Portable Solar Water Purifier

MEC 420 Project Progress Report

Heat Transfer
Instructor: Dr. Mohammed Sultan Khan
MEC 420

Section 2

Fall 2016/17

Submission Date: October 3, 2016

Group Members

Jibran Hassan Ansari 1044736

Mohammad Tahir Mahmood 1040411
Ahmad Baradei - 1045759

Abstract
The Purpose of this project is to design a water distillation system that can
purify water from nearly any source, a system that is relatively cheap, portable,
and depends only on renewable solar energy.
Distillation is one of the many processes that can be used for water
purification. This requires an energy input as heat, electricity, and solar radiation
can be the source of energy. Solar Distillation is a process to produce portable
water using free of cost solar energy. This energy is used directly for evaporating
water inside a device usually termed a Solar Still. Solar Stills are used in cases
where rain, piped, or well water is impractical, such as in remote homes or
during power outages. Solar Distillation is an attractive alternative because of its
simple technology, non-requirement of highly skilled labor for maintenance work
and low energy consumption (Sharma & Srivatsa, 2004)
Solar Distillation is by far the most reliable, least costly method of 99.9%
true purification of most types of contaminated water especially in developing
nations where fuel is scarce or too expensive. Solar Distillation is used to produce
drinking water or to produce pure water for lead acid batteries, laboratories,
hospitals and in producing commercial products such as rose water. No additional
heat or electrical energy is required in our still and even after the sun sets.
Distillation continues at a slower pace. Our project goal is to efficiently produce
clean drinkable water from solar energy conversion.

Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................. 2
List of Figures......................................................................................................... 4
Introduction........................................................................................................... 5
Preliminary Investigation and Background Research.............................................6
Initial Design Details.............................................................................................. 9
Option A.............................................................................................................. 9
Option B.............................................................................................................. 9
References........................................................................................................... 10

List of Figures
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure

1
2
3
4

Patent US 20040108280 A1.....................................................................6

Patent US4253307 A................................................................................ 7
Patent US20140360859 A1......................................................................8
Option A sketch........................................................................................ 9

Introduction
Even in the 21st century, clean water is not guaranteed to a big part of the
population around the globe. According to water.org, a renowned activist group
focused on providing clean water solutions to the less fortunate, more than 663
million people lack access to safe water. This figure is roughly equal to 1 in every
10 people in todays population (water.org, 2015). Around 71% of the earths
surface and 60% of a human body is made up of water. As essential as water is
in making and sustaining life, its provision to every human being is still not
guaranteed in this zenith of a space age century we are living in.
An attempted solution to combat the lack of clean drinking water is
discussed in this report. The idea is to design and construct a water purifier that
works with solar energy. The design constraints for it are that it should be able to
fit in a typical student backpack and that the purification output rate should be
at least 60ml per minute.
Solar distillation is by far the best method to achieve the criteria
mentioned above. The method is already proven. The challenge is to fit the
existing solar distillation apparatus in the criteria and the design constraints
given. The options are to directly heat the water by concentrating solar energy
on the water container or to charge cells and then use an electric heater to
achieve the given task. The output and the results from both the options will be
measured and weighed and then the best choice for the task will be chosen.

Preliminary Investigation and Background Research

Patent 1

Patent Name: Solar powered water purifier

Patent Number: US 20040108280 A1
2002

Filing Date: Dec 9,

Inventors: Daniel Saraceno

Figure 1 Patent US 20040108280 A1

The patent relates to a generally self-contained, highly maneuverable, portable

water purification system. The apparatus is contained in a rectangular container
that is mounted on a trolley with wheels for easier maneuverability to the water
source. Solar power is used to power the pump of the system and to power the
water purifying radiation source (Patent No. US20040108280 A1, 2002).
A few advantages of the system are that it is easy to transport to a water source
even by one man. Its a small system with all its components safely secured in a
single cabinet. The system is capable of producing drinkable water from any
water source even with a moderate amount of sunlight. Added to that, the

system can also be used as a portable power source in addition to its capacity as
a water purifier.
The disadvantage of the system is that tit still does not fit the size criteria of the
project given. The output water is at a higher rate than required in our design
constraint but even the size of the apparatus is bigger

Patent 2

Patent Name: Solar power generator and water purifier

Patent Number: US 4253307 A

Filing Date: Aug 27, 1979

Inventor: Derrick A. Smith

Figure 2 Patent US4253307 A

This disclosure relates to a combined solar power generator and water purifier.
The design includes a hollow heating element floating in the container that has
the water to be purified. The apparatus has a refractor lens window disposed
within an upper half of the globular boiler which can be controlled to direct the
sun's rays towards the refractor lens window to generate heat to boil the water. A

reservoir is connected to the outlet from the condenser which is lower than that
of the primary turbine, but at a level which is higher than that of the globular
boiler, for receiving such substantially pure water. A secondary turbine for the
generation of electricity is disposed at a level which is lower than that of the
reservoir but which is higher than that of the globular boiler. The secondary
turbine is connected to the outlet from the reservoir and is driven by water from
the reservoir. A pure water effluent is provided from the secondary turbine for
use wherever pure water is required (Patent No. US4253307 A, 1979).
The described system is extremely efficient and works as a solar power
generator as well as a water purifier. The system has controllable lens settings
plus controllable valves to maximize the purification and the energy production
process. It is an extremely efficient and is easy to modify to fit most needs.
The disadvantage of this system, however efficient and good it is, is that it still is
large with many complicated parts connected together and thus is not small
enough to satisfy the design needs.

Patent 3

Patent Name: Solar Water Purifier

Patent Number: US 20140360859 A
Jun 7, 2014

Filling Date:

Inventor: Namir Faidi, Stevan Davidovich

Figure 3 Patent US20140360859 A1

A solar water purifier is disclosed. The solar water purifier uses waste heat
from a solar panel, or direct heat from the sun, to boil, evaporate, and condense
water to create a stream of purified water. In one embodiment, a boiling tank is
mounted under and in direct thermal contact with a solar panel to absorb waste
heat. In another embodiment, a transparent wall of the boiling tank is directly

exposed to solar energy. Unpurified water enters the boiling tank from an inlet
tank. Once in the boiling tank, a stream of steam and water vapor leaves the
tank and is allowed to condense within a condenser. The condenser is located
within the inlet tank, such that the heat recovered during condensation is used to
preheat the inlet water to the boiling tank (Patent No. US20140360859 A1,
2013).

Initial Design Details

Option A

Figure 4 Option A sketch

The above design includes a series of solar panels connected with hinges that
fold in a circular pattern around the rest of the system. In the middle of these
panels is a stand with a collecting beaker below. Above the beaker is a condenser
whose inlet pipe is connected to the container in which the unpurified water is
added. An electric heater is submerged in this container that boils the water and
starts the purification process.

The system is quite small when folded and should be able to fit in a typical
students bag pack. However, its ability to give the required amount of purified
water per minute is yet to be calculated.
Option B

References
Namir Faidi, S. D. (2013). Patent No. US20140360859 A1.
Saraceno, D. (2002). Patent No. US20040108280 A1.
Sharma, M., & Srivatsa, K. (2004). Solar Water purifier. Retrieved from Sristi
Organization: http://www.sristi.org/cms/engenious/case1.pdf
Smith, D. A. (1979). Patent No. US4253307 A.
water.org. (2015). Facts About Water & Sanitation. Retrieved from water.org:
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-sanitation-facts/