laboratory-based evaporation experiments involving a group of 3D column-type evaporators with various surrounding air temperatures were conducted systematically using a newly designed system capable of controlling the surrounding air temperature. The evaporation behaviors at elevated temperatures show significant correspondence with those collected from indoor and outdoor evaporation experiments with a solar still. Therefore, the evaporation performance capabilities of 3D evaporators in practical applications using a solar still can be quantitatively evaluated by investigating laboratory-based evaporation experiments at correspondingly elevated surrounding temperatures. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.