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Simultaneous production of fresh water and electricity via multistage solar photovoltaic membrane distillation

Author

Listed:
  • Wenbin Wang

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Yusuf Shi

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Chenlin Zhang

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Seunghyun Hong

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Le Shi

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Jian Chang

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Renyuan Li

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Yong Jin

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
    King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Chisiang Ong

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Sifei Zhuo

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Peng Wang

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
    King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

The energy shortage and clean water scarcity are two key challenges for global sustainable development. Near half of the total global water withdrawals is consumed by power generation plants while water desalination consumes lots of electricity. Here, we demonstrate a photovoltaics-membrane distillation (PV-MD) device that can stably produce clean water (>1.64 kg·m−2·h−1) from seawater while simultaneously having uncompromised electricity generation performance (>11%) under one Sun irradiation. Its high clean water production rate is realized by constructing multi stage membrane distillation (MSMD) device at the backside of the solar cell to recycle the latent heat of water vapor condensation in each distillation stage. This composite device can significantly reduce capital investment costs by sharing the same land and the same mounting system and thus represents a potential possibility to transform an electricity power plant from otherwise a water consumer to a fresh water producer.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenbin Wang & Yusuf Shi & Chenlin Zhang & Seunghyun Hong & Le Shi & Jian Chang & Renyuan Li & Yong Jin & Chisiang Ong & Sifei Zhuo & Peng Wang, 2019. "Simultaneous production of fresh water and electricity via multistage solar photovoltaic membrane distillation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-10817-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10817-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Baoping Zhang & Pak Wai Wong & Jiaxin Guo & Yongsen Zhou & Yang Wang & Jiawei Sun & Mengnan Jiang & Zuankai Wang & Alicia Kyoungjin An, 2022. "Transforming Ti3C2Tx MXene’s intrinsic hydrophilicity into superhydrophobicity for efficient photothermal membrane desalination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Lenan Zhang & Xiangyu Li & Yang Zhong & Arny Leroy & Zhenyuan Xu & Lin Zhao & Evelyn N. Wang, 2022. "Highly efficient and salt rejecting solar evaporation via a wick-free confined water layer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Morciano, Matteo & Fasano, Matteo & Bergamasco, Luca & Albiero, Alessandro & Lo Curzio, Mario & Asinari, Pietro & Chiavazzo, Eliodoro, 2020. "Sustainable freshwater production using passive membrane distillation and waste heat recovery from portable generator sets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    4. Cui, Chengtian & Qi, Meng & Zhang, Xiaodong & Sun, Jinsheng & Li, Qing & Kiss, Anton A. & Wong, David Shan-Hill & Masuku, Cornelius M. & Lee, Moonyong, 2024. "Electrification of distillation for decarbonization: An overview and perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    5. 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).
    6. Tingxian Li & Minqiang Wu & Jiaxing Xu & Ruxue Du & Taisen Yan & Pengfei Wang & Zhaoyuan Bai & Ruzhu Wang & Siqi Wang, 2022. "Simultaneous atmospheric water production and 24-hour power generation enabled by moisture-induced energy harvesting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Yajie Hu & Hongyun Ma & Mingmao Wu & Tengyu Lin & Houze Yao & Feng Liu & Huhu Cheng & Liangti Qu, 2022. "A reconfigurable and magnetically responsive assembly for dynamic solar steam generation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. 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).
    9. Arunkumar, T. & Wang, Jiaqiang & Denkenberger, D., 2021. "Capillary flow-driven efficient nanomaterials for seawater desalination: Review of classifications, challenges, and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    10. Fereshtehpour, Mohammad & Javidi Sabbaghian, Reza & Farrokhi, Ali & Jovein, Ehsan Bahrami & Ebrahimi Sarindizaj, Elham, 2021. "Evaluation of factors governing the use of floating solar system: A study on Iran’s important water infrastructures," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1171-1187.
    11. Gan Huang & Jingyuan Xu & Christos N. Markides, 2023. "High-efficiency bio-inspired hybrid multi-generation photovoltaic leaf," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    12. Islam, Md. Rabiul & Aziz, Md. Tareq & Alauddin, Mohammed & Kader, Zarjes & Islam, Md. Rakibul, 2024. "Site suitability assessment for solar power plants in Bangladesh: A GIS-based analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    13. Hong, Wenpeng & Mu, Yuhan & Lan, Jingrui & Jin, Xu & Wang, Xinzhi & Li, Haoran, 2024. "Improving vapor condensation via copper foam in capillary-fed photovoltaic membrane distillation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    14. Damian Amiruddin & Devinder Mahajan & Dufei Fang & Wenbin Wang & Peng Wang & Benjamin S. Hsiao, 2023. "A Facile Ultrapure Water Production Method for Electrolysis via Multilayered Photovoltaic/Membrane Distillation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-17, August.
    15. Awei Hu & Yuan Zhao & Qing Hu & Chunhui Chen & Xiao Lu & Songlin Cui & Bo Liu, 2024. "Highly efficient solar steam evaporation via elastic polymer covalent organic frameworks monolith," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Gao, Datong & Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Dabwan, Yousef Naji & Hu, Maobin & Hao, Yong & Zhang, Tao & Pei, Gang, 2022. "Seasonal-regulatable energy systems design and optimization for solar energy year-round utilization☆," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    17. Sarvar-Ardeh, Sajjad & Rashidi, Saman & Rafee, Roohollah & Li, Guiqiang, 2024. "Recent advances in the applications of solar-driven co-generation systems for heat, freshwater and power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    18. Wei Zhang & Yongzhe Chen & Qinghua Ji & Yuying Fan & Gong Zhang & Xi Lu & Chengzhi Hu & Huijuan Liu & Jiuhui Qu, 2024. "Assessing global drinking water potential from electricity-free solar water evaporation device," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    19. Han, Xinyue & Ding, Fan & Huang, Ju & Zhao, Xiaobo, 2023. "Hybrid nanofluid filtered concentrating photovoltaic/thermal-direct contact membrane distillation system for co-production of electricity and freshwater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).

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