Modares Mechanical Engineering

Modares Mechanical Engineering

Evaluation of solar steam generation under convective flow in a cylindrical structure with nature inspired water distribution

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
1 Tarbiat Modares University
2 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ningbo University, China
Abstract
The use of interfacial solar evaporation systems can be a suitable method to deal with the problem of fresh water shortage in the world. Interfacial solar evaporation systems can be widely used in the production of fresh water due to the use of solar energy as a without any costs energy and no environmental effects and also free from high pressure operations and no need for moving parts. But in order to use interfacial solar evaporation system for practical application, evaporation rate with high efficiency is required. In this research, the performance of a hollow cylindrical interfacial solar evaporation system with nature inspired water distribution to steam generation has been evaluated by numerical simulation. This system can absorb solar radiation more effectively. In this study, in order to accurately investigate the performance of the interfacial solar evaporation systems, steam generation and system efficiency were evaluated by changing environmental factors. Also, in order to investigate the performance of the interfacial solar evaporation systems under different angles of solar radiation in real world conditions, the rate of steam generation in two days of summer solstice and winter solstice in Tehran city has been evaluated. The results of this research show that the cylindrical interfacial solar evaporation system can have a steam generation rate of 3.09 kg/m2.h and 9.09 kg/m2.h in winter solstice and summer solstice respectively in Tehran city with wind flow
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