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Steam generation under one sun enabled by a floating structure with thermal concentration

Author

Listed:
  • George Ni

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Gabriel Li

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Svetlana V. Boriskina

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Hongxia Li

    (Masdar Institute of Science and Technology)

  • Weilin Yang

    (Masdar Institute of Science and Technology)

  • TieJun Zhang

    (Masdar Institute of Science and Technology)

  • Gang Chen

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Harvesting solar energy as heat has many applications, such as power generation, residential water heating, desalination, distillation and wastewater treatment. However, the solar flux is diffuse, and often requires optical concentration, a costly component, to generate the high temperatures needed for some of these applications. Here we demonstrate a floating solar receiver capable of generating 100 ∘C steam under ambient air conditions without optical concentration. The high temperatures are achieved by using thermal concentration and heat localization, which reduce the convective, conductive and radiative heat losses. This demonstration of a low-cost and scalable solar vapour generator holds the promise of significantly expanding the application domain and reducing the cost of solar thermal systems.

Suggested Citation

  • George Ni & Gabriel Li & Svetlana V. Boriskina & Hongxia Li & Weilin Yang & TieJun Zhang & Gang Chen, 2016. "Steam generation under one sun enabled by a floating structure with thermal concentration," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 1-7, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:1:y:2016:i:9:d:10.1038_nenergy.2016.126
    DOI: 10.1038/nenergy.2016.126
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