Producing Water: Harnessing Solar Energy for Clean Water

[user01]

Take for instance (in a very simplistic way), a body of water on the Earth (i.e. a river, ocean, sea, lake ect.). The sun heats the body, causing the water to change from a liquid state into a gaseous state (i.e. evaporation). The water vapour rises to a certain altitude where it begins to condense and form clouds, until such time the water molecules can recombine in a liquid state, and fall producing rain.

Considering that water catchments collect the water for drinking purposes -
I was wondering if there was an artificial way to speed up this process, and use the suns thermal energy more efficiently, perhaps to produce clean water.

For example, to construct a series of light reflecting surfaces, in combination with powerful lenses, to collect the suns rays and superheat an area of sea water. The sea water would be inside a closed tank, where the vapour could be collected and condensed to produce the liquid water (product, for drinking and other similar purposes). Filtration may be needed, however it would be easier to perform this task when the water is in a gaseous state rather than a liquid one, such as desalination.

Perhaps the biggest problem is the practial nature of building lenses and reflecting surfaces large enough to catch and direct sufficient thermal energy.

 

[Gokul43201]

For example, to construct a series of light reflecting surfaces, in combination with powerful lenses, to collect the suns rays and superheat an area of sea water. The sea water would be inside a closed tank, where the vapour could be collected and condensed to produce the liquid water (product, for drinking and other similar purposes).

Do the math.

Assuming no thermal losses and essentially 100% heating efficiency, a 1m² lens can boil only a liter of water in an hour. In a real system, it'll probably take about 10 times longer. Still think it's worth it?

 

[ravenprp]

This is a very interesting concept and could potentially be a solution to the global water crisis. The process of harnessing solar energy to produce clean water is known as solar desalination and it has been studied and implemented in various forms.

One method is through the use of solar stills, which use the sun's heat to evaporate and purify water. These stills can be built on a small scale for personal use or on a larger scale for communities. Another method is through solar-powered desalination plants, which use the sun's energy to power the desalination process.

Your idea of using light reflecting surfaces and powerful lenses to superheat sea water is also a form of solar desalination. However, as you mentioned, the practicality of building such large and complex structures may be a challenge.

There are also other factors to consider, such as the potential environmental impact of using large amounts of energy to superheat sea water. Additionally, the cost of building and maintaining these structures may be a barrier for widespread implementation.

But overall, exploring alternative methods of producing clean water is crucial in addressing the global water crisis. Solar desalination is a promising solution that utilizes renewable energy and has the potential to provide clean water to those in need. Further research and development in this area could lead to more efficient and practical methods of harnessing solar energy for clean water production.