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
     
    亚洲乳大丰满中文字幕| 国产激情无码一区二区| 丰满人妻AV无码一区二区三区| 国内精品久久久久久中文字幕| 91精品久久久久久无码| 一本本月无码-| 日本乱中文字幕系列| 亚洲中文字幕日本无线码| 成人无码一区二区三区| 亚洲一区精品无码| 中文字幕51日韩视频| 天堂网在线最新版www中文网| 亚洲?V无码成人精品区日韩| 免费无码又爽又刺激高潮视频| 久久亚洲AV成人无码| 中文字幕欧美在线| 亚洲AV永久无码天堂影院| 99久久精品无码一区二区毛片| 亚洲国产精品无码一线岛国| 中文字幕一区二区三区乱码| 亚洲制服中文字幕第一区| 中文字幕免费不卡二区| 中文字幕精品无码久久久久久3D日动漫| 免费无遮挡无码永久视频| 无码精品人妻一区二区三区人妻斩| 熟妇人妻系列aⅴ无码专区友真希 熟妇人妻系列av无码一区二区 | 亚洲精品中文字幕无码蜜桃| 日韩少妇无码喷潮系列一二三 | 无码免费一区二区三区免费播放| 日韩精品无码免费专区午夜不卡 | 中文字幕无码不卡免费视频| 日本一区二区三区精品中文字幕| 美丽姑娘免费观看在线观看中文版 | 中文字幕不卡亚洲| 国产精品99久久久精品无码| AV色欲无码人妻中文字幕| 无码人妻精品中文字幕免费东京热| 无码夫の前で人妻を犯す中字| 中文字幕国产91| 在线观看片免费人成视频无码| 亚洲中文字幕无码一区|