SBIR Phase I: Enhanced solar-thermal vapor generation for salt mining and stilled clean water

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一期项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将满足两个互补的未满足的市场需求：(1)加速盐水池的蒸发速度，将盐的生产效率提高2-3倍；(2)冷凝从污染/咸水中蒸发的水分，使人们可以在不消耗电力的情况下获得清洁的饮用水。我们将开发一种基于正在申请专利的无电太阳能热技术的增强型太阳能蒸汽产生战略。具体来说，我们将开发/优化功能材料，以提高太阳能驱动的蒸汽产生率。目标是依靠暴露在自然阳光和风下的盐水池的蒸发，使矿业公司的盐产量增加一倍甚至两倍。我们将与选定的工业合作伙伴合作，在锂盐水池中进行现场测试，这是未来锂电池行业的关键来源材料。此外，通过冷凝蒸发的水分，我们将致力于使用低成本的材料和系统生产清洁水，这是一个有前途的可持续解决方案，可以在沿海和资源有限的地区使用负担得起的无电产品来解决全球饮用水短缺问题。该项目的目标是将一项正在申请专利的技术商业化，以实现增强型太阳能驱动蒸发器，这是太阳能采矿生产和清洁水生产所急需的。由于我们公开的结构具有优越的太阳能吸收、热转换和隔热性能，大部分吸收的能量可以用来蒸发地表水，大大减少了散热。值得注意的是，我们的试点系统在1 kW/m2照明下实现了创纪录的88%的太阳能热转换效率。相应的蒸汽生成速率为~1.28 kg/m2/h，比相同环境下裸水面的自然蒸发量高出整整3倍。第一阶段的SBIR工作旨在克服材料和系统优化以及扩大制造战略的剩余技术障碍。通过比较本研究中的滚涂和直接染色工艺，我们将选择最佳的整体技术来完成第二阶段生产的供应链。特别是，我们将通过与太阳能采矿工业伙伴以及非政府组织（NGO）合作进行实地测试，以获得他们关于如何在相关环境中改进产品的反馈。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will serve two complementary unmet market needs by: (1) accelerating the evaporation rate of brine ponds and enhancing salt production efficiency by 2-3 times; (2) condensing the moisture evaporated from contaminated/salty water so that one can obtain clean drinking water with n consumption of electricity. We will develop an enhanced solar vapor generation strategy based on a patent-pending electricity-free solar thermal technology. Specifically, we will develop/optimize functional materials to enhance the solar-driven vapor generation rate. The target is to double or even triple the salt production of mining companies relying on evaporation of brine ponds exposed to natural sun and wind. We will work with selected industrial partners to perform the field test in lithium brine ponds, which is the key source material for future Lithium battery industry. In addition, by condensing the evaporated moisture, we will aim to produce clean water using low cost materials and systems, which is a promising and sustainable solution to address the global drinking water scarcity using affordable electricity-free products in coastal and resource-limited areas. The proposed project will aim to commercialize a patent-pending technology to realize an enhanced solar-driven water evaporator, which is highly desired for both solar mining production and clean water generation. Due to the superior solar energy absorption, heat conversion, and thermal insulating properties of our disclosed structure, most of the absorbed energy can be used to evaporate surface water with significantly reduced thermal dissipation. Remarkably, our pilot system has realized a record solar thermal conversion efficiency of 88% under illumination of 1 kW/m2 with no solar concentration. The corresponding vapor generation rate is ~1.28 kg/m2/h - a full 3X higher than the natural evaporation of bare water surfaces in the same environment. This Phase I SBIR effort will aim to overcome the remaining technical barriers for material and system optimization and scaling up strategies for manufacturing. By comparing the roll-to-roll coating and direct dying processes in this proposed research, we will select the best overall technology to complete our supply chain for the production in Phase II. In particular, we will perform field tests by working with solar mining industrial partners as well as Non-Government Organizations (NGO's) to get their feedback on how to improve the product in relevant environment.