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from the like-load-lifters-but-different dept.
A scientist named Dr. Shing-Chung (Josh) Wong has developed "a bio-inspired approach for a novel bead-on-string nanofiber with hydrophobicity/ hydrophilicity simultaneously by electrospinning-enabled technique, that can be used as a high-performance water harvester" to collect potable water from the air, even in desert environments:
To miniaturize water generation and improve the efficiency, Wong and his students at the University of Akron turned to electrospun polymers, a material they had already worked with for more than a decade. Electrospinning uses electrical forces to produce polymer fibers ranging from tens of nanometers up to 1 micrometer—an ideal size to condense and squeeze water droplets out of the air. These nanoscale fiber polymers offer an incredibly high surface-area-to-volume ratio, much larger than that provided by the typical structures and membranes used in water distillers.
By experimenting with different combinations of polymers that were hydrophilic—which attracts water—and hydrophobic—which discharges water, the group concluded that a water harvesting system could indeed be fabricated using nanofiber technology. Wong's group determined that their polymer membrane could harvest 744 mg/cm2/h, which is 91 percent higher than similarly designed membranes without these nanofibers.
Unlike existing methods, Wong's harvester could work in arid desert environments because of the membrane's high surface-area-to-volume ratio. It also would have a minimal energy requirement.
Wong says that the device should be inexpensive to construct, and he's looking for funding to build a prototype.
(Score: 3, Informative) by unauthorized on Wednesday August 22 2018, @02:54PM (4 children)
At 0.75g/cm^2 this device will need a collection surface of 600m^2 in order to collect 10gal/h. Even if we ignore the engineering challenges and take Wong's numbers at face value, there is no way such a device could be made portable.
And that's assuming that Wong can somehow squeeze 0.75g/cm^2 out of air with average water content of 16g/m^3 under ideal circumstances (20% humidity, 50C air temperature), which is highly dubious.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday August 22 2018, @03:10PM (1 child)
Just the energy to power the fans to pump enough air through the thing would be better spent on trucks filled with water.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 4, Funny) by Fluffeh on Wednesday August 22 2018, @10:37PM
Forget the trucks... I say Monorail! Say it with me! Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Wednesday August 22 2018, @05:09PM (1 child)
A fan or spiral shape could easily contain such two-dimensional area in a small, three-dimensional portable unit.
Some photos of common off-the-shelf devices that already do this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fanfold+filter&iax=images&ia=images [duckduckgo.com]
The invention may well be bunk, but that isn't why.
(Score: 2) by unauthorized on Wednesday August 22 2018, @06:25PM
Oh there are many designs which allow you to fold a large area in a smaller size, it's just that your collection efficiency will drop dramatically if you do. An important tidbit about passive moisture collectors is that they are very much like solar panels in that the most efficient design is a large flat thing facing the flux. The design you propose will optimistically have 25% the condensation efficiency of a large flat sheet, but realistically I'd be surprised if it managed half that.
Room dehumidifiers are a different story because they are meant to work in enclosed spaces.