People in developing countries will be the first to feel the benefits of solar steam. The engineers

Scientists at Rice University have discovered a new, highly advanced technology that uses nano particles for direct conversion of solar energy into steam. The new "solar steam" (solar steam) procedure developed in the laboratories viscosity index calculator of universities (Rice's Laboratory for Nanophotonics - LanPo) is so effective that it can even produce steam from the ice cold water.
Details of this method were published in November this year in the journal ACS Nano Internet. Efficiency technologies is estimated at 24%. The solar cells (photovoltaic), by comparison, the average achieved an efficiency of 15%. However, viscosity index calculator researchers solar steam does not expect the first application of their technology to be linked to create electricity, but rather for the rehabilitation and treatment in developing countries. viscosity index calculator
"The whole thing is more than electricity," says the head of the laboratory LanPo, Naomi Halas (Naomi Halas), otherwise the leader of the whole project. "With this technology we can start to think about thermal energy of the sun in a completely new way."
Oara Neumann left and Naoum Halas are co-authors of the new report which studies viscosity index calculator the most effective method which convert sunlight into heat. They expect that their technologies have an initial impact on the development of extremely small system for the rites of human waste, in the country where the missing infrastructure such as electricity or sewage: Photo: Jeff Fitlow
The efficiency of solar steam is the result of the work of nanoparticles which are capable of coming sun light converted into heat. When these particles diving into water and exposed to sunlight, they heat the water so quickly that it is immediately heated to the temperature at which water vapor - water vapor is obtained. Halas said the solar steam has a level of efficiency that can be improved by improving the technology itself.
"We start from heating water on the macro level, to then warmed up to the nano scale." Says Halas. "Our particles are very small - less than the wavelength viscosity index calculator of light itself - which means they have a very small area that would be wasted as heat." The intense local heating generated steam at the local level, right on the surface viscosity index calculator of the nanoparticles, and the idea that steam is produced at the level of part of the system (čerstice) is the opposite of intuitive. "
To show how the entire process is not intuitive, project Oara Newman (Oara Neuman) recorded movie demonstration solar steam. In this experiment, a test tube in which there were mentioned nano particles viscosity index calculator is immersed in a bath of ice water. Using only a lens to concentrate sunlight on almost frozen mixture in the tube, Newman has shown that it is able to produce steam from nearly frozen water.
Steam is the most commonly used fluid in the industry. About 90 percent of electricity is produced thanks to steam, and besides, steam is used to sterilize viscosity index calculator medical waste and surgical instruments, to prepare food and to purify water.
The system of solar steam which is developed at Rice University has overall level of efficiency of 24 percent. This means that out of 100 percent of the energy that has entered the system, 24 percent is being used for carrying out a process for heating or some other system. This result is quite beyond the capabilities of modern solar cells. Probably will be first used for rescue and water purification in developing countries. Photo: Jeff Fitlow.
People in developing countries will be the first to feel the benefits of solar steam. The engineers at Rice University have already made autoclave steam that drives the sun, which is able to sterilize medical and dental viscosity index calculator instruments at clinics that do not have access to electricity. Halas was awarded Grand Challenges grant from the Foundation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create a very small system for processing human waste in areas where there is no sewage system or electricity.
"Solar steam is remarkable because of its efficiency," says Newman, a leading co-author of the scientific work. "It is not necessary a large amount of mirrors or solar panels. In fact, the entire apparatus can be very small. For example, permeable window in our demonstration was a great few square centimeters. "
Another possible application of new technologies in servicing hybrid cooling and warming systems that run during the day thanks to solar energy, and at night use electricity. Halas, Newman and their colleagues viscosity index calculator have also conducted an experiment distillation and discovered that the solar steam for about two and a half times more efficient than existing distillation systems.
Halas, a professor of computer and electrical engineering, viscosity index calculator professor of physics, chemistry and medicine was one of the most frequently quoted chemist today. In the lab, which employs viscosity index calculator researchers specializing in the creation and study of particles whose functions are activated by light. One of her creations - gold nano shell - is the clinical trials as a potential viscosity index calculator cure for cancer.
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