The potential for power generation from this device is... not good, to be generous. The steam's not that hot; you won't see this running locomotives, or even generators. (Photovoltaics would beat it in power-to-weight hands down.) It does look to be brilliant for water distillation.*
-- Steve does wonder if cleaning the thing will be an issue, but it still looks like a good first step to a workable product.
* I think organics would gum it up pretty bad, so at a guess it's not much of a still for "sunshine".
well salt build up would be the bigger problem for a desalination system - but digging a pit below sea level, then running a a few pipes from the sea with lots of filters to keep out organic gunk along its length isn't something that can't be engineered to work in a simple enough form to be easily constructed along say the west or east African coasts or in the fertile crescent.
The article mentions capillary action to feed the steamy stuff, but no check valves. Without check valves in the capillaries, the back pressure would force water back to the source and limit pressure to too low for power generation, at least in typical steam engines.
Wouldn't the steam (in any significant concentration) start blocking/scattering the sunlight and attenuating the effect? What with it forming vaguely above the heating surface, right in the way of the light.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-22 08:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-22 11:27 pm (UTC)-- Steve does wonder if cleaning the thing will be an issue, but it still looks like a good first step to a workable product.
* I think organics would gum it up pretty bad, so at a guess it's not much of a still for "sunshine".
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-23 09:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-24 12:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-23 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-24 04:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-30 08:38 pm (UTC)