Can a new desalination method revolutionize access to clean water?

[rootone]

Nature does it on a grand scale though.
Huge volumes of water vapour are being shifted around the globe, some of which condenses out as rain or snow.
Often that condensing is caused by air being forced to cross over high mountain ranges.
The other primary cause is when a mass of warmer air (which holds more H20) collides with a mass of colder air.
It's hard to imagine an effective scaled down version of the way nature does it.

 

[jim meyer]

Hi, Yea, for nature does it big time. I see it as energy in motion and scale is mostly a matter of perspective. On a grander scale clouds of dust in space condense and evaporate over light year scales doing the same stuff. I think nature shows us the way to desal her way is to use solar. That would be least costly all around. These machines of our forefathers really are net very good at all and everyone knows it.

 

[Rippetherocker]

Hahaha I surrender!

 

[jim meyer]

Reviewing what you guys have said so far it is you can't get past the salt problem I consider to be a strawman. Making a mountain out of a molehill or missing the forest becausse the tree is in the way. Clearly the salt will stay in the liquid and the ice is pure H2O-that is a physical fact and it is your machine at fault. I agree your best is not good enough to do the job. The real problems are getting stuff to flow in paths that will make the process work. Ice can be made anywhere within the column and doesn't have to melt at all. And if you think for a moment you will see ice can't support salt even as well as vapor can. Only liquid H2O makes the right connections with salt to make a solution like seawater. I hope you can get over this kind of thinking (AKA common sense). How did I get in this anyway?

 

[russ_watters]

I really can't make heads or tails of what you are trying to do. If you drew a diagram showing the steps in the process and inputs and outputs of mass and energy or listed the steps sequentially for us, it might help.

 

[Rippetherocker]

Well...
My apologies for lacking common sense.
I bow to you O Great Desalinator...

Just out of curiosity though what are your qualifications and field of "expertise"?

Below is a standard desalinator btw

 

[jim meyer]

Hi Ripper, I want to say I'm sorry for any improper comment I may have made and I do not want to stir the smit pot. I want to solve problems and I don't have any special qualifations. I'm just curious about mechines-well not all machines-mainly thermodynamics a suppose. Oh, and engeering too. I'm very fond of Isaac Newton and wish I could chat with him. Oh well another imposible dream. Also I like the diagram you posted-is this one of the systems you work on?

 

[berkeman]

Hi Ripper, I want to say I'm sorry for any improper comment I may have made and I do not want to stir the smit pot. I want to solve problems and I don't have any special qualifations. I'm just curious about mechines-well not all machines-mainly thermodynamics a suppose. Oh, and engeering too. I'm very fond of Isaac Newton and wish I could chat with him. Oh well another imposible dream. Also I like the diagram you posted-is this one of the systems you work on?

So your path seems clear, Jim. You should figure out a good educational path for you, so you can push forward some of your ideas in a better technical way. Hopefully there are some Community College classes near you, or you can take advantage of the many on-line educational resources. It's very important to approach your ideas from a technical strength position. Without the technical knowledge of thermodynamics and physics, you can waste way too much time pursuing approaches that will not work in the end. Life is too short to waste your talents on technical approaches that will not work in the end, and that can be seen to be fruitless early on based on a good technical background.

Please keep pursuing your inventive instincts, but base your work on continuing to improve your technical background. This thread is closed.