Nanoparticle Desalination

Lead Author Major

Engineering Physics

Lead Author Status

Junior

Second Author Major

Engineering Physics

Second Author Status

Senior

Format

SOECS Senior Project Demonstration

Faculty Mentor Name

Rahim Khoie

Faculty Mentor Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Additional Faculty Mentor Name

Cherian Mathews

Additional Faculty Mentor Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Abstract/Artist Statement

Salt water makes up 96.5 % of all the water on Earth and covers 71 % of the Earth’s surface. In addition, 780 million people in the world lack access to clean drinking water. Converting salt water to fresh water through the process of desalination could provide water to developing world communities who lack access to potable water. One emerging desalination technology is a solar still which uses nanoparticles to capture sunlight. The nanoparticles float on the surface of water and absorb a wide spectrum of incoming sunlight, heating up the surface of the water which efficiently increases the rate of evaporation, and therefore enhances the entire distillation process.

In this study, we present a device that we have built which will quantify how good nanoparticles are at converting salt water to fresh water. The apparatus will collect live data on evaporation rate, temperature gradient, and salinity of the salt water bath in the evaporation chamber, with nanoparticles floating on the surface. This data will be used to compare the performance of nanoparticles with different morphologies, such as varying size and shape, under different conditions. In addition, the measured temperature gradient within the salt water bath will be compared to the numerical solutions to a coupled system of differential heat transfer equations presented in previous studies.

Location

School of Engineering & Computer Science

Start Date

5-5-2018 3:30 PM

End Date

5-5-2018 4:30 PM

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May 5th, 3:30 PM May 5th, 4:30 PM

Nanoparticle Desalination

School of Engineering & Computer Science

Salt water makes up 96.5 % of all the water on Earth and covers 71 % of the Earth’s surface. In addition, 780 million people in the world lack access to clean drinking water. Converting salt water to fresh water through the process of desalination could provide water to developing world communities who lack access to potable water. One emerging desalination technology is a solar still which uses nanoparticles to capture sunlight. The nanoparticles float on the surface of water and absorb a wide spectrum of incoming sunlight, heating up the surface of the water which efficiently increases the rate of evaporation, and therefore enhances the entire distillation process.

In this study, we present a device that we have built which will quantify how good nanoparticles are at converting salt water to fresh water. The apparatus will collect live data on evaporation rate, temperature gradient, and salinity of the salt water bath in the evaporation chamber, with nanoparticles floating on the surface. This data will be used to compare the performance of nanoparticles with different morphologies, such as varying size and shape, under different conditions. In addition, the measured temperature gradient within the salt water bath will be compared to the numerical solutions to a coupled system of differential heat transfer equations presented in previous studies.