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Journal of Thermal Science

热科学学报

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2025 , Vol. 34 >Issue 6: 2046 - 2058

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-025-2194-2

Micropore Design and Topological Optimization for Efficient Evaporation in Cylindrical Evaporators

  • WEN Xiaoting ,
  • MENG Tingting ,
  • SU Jin ,
  • HU Guifu ,
  • PAN Qinghui ,
  • SHUAI Yong
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  • School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 15001, China

网络出版日期: 2025-10-29

基金资助

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52476064, No. 52106085), National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFE0210200), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2023T160164), Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (No. LH2023E043), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2022ZFJH04, No. HIT.OCEF. 2023021).

版权

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
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Micropore Design and Topological Optimization for Efficient Evaporation in Cylindrical Evaporators

  • WEN Xiaoting ,
  • MENG Tingting ,
  • SU Jin ,
  • HU Guifu ,
  • PAN Qinghui ,
  • SHUAI Yong
Expand
  • School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 15001, China

Online published: 2025-10-29

Supported by

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52476064, No. 52106085), National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFE0210200), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2023T160164), Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (No. LH2023E043), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2022ZFJH04, No. HIT.OCEF. 2023021).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
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摘要

太阳能界面水蒸发技术提供了一种零碳、可持续的解决方案，用于从海水和废水中提取清洁水，为应对全球水危机提供一项有效策略。本研究采用有限元模拟来研究太阳能界面蒸发过程，阐明蒸发过程中热、水和盐之间的相互作用，利用拓扑优化技术优化设计蒸发器内部水道。在本项工作中，基于碳基聚合物材料开发一种具有垂直微孔的圆柱形蒸发器模型，分析孔径和孔间距对蒸发速率影响，同时分析热导率、太阳辐射强度和环境风速对蒸发器性能影响。模拟结果显示，在孔径为20 µm、孔间距为0.55 mm时，蒸发器达到最高蒸发速率为0.91 kg/(m2·h)。研究结果表明，较小孔径显著提高蒸发速率，而较大孔间距则使蒸发速率先升高后降低。进一步优化包括使用直径为20 µm的圆形孔，根据拓扑构型调整孔的横截面形状，材料体积分数为0.5，优化后结构展现出2.91 kg/(m2·h)的蒸发速率，相比未优化设计提高了219.78%。这些优化结构和模拟结果为蒸发器设计提供参考。

关键词： solar interface evaporation; topology optimization; heat and mass transfer; numerical simulation

本文引用格式

WEN Xiaoting , MENG Tingting , SU Jin , HU Guifu , PAN Qinghui , SHUAI Yong . Micropore Design and Topological Optimization for Efficient Evaporation in Cylindrical Evaporators[J]. 热科学学报, 2025 , 34(6) : 2046 -2058 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-025-2194-2

Abstract

Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation technology offers a zero-carbon, sustainable solution for extracting clean water from seawater and wastewater, presenting an effective strategy to address the global water crisis. This study has employed finite element simulation to investigate the solar interfacial evaporation process, elucidating the interactions between heat, water, and salt during evaporation. Additionally, the internal water channels of the evaporator are optimized and designed using topology optimization techniques. In this project, a cylindrical evaporator model with vertical micropores is developed from carbon-based polymer materials. The impact of pore diameter and spacing on the evaporation rate is analyzed, alongside the effects of thermal conductivity, solar radiation intensity, and ambient wind speed on the evaporator’s performance. Simulations have revealed that with a pore diameter of 20 μm and a spacing of 0.55 mm, the evaporator achieves the highest evaporation rate of 0.91 kg·m–2·h–1. The findings indicate that smaller pore sizes substantially enhance the evaporation rate, while larger pore spacings initially increase, and then decrease the rate. Further optimization involves using 20 μm-diameter round pores and adjusting the cross-sectional shapes of the pores based on topological configurations with a material volume factor of 0.5. The optimized structure demonstrates an evaporation rate of 2.91 kg·m–2·h–1, representing a 219.78% increase over the unoptimized design. These optimized structures and simulation results provide valuable insights for future evaporator designs.

Key words： solar interface evaporation; topology optimization; heat and mass transfer; numerical simulation

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