A Passive High-Temperature High-Pressure Solar Steam Generator for Medical Sterilization
Name
A passive high-temperature high-pressure solar steam generator for medical sterilization.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
4.13 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b70d0f518a46649dedae0fcca35943bd
Author(s)
Zhao, Lin
Bhatia, Bikram
Zhang, Lenan
Strobach, Elise
Leroy, Arny
Yadav, Manoj K
Yang, Sungwoo
Cooper, Thomas A
Weinstein, Lee A
Modi, Anish
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Joule
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Zhao, Lin, Bhatia, Bikram, Zhang, Lenan, Strobach, Elise, Leroy, Arny et al. 2020. "A Passive High-Temperature High-Pressure Solar Steam Generator for Medical Sterilization." Joule, 4 (12).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Healthcare-associated infections cause a massive burden for the health care system and the patients. Although the standard sterilization protocol with saturated steam (>121°C and >205 kPa) is effective, generating high-temperature and high-pressure steam is challenging without reliable access to electricity or fuel. While abundant solar energy is readily available, utilizing sunlight to generate steam beyond 100°C requires costly and bulky optomechanical components. In this work, we developed a stationary solar thermal device capable of providing the required saturated steam. Enabled by an optimized transparent aerogel layer, the device can efficiently convert solar energy into heat to drive the steam generation process. Successful sterilization cycles were demonstrated in a field test conducted in Mumbai, India. As a general approach, this work also promises further development of solar thermal technology in energy conversion, storage, and transport applications.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JOULE.2020.10.007
