Designing a next generation solar crystallizer for real seawater brine treatment with zero liquid discharge

AbstractProper disposal of industrial brine has been a critical environmental challenge. Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) brine treatment holds great promise to the brine disposal, but its application is limited by the intensive energy consumption of its crystallization process. Here we propose a new strategy that employs an advanced solar crystallizer coupled with a salt crystallization inhibitor to eliminate highly concentrated waste brine. The rationally designed solar crystallizer exhibited a high water evaporation rate of 2.42 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun illumination when treating real concentrated seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine (21.6 wt%). The solar crystallizer array showed an even higher water evaporation rate of 48.0 kg m−2 per day in the outdoor field test, suggesting a great potential for practical application. The solar crystallizer design and the salt crystallization inhibition strategy proposed and confirmed in this work provide a low-cost and sustainable solution for industrial brine disposal with ZLD.

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Experimental Measurements of the Water Evaporation Rate of a Physical Model

Slovak Journal of Civil Engineering ◽

10.1515/sjce-2017-0003 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 19-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Róbert Turza ◽

Belo B. Füri

Keyword(s):

Energy Demand ◽

Evaporation Rate ◽

High Water ◽

Hvac Systems ◽

Swimming Pool ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Specific Enthalpy ◽

High Water Content ◽

Indoor Environments ◽

Indoor Swimming Pool

Abstract As the number of indoor swimming pools and wellness centers are currently growing, it is necessary to concentrate on the parameters of indoor environments. These parameters are necessary for the design of the HVAC systems that operate these premises. In indoor swimming-pool facilities, the energy demand is large due to ventilation losses from exhaust air. Since water evaporates from a pool’s surface, exhaust air has a high water content and specific enthalpy. In this paper the results of the water evaporation rate measured from swimming pool surfaces at higher thermal water temperatures are described.

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Potential uses of biomass from fast-growing crop miscanthus×giganteus

Hemijska industrija ◽

10.2298/hemind110711082b ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 66 (2) ◽

pp. 223-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nada Babovic ◽

Gordana Drazic ◽

Ana Djordjevic

Keyword(s):

Panicum Virgatum ◽

Large Scale ◽

Low Cost ◽

Water Concentration ◽

High Water ◽

Perennial Grasses ◽

Great Promise ◽

Cellulose Content ◽

Production Chain ◽

Miscanthus Giganteus

There is an increasing interest in perennial grasses as a renewable source of bioenergy and feedstock for second-generation cellulosic biofuels. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and miscanthus (Miscanthus?giganteus), belonging to the parennial grasses group, are the major lignocellulosic materials being studied today as sources for direct energy production, biofuels, bioremediation and other. They have the ability to grow at low cost on marginal land where they will not compete with the traditional food crops. Miscanthus?giganteus possesses a number of advantages in comparison with the other potential energy crops such as are: high yields, low moisture content at harvest, high water and nitrogen use efficiencies, low need for annual agronomic inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, high cellulose content, non-invasive character, low susceptibility to pests and diseases and broad adaptation to temperate growing environments. The main problems are low rate of survival during the first winter after the creation of plantation and the relatively high establishment costs. Miscanthus?giganteus is grown primarily for heat and electricity generation but can also be used to produce transport fuels. Miscanthus biomass has a very good combustion quality due to its low water concentration as well as its low Cl, K, N, S and ash concentrations compared to other lignocellulose plants. It is expected that miscanthus will provide cheaper and more sustainable source of cellulose for production of bioethanol than annual crops such as corn. Miscanthus has great promise as a renewable energy source, but it can only be realised when the grass production has been optimised for large-scale commercial cultivation. However, further research is still needed to optimise agronomy of miscanthus, to develop the production chain and pre-treatment as well as to optimise energy conversation route to produce heat, electricity, and/or fuels from biomass, if miscanthus is to compete with fossil fuel use and be widely produced.

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High Water Evaporation Rate is Associated with Low Blood Pressure in Chronic Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Peritoneal Dialysis International ◽

10.3747/pdi.2009.00164 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 48-52

Author(s):

Jyh-Chang Hwang ◽

Wei-Chih Kan ◽

Charn-Ting Wang

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Peritoneal Dialysis ◽

Linear Regression ◽

Ambient Temperature ◽

Evaporation Rate ◽

Linear Regression Analysis ◽

High Water ◽

Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Fluid Loss

BackgroundThe relationship between water evaporation rate (WER) and blood pressure (BP) in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients has not been addressed before. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of WER on the BP and body weight (BW) of end-stage renal disease patients treated with CAPD.MethodsBased on mean WER of each month, the year 2005 was divided into “high WER” and “low WER” stages. This study enrolled 66 CAPD patients at our center during 2005. The BP and BW of each patient were collected monthly. WER was measured with a class A evaporation pan.ResultsCompared to the high WER stage, CAPD patients had higher BP (systolic: 142 ± 29 vs 134 ± 27 mmHg, p < 0.001; diastolic: 86 ± 17 vs 84 ± 16 mmHg, p < 0.001) and BW (56.8 ± 10.2 vs 56.1 ± 10.2 kg, p < 0.001) in the low WER stage. Ambient temperature was significantly higher in the high WER stage ( p = 0.004) and it was also positively correlated with WER ( r = 0.82, p = 0.0012). Both mean BP ( r = –0.72, p = 0.0089) and BW ( r = –0.79, p = 0.002) showed inverse relationships to the WER. Moreover, both mean BP ( r = –0.95, p < 0.001) and BW ( r = –0.90, p < 0.001) also showed negative linear regressions to ambient temperature. There was a positive linear regression between mean BP and BW ( r = 0.85, p = 0.0004). Multiple linear regression analysis found that WER (β = –0.672, p = 0.026) was an independent factor correlated to patients’ mean BP.ConclusionsCAPD patients had lower BP and BW in the high WER stage. These decreases were associated with higher ambient temperature and WER. We hypothesize that increased insensible salt and fluid loss secondary to high WER during hot seasons, especially in subtropical areas, ameliorates the hypervolemia and hypertension in CAPD patients.

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Treadle pump: A low cost irrigation option for marginal farmers

Journal of AgriSearch ◽

10.21921/jas.5.3.10 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (03) ◽

Author(s):

ATIQUR RAHMAN ◽

ASHUTOSH UPADHYAYA ◽

BP BHATT

Keyword(s):

Low Cost ◽

Water Productivity ◽

High Water ◽

Water Saving ◽

Age Group ◽

Male And Female ◽

Human Power ◽

Dry Spells ◽

Supplementary Irrigation ◽

Land Holdings

The population of marginal farmers in India is bound to increase due to continued division of farm holdings. Characteristically, marginal farmers are having more family labours but the production and productivity of their land holdings is low. The foremost reason behind this is the erratic rainfall and lack of assure supplementary irrigation during long dry spells. This paper presents the scope and applicability of a diaphragm based treadle pump in Bihar where groundwater is abundant and available at shallow depths round the year. Therefore, this pump could be very useful for marginal farmers in improving production and productivity of their tiny piece of land, as it uses human power and can be operated by male and female of age group 32- 45 years and lifts water from a depth ranging from 0- 30 feet. The water saving technologies such as bucket kit drum kit etc. could be used with this pump to irrigate the crops with high water productivity.

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Titanium Nitride Nanodonuts Synthesized from Natural Ilmenite Ore as a Novel and Efficient Thermoplasmonic Material

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11010076 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 76

Author(s):

Thanh-Lieu Thi Le ◽

Lam Tan Nguyen ◽

Hoai-Hue Nguyen ◽

Nguyen Van Nghia ◽

Nguyen Minh Vuong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Titanium Nitride ◽

Low Cost ◽

Visible Region ◽

Resonance Absorption ◽

Solar Light ◽

Localized Surface Plasmon ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Energy Applications ◽

Simulated Solar Light ◽

New Class

Nanostructures of titanium nitride (TiN) have recently been considered as a new class of plasmonic materials that have been utilized in many solar energy applications. This work presents the synthesis of a novel nanostructure of TiN that has a nanodonut shape from natural ilmenite ore using a low-cost and bulk method. The TiN nanodonuts exhibit strong and spectrally broad localized surface plasmon resonance absorption in the visible region centered at 560 nm, which is well suited for thermoplasmonic applications as a nanoscale heat source. The heat generation is investigated by water evaporation experiments under simulated solar light, demonstrating excellent solar light harvesting performance of the nanodonut structure.

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Highly efficient evaporative cooling by all-day water evaporation using hierarchically porous biomass

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-96303-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jihun Choi ◽

Hansol Lee ◽

Bokyeong Sohn ◽

Minjae Song ◽

Sangmin Jeon

Keyword(s):

Porous Structure ◽

Fiber Length ◽

Evaporation Rate ◽

Water Evaporation ◽

Thickness Direction ◽

Hierarchically Porous ◽

Hierarchically Porous Structure ◽

Length Direction ◽

Luffa Sponge ◽

Fiber Thickness

AbstractWe developed a 3D solar steam generator with the highest evaporation rate reported so far using a carbonized luffa sponge (CLS). The luffa sponge consisted of entangled fibers with a hierarchically porous structure; macropores between fibers, micro-sized pores in the fiber-thickness direction, and microchannels in the fiber-length direction. This structure remained after carbonization and played an important role in water transport. When the CLS was placed in the water, the microchannels in the fiber-length direction transported water to the top surface of the CLS by capillary action, and the micro-sized pores in the fiber-thickness direction delivered water to the entire fiber surface. The water evaporation rate under 1-sun illumination was 3.7 kg/m2/h, which increased to 14.5 kg/m2/h under 2 m/s wind that corresponded to the highest evaporation rate ever reported under the same condition. The high evaporation performance of the CLS was attributed to its hierarchically porous structure. In addition, it was found that the air temperature dropped by 3.6 °C when the wind passed through the CLS because of the absorption of the latent heat of vaporization. The heat absorbed by the CLS during water evaporation was calculated to be 9.7 kW/m2 under 1-sun illumination and 2 m/s wind, which was 10 times higher than the solar energy irradiated on the same area (1 kW/m2).

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Kaolin-Enhanced Superabsorbent Composites: Synthesis, Characterization and Swelling Behaviors

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym13081204 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 1204

Author(s):

Mengna Chen ◽

Xuelong Chen ◽

Caiyan Zhang ◽

Baozheng Cui ◽

Zewen Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Absorption ◽

Low Cost ◽

High Water ◽

Kinetic Mechanism ◽

Swelling Kinetics ◽

Synthesis Conditions ◽

Ph Tolerance ◽

Monovalent Salt ◽

Infrared Spectrometer ◽

Pseudo Second Order

One type of low-cost and eco-friendly organic‒inorganic superabsorbent composite (SAPC) was synthesized by free radical polymerization of acrylic acid (AA), starch (ST), sodium alginate (SA) and kaolin (KL) in aqueous solution. The structure and morphology of the SAPC were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The influence of different reaction conditions on water absorption of SAPC, i.e., SA and KL contents, AA neutralization degree (ND), potassium persulfate (KPS) and N, N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) loading were systematically studied. Under the optimal synthesis conditions, very high water absorption of 1200 g/g was achieved. The swelling kinetic mechanism of SAPC was studied by pseudo-second order swelling kinetics model and Ritger‒Peppas model. The performances of SAPC under different environments were tested and results revealed that this new SAPC had excellent swelling capacity, high water retention, good salt tolerance in monovalent salt solution (NaCl solution) and good pH tolerance between 4 and 10.

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Reinforcement of Recycled Aggregate by Microbial-Induced Mineralization and Deposition of Calcium Carbonate—Influencing Factors, Mechanism and Effect of Reinforcement

Crystals ◽

10.3390/cryst11080887 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 887

Author(s):

Chunhua Feng ◽

Buwen Cui ◽

Haidong Ge ◽

Yihong Huang ◽

Wenyan Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Calcium Carbonate ◽

Global Economy ◽

Low Cost ◽

High Water ◽

Strengthening Mechanism ◽

Recycled Aggregate ◽

Strengthening Effect ◽

Calcium Carbonate Precipitation ◽

Environmental Friendliness ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages

Recycled aggregate is aggregate prepared from construction waste. With the development of a global economy and people’s attention to sustainable development, recycled aggregate has shown advantages in replacing natural aggregate in the production of concrete due to its environmental friendliness, low energy consumption, and low cost. Recycled aggregate exhibits high water absorption and a multi-interface transition zone, which limits its application scope. Researchers have used various methods to improve the properties of recycled aggregate, such as microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology. In this paper, the results of recent studies on the reinforcement of recycled aggregate by MICP technology are synthesized, and the factors affecting the strengthening effect of recycled aggregate are reviewed. Moreover, the strengthening mechanism, advantages and disadvantages of MICP technology are summarized. After the modified treatment, the aggregate performance is significantly improved. Regardless of whether the aggregate was used in mortar or concrete, the mechanical properties of the specimens were clearly improved. However, there are some issues regarding the application of MICP technology, such as the use of an expensive culture medium, a long modification cycle, and untargeted mineralization deposition. These difficulties need to be overcome in the future for the industrialization of regenerated aggregate materials via MICP technology.

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