Effect of sonication time on the evaporation rate of seawater containing a nanocomposite.

Sonication time has a significant contribution to the stability and properties of nanofluids (mixtures of nanoparticles and a base fluid). Finding the optimum sonication time can help to save energy and ensure optimal design. The present study deals with the sonication time effect on the evaporation rate of seawater containing a nanocomposite (i.e., a mixture of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplates). For indoor experiments, a solar simulator was employed as the radiation source. At first, the nanofluid with a concentration of 0.01% wt. was sonicated in an ultrasonic bath for different times of 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240 min, and the associated zeta potential values were recorded to evaluate the stability. Next, the best time function was used to appraise the effect of concentration variations (0.001, 0.002, 0.004, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.04% wt.) and the light intensities (1.6, 2.6, and 3.6 suns) on the rate of solar steam generation. The results indicate that for a concentration of 0.01% wt. and under 3.6 suns, the highest evaporation efficiency of 61.3% would be achieved at 120 min sonication time.