water purifier presentation

bozo

State

Public

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Table of Contents

goals

  • low cost
  • no electricity required
  • easy to build
  • can be built locally
  • will work without constant attention
  • provide distilled water
  • collect rain and distill automatically
  • allow use of local impure water
    • in case of no or minimal rain

operating concept

  • collect water
    • rain
    • local impure sources
  • solar power distills water

detailed design concept

  • input water 
    • is collected as rain
    • also can be poured into container
    • also can be piped in from external well, etc.
  • sunlight
    • is collected
    • is focused on tiny stream of water
    • boils water to produce steam
  • output steam
    • is then condensed as pure distilled water
    • is then collected in storage tank

components

  • input water collector
    • funnel to collect rain - optional
  • input water storage tank
  • tubing
    • attached to bottom of input tank
    • primarily rubber, plastic, etc - can be opaque
    • contains short section of transparent, heat resistant material, such as glass
      • this short glass section can be held in place by a framework (see below) - metal, plastic, wood, etc. - so light from sunlight collector (below) will be focused on it to heat it and boil water in it
    • after transparent section, tubing leads to distillate condensation section of tubing
    • condensation section leads finally to storage output tank
  • output storage tank
  • sunlight collector
    • type (1 of the following)
      • parabolic mirror (paraboloid)
        • low cost wooden frame
        • lined with aluminum foil
        • shaped to focus light
          • bowl-shape
      • or, Fresnel lens
    • collector will be focusing sunlight on transparent tube section
  • framework  - metal, plastic, wood, etc. - attached to sunlight collector to hold glass tubing in position so glass tubing sunlight is focused on glass tubing to heat it and boil water in the glass tubing
  • optional lens
    • to accommodate sun movement during day
    • to accommodate sun movement during seasons
    • between sunlight collector and transparent tubing section
    • to help fine-tune and intensify focus of light
    • shape to focus further and reduce range of movement of focused light due to sun motion

application

  • local impure water source
    • collection of impure stream water or well water
    • transport of water in jugs, bottles, pails, etc.
    • pouring impure water into input tank
    • leave unattended while sunlight distills water
    • remove and use distilled water from storage tank as needed
  • local rain water
    • input tank and input funnel placed on top of house
    • left alone, rain will collect
    • leave unattended while sunlight distills water
    • remove and use distilled water from storage tank as needed
  • sunlight will boil tiny amount of water in transparent tubing section continuously
  • steam resulting, will rise into condensation section
  • steam condenses and drips out into storage output tank

operation

  • water goes into input tank
    • optional methods
      • manually poured in
      • automatically passively collected rainwater
      • piped in water
  • water flows down into tubing
  • water flows up into transparent section where sunlight is focused and heats 
    • this requires tubing optimally to be connect to bottom of input tank, and to then curve upwards so water turned into steam in the transparent section will not rise back into the input tank, but proceed on to condensation section
  • water boils
  • steam rises through upward oriented section of tube
  • steam condenses in downward oriented section of tube
    • this requires tubing to be oriented so steam from the transparent section will rise to enter the condensation section, and another change in direction of tubing so condensed water will flow or drop towards the output storage tank
    • the transparent tubing section should be lower than the bottom of the input tank
  • condensed water droplets drip out of end of condensation section
    • this requires the condensation section to be oriented so the condensed water will not flow backwards towards the transparent section, but on to the output storage tank
  • condensed water flows into output storage tank
  • as water boils and rises out of transparent section as steam, gravity pulls in replacement water to be boiled
    • until all input tank water is boiled, condensed, and distilled

construction

  • construction of tubing
    • tubing connects to input tank at bottom of tank
    • transparent section MUST be below bottom of input tank
    • transparent section must be in upward-oriented section of tube (so rising steam will not go back into input tank)
    • beginning of condensation section MUST be above top level of input tank
    • condensation section must be oriented downward, away from transparent section, toward the output storage tank
  • construction of solar energy gatherer
    • can be bowl shaped mirror
      • parabolic or elliptical
      • can be built using light wood or plastic framework with aluminum foil as reflective lining
    • can use Fresnel lens
    • both above can be fixed/stationary
    • diameter can be 3 feet or more as needed, depending on local conditions
    • shape and orientation will be such as to 
      • gather light during most of the day
      • and focus light 
        • on the transparent section of tubing
        • or, on optional secondary focusing element, a lens
        • multiple mirrors may be used if desired: for example, one oriented primarily for morning light, and another primarily for evening light