solar distillers. Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering

Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering / Alternative energy sources

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Around the world, many people are experiencing shortages of clean water. Of the 2,4 billion people in developing countries, less than 500 million have access to clean drinking water, let alone distilled water. Solar distillation can help solve this problem. A solar distiller is a simple device that turns salty or polluted water into pure, distilled water. The principle of solar distillation has been known for a long time. In the fourth century BC, Aristotle proposed a method for evaporating sea water to produce drinking water. However, the solar still was not built until 1874, when J. Harding and S. Wilson built it in Chile to provide clean water to a mining community. This 4700 m2 distiller produced 24 liters of water per day. At present, such high-capacity plants are available in Australia, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, and on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. Smaller units are widely used in other countries.

Almost any seashore and desert area can be made habitable by using solar energy to lift and purify water. All stages of this process - the operation of the pump, purification and supply of water to the distiller - are carried out using solar energy.

Basics

The most common solar distiller is a hermetically sealed tank of salted or polluted water, covered with a slanted sheet of glass or plastic. The bottom of the tank is painted black in order to better collect heat. Solar radiation penetrates through the cover and contributes to the evaporation of water. Water condenses on the underside of the lid (which is cooled by air from the outside) and flows down an inclined plane into a trough or pipe. The pipe is also tilted so that the collected water flows out of the distiller.

This process exactly mimics nature's method of obtaining fresh water in clouds from oceans, lakes, swamps, etc. The water we consume has gone through the hydrological cycle of solar distillation tens of thousands of times.

Exploitation

The operation of the distiller does not require regular maintenance and costs. The capacity of the distiller is expressed as an average annual value and is not an exact value, since the amount of sunlight is unstable. It depends on the climate, latitude and time of year. In the Bahamas (23 degrees north latitude), the average annual plant output was 12 times greater in June than in the middle of winter. Some distillers work even in frosty weather conditions.

On average, a solar distiller can produce 1 liter of distilled water per day per square meter of distiller. On bright sunny days, you can get more than a liter. Fill the distiller with water once a day, at night or in the morning.

Price

The cost of a solar water distillation system can vary widely, depending on its size and location. Installing the system is usually inexpensive. In the US, small models have been developed that cost $25 with a glass cover and $18 with a plastic one, which reduces performance somewhat. If such a plant is used for a year, it produces water at a cost of approximately 10 cents per litre.

Water quality

The water obtained from such a plant is of high quality. It usually shows the best result when tested for the amount of substances dissolved in water. It is also saturated with air as it condenses in the distiller in the presence of air. Water may taste strange at first, as it lacks the minerals that most of us are used to. Tests show that distillation has eliminated all bacteria, and the content of pesticides, fertilizers and solvents is reduced by 75-99,5%. All this is of great importance in countries where people continue to die from cholera and other infectious diseases.

Construction

When building a distiller, you need to remember the following points.

The tank can be made from cement, adobe, plastic, ceramic tiles, or any other waterproof material.

If plastic is used to line the bottom of the tank or gutter, make sure the tank is never dry as this can melt the plastic. Wherever possible, insulation should be used. Even a small amount of it will greatly increase the efficiency of the distiller.

The container with distilled water must be covered from the sun so that the water does not evaporate again.

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