Anisotropic Evaporator with a T-Shape Design for High-Performance Solar-Driven Zero-Liquid Discharge

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Engineering
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Solar-driven evaporation offers a sustainable approach for wastewater treatment and resource recovery.
• Challenges in current solar evaporators include inefficient thermal management and salt accumulation, limiting performance and stability.
• Effective strategies are needed to enhance evaporation rates and ensure long-term operational stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel T-shape solar evaporator for efficient wastewater treatment.
• To address limitations of poor thermal management and salt accumulation in solar evaporation systems.
• To achieve high clean water recovery rates and facilitate salt condensation with long-term stability.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a T-shape solar evaporator using a surface-carbonized longitudinal wood membrane (C-L-wood) as the top layer and natural L-wood as the support.
• Utilizing the horizontally aligned micro-channels of C-L-wood for localized thermal energy and efficient evaporation.
• Guiding brine transport from the support to the evaporator's centerline and then to the edges for simultaneous evaporation and salt crystallization.

Main Results:

• The T-shape evaporator achieved a high solar evaporation rate of 2.43 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1 sun irradiation.
• Demonstrated long-term operational stability for 7 days during outdoor testing.
• Successfully realized simultaneous clean water evaporation and collection of various salts (e.g., Cu²⁺, CrO₄²⁻, Co²⁺), achieving zero-liquid discharge.

Conclusions:

• The T-shape design effectively enhances solar evaporation performance through improved thermal management and salt distribution.
• This innovative evaporator provides a stable and efficient solution for wastewater treatment, clean water recovery, and salt condensation.
• The strategy offers a promising pathway towards sustainable water management and zero-liquid discharge applications.