Performance of a superamphiphobic self-cleaning passive subambient daytime radiative cooling coating on grain and oil storage structures

Yuanzhu Cai; Zihan Zhang; Zhuo Yang; Zhi Fang; Shuping Chen; Xiaolong Zhang; Wen Li; Yinghua Zhang; Hongqiang Zhang; Zhipeng Sun; Yangang Zhang; Yanwen Li; Lianhua Liu; Weidong Zhang; Xiao Xue

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14599

Performance of a superamphiphobic self-cleaning passive subambient daytime radiative cooling coating on grain and oil storage structures

Heliyon. 2023 Mar 27;9(4):e14599. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14599. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Yuanzhu Cai¹, Zihan Zhang^{1

2}, Zhuo Yang¹, Zhi Fang³, Shuping Chen⁴, Xiaolong Zhang⁵, Wen Li⁴, Yinghua Zhang⁵, Hongqiang Zhang¹, Zhipeng Sun¹, Yangang Zhang¹, Yanwen Li¹, Lianhua Liu¹, Weidong Zhang¹, Xiao Xue¹

Affiliations

¹ China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd., Chengdu, 610042, China.
² Department of Information and Art Design, Henan Forestry Vocational College, Luoyang, 471002, China.
³ Zhangjiagang Grain Purchase and Sales Corporation, Zhangjiagang, 215600, China.
⁴ School of Computer Science and Technology, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, 830054, China.
⁵ Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Grain Reserve Management Co., Ltd., Urumqi, 830015, China.

Abstract

The thermal performance of a novel exterior coating material for commonly used grain and food-grain oil structures was investigated. Grain structures included a concrete squat silo and a concrete warehouse while the edible oil structure was a concrete sided tank. The exterior coating provided excellent moisture runoff and solar reflectance properties and is best described as a superamphiphobic self-cleaning passive subambient daytime radiative cooling (SSC-PSDRC) coating. The coating exhibited a remarkable subambient daytime cooling effect in various structures in different climatic regions. Compared with the roof surface temperatures of a cool white-coated concrete grain silo and a gray carbon iron-based edible oil storage tank, those of the PSDRC coated top surfaces could be reduced by 37 °C and 33 °C, respectively. The roof surface temperature of a warehouse painted with a cool-white coating-with a solar reflectance of 0.9 and an emissivity of 0.85-and that of a warehouse with the roof installed with aluminised polymer waterproof membranes were 19 °C and 18 °C higher than that of the PSDRC warehouse, respectively. Consequently, the interior temperature of the wheat pile in the PSDRC grain silo was 10 °C lower than that in the control squat silo. With the inner loop flow temperature control system operating, the interior air temperatures of the PSDRC west-facing separate space were 6 °C and 3 °C higher than those of the cool-white coated and control west-facing separate spaces, respectively. Even after the application of PSDRC coating for only a few days, the interior air temperature of the PSDRC oil storage tank was reduced by 38 °C, and the interior temperature of the oil storage tank was reduced by 4 °C. Furthermore, in practical applications, the coating showed impressive superamphiphobic self-cleaning capabilities and super aging resistance. The wide applications of the coating would have far-reaching, global implications for maintaining grain and edible oil products, particularly in the sub-tropical climates.

Keywords: Low-temperature storage; Oil storage tank; Squat silo; Subambient daytime radiative cooling; Superamphiphobic self-cleaning; Warehouse.