From seawater to drinking water, with the push of a button

JRT

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,059
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Sounds cool, rate of 0.3 liters per hour, and requires only 20 watts of power per liter.

www.eurekalert.org

From seawater to drinking water, with the push of a button

MIT researchers created a portable desalination unit that can remove particles and salts simultaneously to generate drinking water. The user-friendly unit, which weighs less than 10 kilograms and does not require filters, can be powered by a small, portable solar panel.
www.eurekalert.org
 
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Richard19068

Richard19068

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Jun 11, 2004
1,829
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
That looks good. I know they are working on it but they are going to have to get their output and efficiency way up.

"Their prototype generates drinking water at a rate of 0.3 liters per hour, and requires only 20 watts of power per liter."
 
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jssailem

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
23,644
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Fascinating research.
Can hardly wait till ready for Prime Time.
 
Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
5,826
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
JRT said:
Sounds cool, rate of 0.3 liters per hour, and requires only 20 watts of power per liter.
Click to expand
I think the report has some mismatched units there. Watts are a unit of power at a specific time, not power used per time period. I’m guessing they either mean 20 watt hours per liter, or 20 watts continuously while making the 0.3 liters per hour (which would be about 67 watt hours per liter).

For comparison, a Rainman DC desalination water maker is spec’d at 26-34 liters per hour and 410 watts. That’s about 14 watt hours per liter.

I guess one advantage over the existing systems would be that it’s a lot easier to generate 20 watts throughout the day than to generate the 20 watts and store the power until you have enough saved up to run the bigger power draw.
 
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JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
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Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Davidasailor26 said:
20 watts continuously while making the 0.3 liters per hour
Click to expand
That is the removal of salts rate.

Do not forget the reverse electro-chemistry to return unit back to starting point.

If I knew their power efficiency, that reversing could be included in the overall power use.

But for 100% efficiency ....
Double their number.
Jim...

PS: Another winner from DuPont, now Chemours. Starting with the Teflon® molecule.
Nafion
 
Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
5,826
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Found the actual energy consumption in the abstract of the source article - “The portable system desalinates brackish water and seawater (2.5–45 g/L) into drinkable water (defined by WHO guideline), with the energy consumptions of 0.4–4 (brackish water) and 15.6–26.6 W h/L (seawater), respectively.” So the report must have meant 20 watt hours per liter. I guess that’s not terrible considering its portability. A boat where permanent installation of pumps and filters is possible is probably not the intended use right now.
 
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JRT

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,059
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Neat options but I was wanting more capacity and the original post was no filters, so in theory always available.
 
Richard19068

Richard19068

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Jun 11, 2004
1,829
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
JamesG161 said:
This one is...
https://www.amazon.com/4Patriots-Kettle-Personal-Water-Heater/dp/B09F4L8Y7N/ref=sr_1_6?crid=KTU8HPLVG20V&keywords=solar+still+emergency+water&qid=1651703985&sprefix=solar+still,aps,130&sr=8-6
Click to expand
The item in the link says it boils water. Nothing about desalination.

The OP is talking about desalination, not filtration or purification.

I suppose you could use the boiling water to distill fresh water from seawater but I don't think that would be very efficient.
 
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