Small water purification plant to developing countries

Why a small water destillator? As the water destillator will be used in countries with drinking water disavantage, we have decided to use sun energy, because the sunlight is very strong in African countries. Primarily our little gadget consist of 5 parts, which are relatively cheap and easy to find. It´s easy to build and repare if it gets broken. The parts are: Battery, solar cell, evaporation cistern, coolingsystem and a clean water container.

How we built our water destillator The only things we started with were: Glue that can stand heading up to up to 140 degrees, A piece of an old hose, (Which has been used in a boat engine), a carheadlight, a tin of tomato paste and a testing-tubecork. Later we also added a small hose that leads the water away.

How we built our water destillator After which we put glue on the brim of the tomato tin. At last we glued the headlight in to the hole we had drilled before. We started to drill a hole in the tomato tin. Afterwards we glued the hose together with the tin.

The building project of The coolingsystem We started the project drilling a hole in the bottom of the bottle We tie around a copper wire on the bottle to get it in an upright position.

Our water destillatorsystem!

How the destillator works Our water destillator system is working in a very simple way: We warm up the water with a light that gets electricity from an accumulator which we charge with sunenergy. When connect the light to the accumulator it immediately starts shining, and emits heat. The water starts to evaporate in 30 minutes. The steam goes past the hose to the cooling system (the bottle,) which cools down the water vapor so we get it in the taste of water in the glass. Our waterdestillator is only a prototype where we prove that the principle works. Actually we should have a much bigger boiler and more sunenergy.

Calculations 45,26kJ+16,72kJ≈62kJ How much energy do we need to boil the water? W=C1mΔT C1=4,18 kJ/kg m=0,05kg ΔT= 80°C How much energy do we need to Vaporize the water? W=C2m C2=2,26kJ/kg m=0,05kg 2,26∙0,05=45,2kJ 4,18∙ 0,05∙80= 16,72kJ Total amount of energy that we need to boil and vaporize the water. 45,26kJ+16,72kJ≈62kJ

More calculations The effect of the solar cell when charging the battery P=U∙I U= 8V I=0,3A These values we got when the whole solar cell was illuminated at a distance of 30 cm. To get as much current as possible we had to illuminate the solar cell at the smallest distance possible. P=8V∙0,3A= 2,4W The effect of the accumulator U=12V I=2,25A P=12V∙2,25A=27W

More and more calculations! The time we need to heat the water: t=W/P W= 62000Ws / 27W ≈2300s ≈38minutes

During the project we have had both successes and setbacks

Thank you for your attention!