Abstract
Nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane desalination (NESMD) system is a sustainable method to address water scarcity by desalinating seawater using solar energy. A layer of nanoparticles absorbs heat, creating localized heating within feed channel, which generates a vapor pressure difference between feed and permeate channels. Distillate water is collected in permeate channel. Numerical modelling of NESMD system, integrating optical and thermal modules in COMSOL Multiphysics, efficiently enumerates distillate flux at specified locations under varying ambient conditions. Reliability of the simulation model is confirmed through validation against in-house experimental results. A set of most effective dimensions and component specifications for NESMD system are computed that maximize distillate flux. Setup width exhibits invariant distillate flux within a range of 2–30 cm, while a feed thickness of 2 mm yields maximum distillate flux, with no change observed for permeate thickness within a range of 2–10 mm. An optimal setup length is determined within 80–200 cm range under varying operating conditions. Membrane porosity of 0.85 is selected to balance both vapor diffusivity and mechanical strength. The optimum membrane thickness lies within 180–225 µm range. An NESMD system with these best suited specifications is demonstrated to produce freshwater at the rate of 4.63 l/m2 per day.
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