TECH

Biomass feeding device turns air into potable water-receives recognition

The device was created by a partnership between Skysource and Skywater companies that competed for the Water Abundance XPrize challenge. Created in 2016, the competition consists of obtaining clean and potable water from the air using renewable systems. The technology seeks to alleviate conditions in areas of natural disasters or regions where water is not abundant.This year's challenge was to create a device capable of extracting at least 2,000 liters of water from the atmosphere every day, enough for the needs of around 100 people. The machine would have to use clean energy and the cost of the water obtained could not exceed 2 cents per liter. The device created by the consortium won the prize of 1.5 million dollars.The invention is called WEDEW (wood-to-energy deployed water) and was created using two existing systems. The first, Skywater is a box that simulates how clouds are created, which heats the air to create condensation and thereby get water. This is stored in a tank in a container, which can then be attached to a machine or a faucet.However, this system uses a lot of electricity, so a biomass gasifier, a low-cost energy resource, has been introduced, explains Fast Company. The system utilizes available biomass resources on the spot, whether wood chips or coconut shells, which can feed the machine and thereby produce water through the air at a lower cost. The company claims that the waste is then converted into fertilizer for the soil.In places where these natural resources do not abound, the device can be powered by solar energy or batteries as an alternative to biomass.



Sapo