Solar Still

[Ackehece]

Useful for condensing water from low humidity atmospheres.
Personal sized to full industrial sizes available.
Humidity must be at least 1% (higher is better)
Hydographic profile 0 @ 1%or greater but hydrographic 1 and up finds much more use of this technology.

Device uses large surface areas of an advanced polymer that work as condensers for ambient humidity. Using capillary action on the fractal surfaces* of the sheets they collect and store the water into large tanks.

Tanks sizes range from 1litre to 10,000 litres
price dependent on size and location
1cr/ltr capacity
**


Size for a single human on a 10% humid world would be 4 square meters of surface area to create a days minimal ration of water, for each halving of humidity % size must increase by a cube.
*at 5% 12 meters square
*at 2.5% 48 meters square
At Hydrographic profile 4 or greater sizes over 4 meters per person would be
excessive and surface water is likely available so stills are not in general use.
Thin atmospheres this does not work at all unless you multiply area by 10X
Of course with no atmosphere there is no humidity and thus this would not work at all.

weight is 0.1 kg per square meter of size
weight doubles if usable in corrosive atmospheres,
weight increase by a factor of 10 from base for insidious atmospheres

Desert worlds are covered in kilometres of solar stills and sails that give both shade and water for living, Under the sheets of the stills large areas of vegetation is encouraged to grow to absorb and store the moisture (thus increasing local humidity)

price is 1 credit per square meter
this price increases buy the same factors used for insidious and corrosive atmospheres




* (min fractal size is .01% greater in size then an individual water molecule size to maximize surface area for water collection)
** robject alternate idea: Instead of tanks - sheets themselves store the water in their matrix

 

[Ackehece]

Actually quite usable on high Hydrographic worlds as a purifier. If the oceans are salty this will remove the salt from the water. It requires frequent cleaning in this situation and will create large salt crystals that can be harvested for elements, iodine, gold etc generally can be removed from salt

 

[robject]

Device uses large surface areas of plastic that work as condensers for ambient humidity. Using capillary action on the fractal surfaces (min fractal size is .01% greater in size then an individual water molecule size) of the sheets they collect and store the water into large tanks. Surface area is the greatest factor in collecting the moisture.

Suggestions:

Call it an advanced polymer, rather than a plastic?
Move the parenthesis about the fractal size to a "design footnote"?
Is it possible that the fabric itself stores the water, too, dispensing of the primary need for tanks? Makes for a potentially bulky fabric, I guess. Or is that just silly?

 

[Ackehece]

Suggestions:

Call it an advanced polymer, rather than a plastic?
Move the parenthesis about the fractal size to a "design footnote"?
Is it possible that the fabric itself stores the water, too, dispensing of the primary need for tanks? Makes for a potentially bulky fabric, I guess. Or is that just silly?

all excellent suggestions that I will now incorporate - with the exception of the storing of the liquid in the fabric... I would think that at water which averages 1kg per 1 ltr it would suddenly be very very bulky indeed.



Solar Still could be used to refuel a ship on a desert world if you have time... lots of time

 

[Timerover51]

What he is describing is standard equipment on Air Force survival equipment.

It works best under a bright sun, a cloudy day reduces the yield, as does cold air, which contains less humidity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still

 

[Ackehece]

What he is describing is standard equipment on Air Force survival equipment.

It works best under a bright sun, a cloudy day reduces the yield, as does cold air, which contains less humidity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still

yep but bringing it into the Traveller Universe

 

[Spinward Scout]

At a little higher TL...

You might want to check out this.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28003681/...ning-air-water-gadget-does-just/#.UZqQ6LXviSo

And this.

http://www.yankodesign.com/2012/01/10/go-anywhere-drinkingwater-condenser/

 

[Ackehece]

With Traveller batteries those work quite well. we can assume such a device works with much greater efficiency then current models and can be made much smaller... thus would be useful on air rafts etc as a primary water source. Thanks Spinward
the only real difference between a solar still and those water condensers is the cooled condenser coils. Solar Stills are passive with water condensers are active tech. Low tech with high tech materials (solar still) vs high tech with high tech materials (electric water condenser)



Almost all water tech is cool!

thermos osmosis (water naturally flows through osmosis filter and purifies
camelbalk UV filters (UV filter to kill bacteria)
lifesaver bottles (reverse osmosis filter bottles)

all very cool tech that any good explorer should have

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Useful for condensing water from low humidity atmospheres.

Then you're talking about a condenser, not a solar still. What makes it a "still" is the fact that it evaporates the moisture from plant material, then condenses it when the vapor reaches the barrier. A solar still does not simply pull moisture from the air.

Under the sheets of the stills large areas of vegetation is encouraged to grow to absorb and store the moisture (thus increasing local humidity)

It wouldn't increase the local humidity unless the moisture evaporates from the plants. (Oh, you also wouldn't increase the local humidity unless you added water to the environment - it's not a closed system, but it's near enough to be considered one.) Plants that grow in deserts typically discourage this (making a solar still less efficient, btw). If you tried to get the plants to give up their moisture at a rate higher than normal evaporation (the point of a solar still) over a long period of time, the plants will die.

If the oceans are salty this will remove the salt from the water.

It won't purify ocean water at all. Unless you actually have a still - which isn't what you described. If you had a still - evaporating water, then condensing the vapor - then it would definitely purify water ... just like modern distillation techniques do. If you have salt in the water vapor in the atmosphere, you're in a world of hurt (as a human).

What he is describing is standard equipment on Air Force survival equipment.

Not really, since he appears to be simply sucking moisture out of the air with a condenser.

BTW, I noticed the wiki link doesn't show any vegetable matter in the bottom of either of its survival solar stills. You want to talk about a loooooooooong time getting water? Unless you are trying to survive in a swamp (in which case you really don't need a solar still) where there is a lot of ground water, or you have a long time to collect (perhaps you construct several stills), you need to put in something that contains water for the still to work worth a darn.

The wiki also mentions a great variation of a solar still called a transpiration bag. In this, you put a large plastic bag around some vegetation, and seal it up, letting the bag magnify the sun's heat to cause extra evaporation from the still living vegetation. Once you've collected some, you can pull it off that branch, drink or store the water, and put it on another branch, letting the first one rest. You can do this for a long time.

Be warned, though, what you collect from a solar still (especially a transpiration bag) isn't necessarily "pure". You might also collect any bugs on the vegetation, as well as any sort of chemicals that naturally transpire (like tannin from an oak - which makes your water yellow... which is a GREAT bit of gross out when you drink it in front of a bunch of Cub Scouts!).

At a little higher TL...

You might want to check out this.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28003681/...ning-air-water-gadget-does-just/#.UZqQ6LXviSo

And this.

http://www.yankodesign.com/2012/01/10/go-anywhere-drinkingwater-condenser/

The first one isn't really new tech. As a matter of fact, they've had these for decades in damp basements. They're called dehumidifiers. They are also a primary component of air conditioning. If you want to try water collected this way and you have an air conditioner in your house, go outside and find the pipe coming out the side of your house that drips water on a hot, muggy day. Get a cup and collect some. (I think the second one is the same thing, but on a lesser scale - it isn't explained.)

BTW, Ackehece, it's not a bad idea, and probably a piece of equipment overlooked in Traveller ship's lockers. But, it *isn't* a solar still if you're simply condensing it from the air. And we already have that tech in modern day dehumidifiers. What you might want to do is figure out how* you would do it with just solar power and no refrigerant (what cools the air in a condenser below the dew point so the vapor collects). If it's the material, then explain* how it captures water, and how you release it (so you can drink it).

Being a survival instructor over 30 years, I just couldn't let the disconnect stand uncorrected. (I've constructed and drunk from numerous solar stills. They aren't as easy as they look.)

* By "figure out how" and "explain" I don't mean invent the dang thing for real, but give the concept and use as much handwavium and unobtainium as you need to make it "work".