Capillary Action and Evaporation in Porous Media
SAKAE Casting is a casting company based out of Tokyo, Japan, who has partnered with Boise State University to determine the capabilities of their porous aluminum. Porous media is a proposed method of evaporating water quickly and more efficiently. Certain pore orientation and small enough pore size allows capillary action to occur within the material, which can then be used in desalination applications. Capillary action is the natural process in which a liquid rises through a narrow space due to surface tension. This study focuses on how porous media affects the rate of evaporation by dividing a volume of water into smaller amounts. Water rises to the top of the material via capillary action, where it is then heated by a heating element. The small volumes of water help reduce heat transfer to the heating element, thus requiring a lower power input to maintain the heating element at boiling temperature. It is speculated that these lower volumes of water flowing over the heating element may yield an increased rate of evaporation.
Team
Andrew Russell
Cory Ravenscroft
Sal Murguia
Taylor Eberhard
Cody Barnes
Advisors
Lynn Catlin, P.E.
Gus Engstrom, P.E.
