Here is a cool idea that read about – a wind turbine that produces power and uses this power to condense water from the atmospheric air. Sounds a bit weird? Read on…
Farmers have been using renewable energy for over 130 years in the form of windmills used to pump water from under the ground.
Over time, the water source these windmills work can run dry or become so brackish, it’s unfit for stock and human consumption.
The WMS1000 wind turbine takes a completely different approach.
Air is drawn into the unit through vents situated just behind the turbine’s nose. A large condenser with a heat exchanger the equivalent of one meter wide and five kilometres long extracts the moisture from the air and the resulting water is piped away for storage and use. The 30kW wind turbine produces all its own power for the process and its self-cleaning condensing system contains a food grade stainless steel alloy able to sustain the process of creating potable water for decades.
Assuming suitable wind resources, this report from Energy Matters says that WMS1000 is capable of producing 350 litres of water a day in a desert area and up to 1,000 litres of water a day in coastal zones according to the company behind the unit, France-based Eole Water. Minimal wind speed required for water production is 7 metres per second and nominal is 10 m/s. The maximum wind speed the turbine can operate in is 50 m/s.
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Well, I guess using a wind mill to uplift water appears an easier approach, but I reckon this innovation could be preferred in areas where such groundwater availability is poor. Interesting stuff, worth trying out even in some parts of India, in my opinion.
