A research team from Soochow University in China has developed a portable solar-powered device that produces drinking water from turbid, saline, oily and highly acidic water. The prototype produced 1.64 liters of clean water in eight hours using an evaporation surface measuring just 30.72 cm2.
The system uses an electrothermal evaporation process in which an electrically powered heating element heats a surface that absorbs contaminated water, causing the water to evaporate. The resulting vapor is collected and condensed into clean water, while salts and other contaminants remain in the source water.
The device’s main innovation is an interlayer electrothermal evaporator. Instead of heating the entire volume of the wet material, the researchers positioned the heating element within an internal layer of the structure.
This configuration reduces heat losses to the surrounding water and air. According to the study, the design reduced heat losses and energy consumption by nearly two-thirds compared with a conventional electrothermal evaporator based on volumetric heating.
It features foldable solar cells that generate electricity to power the electrothermal evaporator, alongside a foldable Fresnel lens that concentrates sunlight directly onto the evaporation surface. The study does not specify the rated capacity or electrical characteristics of the PV system.
When accounting for concentrated solar energy, the device achieved an apparent energy efficiency of 93.31% and a water production rate of 69.46 liters per square meter per hour.
72 cm2, smaller than a standard bank card.
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