Chennai: A 33-year-old engineer from Kanyakumari district has designed equipment for seawater desalination using solar energy.

J. Johnny was in Chennai on Wednesday to demonstrate his technique at the Pattinampakkam beach, off Santhome High Road.

No tests have been done yet to test the output water quality and equipment efficiency in real time.

However, Mr. Johnny is convinced that if a company were to manufacture standardised equipment, the technique would offer pure water at very low costs.

"Principles of evaporation and condensation are used in this technique. Solar power is the only energy required," he explained.

How it operates

His solar equipment, which is like a large flat box, measures six feet by four feet. The device needs to be set afloat a few kilometres away from the coast, so that waves do not upset it.

Seawater is allowed entry into the box through holes on the base of the device. The top of the box is made of thick glass with a light coat of black. Solar energy evaporates the seawater let into the box and the vapour condenses as droplets on the inner glass surface.

The droplets are led into rubber tubing from which it is collected.

"The idea can be developed on a large scale and the pure water produced can be collected in an underwater tank and pumped up for use," said Mr. Johnny. One litre of pure water can be produced every 35 minutes for every square feet of the solar device, he claimed.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail