Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Innovation

    Chinese scientists use rice straw to desalinate seawater

    Xinhua | Updated: 2019-04-18 21:17
    Share
    Share - WeChat

    BEIJING -- Chinese scientists have developed an innovative desalination technology that uses rice straw and sunlight for clean water production.

    Solar steam generation is considered a promising strategy for purification of wastewater and seawater. Scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering have developed a solar steam-generation device from wasted rice straw.

    The device is composed of a photothermal membrane and water pumps. Rice straw leaves are carbonized and composited with bacterial cellulose to function as a photothermal membrane and the lower culms of straw are designed as water pumps.

    The solar rice straw-derived desalination achieves a daily clean water yield of 6.4 to 7.9 kg per square meter on sunny days and 4.6 to 5.6 kg on cloudy days. The water yielded reached safe drinking water standards with over 99.9 percent of saline ions removed.

    Besides seawater desalination, the device can also be used for extracting clean water from various water-bearing areas such as tidal flats, wetlands and marshes.

    The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

    As fresh water scarcity is one of the most compelling global concerns, scientists are exploring innovative desalination technologies to increase water productivity and bring down the overall desalination cost.

    According to Liu Fu, the leading researcher, there is a great need to reduce energy consumption in desalination technology and solar-driven steam generation has attracted wide attention.

    "As green and inexhaustible energy, solar energy can be harnessed in desalination and water purification, leading to low-cost and sustainable technologies that address the water crisis worldwide," Liu said.

    To utilize solar energy, solar thermal materials are needed. Since it is complex and costly to prepare traditional solar thermal materials such as plasmonic materials, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials, they are not suitable for large-scale applications.

    Liu's team explores new materials and new engineering designs to improve the efficiency of solar thermal conversion and reduce the cost of desalination.

    Stepping out of the lab, learning from nature, he found rice straw was the most suitable candidate for photothermal desalination, as it possesses a high transpiration coefficient and a superior water delivery capability through its culms.

    China has an abundance of rice straw. Chinese farmers traditionally burn straw after harvest, which causes air pollution and has been banned in many places.

    "If this agricultural waste can be used for extracting clean water, it will be an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology," Liu said.

    The technique can be used in remote islands or mountainous regions lacking water. It can be used during emergencies such as floods, earthquakes and severe environments such as in the wilderness for obtaining clean water, according to the team.

    Liu's team is also researching other solar thermal materials, which are expected to be commercialized in large-scale desalination projects in three years.

    An expert in solar-thermal desalination, Professor Zhu Jia from Nanjing University said the research was a new and creative exploration in using solar energy to desalinate sea water.

    "By using rice straw as solar thermal materials, the cost for desalination can be further reduced," Zhu said.

    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    (愛妃視頻)国产无码中文字幕| 中文成人无码精品久久久不卡| 久久久久综合中文字幕| 无码国产精品一区二区免费vr| 亚洲av综合avav中文| 无码专区中文字幕无码| 中文成人无码精品久久久不卡| 手机永久无码国产AV毛片 | 精品无码一区二区三区爱欲| 中文字幕一区二区三区精彩视频| 国产V亚洲V天堂无码久久久| 亚洲AV永久无码精品水牛影视 | 久久中文字幕无码专区| 亚洲精品无码你懂的网站| 午夜人性色福利无码视频在线观看| 日韩区欧美区中文字幕| 亚洲人成中文字幕在线观看| 少妇极品熟妇人妻无码| 久久精品中文字幕无码绿巨人| 亚洲自偷自偷偷色无码中文| 中文精品人人永久免费| 爆操夜夜操天天操中文| 人妻中文无码久热丝袜| 无码国内精品久久人妻麻豆按摩| 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码偷窥 | 国产成人无码AV一区二区| 久久中文精品无码中文字幕| 亚洲AV中文无码字幕色三| 最近免费中文字幕MV在线视频3| 国产精品无码一区二区在线| 精品无码人妻一区二区三区| 无码国产精品一区二区免费式芒果| 亚洲精品无码午夜福利中文字幕| 无码人妻久久一区二区三区蜜桃| 日韩精品一区二区三区中文字幕| 日本中文字幕电影| 最近中文字幕无免费| 最近更新免费中文字幕大全| 亚洲欧美精品综合中文字幕 | 欧美日韩中文字幕久久久不卡| 日本精品中文字幕|