EZCond™ - Water Condensation System
Introduction
- 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water service, including 144 million people who are dependent on surface water.
- Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces.
- Contaminated water can transmit diseases such diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 485 000 diarrhoeal deaths each year.
- By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.
- In least developed countries, 22% of health care facilities have no water service, 21% no sanitation service, and 22% no waste management service.
*(Drinking Water Report – WHO, 14 June 2019)
Over 2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress. Recent estimates show that 31 countries experience water stress between 25% (which is defined as the minimum threshold of water stress) and 70%. Another 22 countries are above 70% and are therefore under serious water stress. Growing water stress indicates substantial use of water resources, with greater impacts on resource sustainability, and a rising potential for conflicts among users. It has been estimated that about 4 billion people, representing nearly two-thirds of the world population, experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. Water use has been increasing worldwide by about 1% per year since the 1980. Global water demand is expected to continue increasing at a similar rate until 2050, accounting for an increase of 20 to 30% above the current level of water use. This steady rise has principally been led by surging demand in developing countries and emerging economies. However, per capita water use in the majority of these countries remains far below water use in developed countries — they are merely catching up (The United Nations World Water Development Report 2019 Leaving no one behind).
Shortage of water is a worldwide major problem, and countries and companies devote significant amount of resources to find new solutions for water supply.
Condensation is the change of water from its gaseous form (water vapor) into liquid water. Condensation generally occurs in the atmosphere when warm air rises, cools and looses its capacity to hold water vapor. As a result, excess water vapor condenses to form cloud droplets.
Ambient air contains humidity, water vapor. The amount of water vapor in the air is a function of the location, season and time of day and is measured as relative humidity. Vaporized water is a gas, so it physically exists in air as other gases with respect to temperature and partial pressure. The U.S. Department of Energy says that on a hot, humid day water vapor could comprise as much as 6 percent of the air; on a cold day it could be 0.07 percent. At an average relative humidity of 64 percent in the Negev desert, about 11.5 milliliters (ml) of water could be present in a cubic meter of air (https://www.watertechonline.com/water-reuse/article/15549699/professor-poupoe-condensing-water-vapor-from-air-for-drinking-and-bulk-water).
Portable or fixed devices that can extract water from air in remote, dry locations have application potential in disasters, war zones and deserts.
EZPack® is introducing the EZCond™ an off-grid water condensation system built on 2 elements: (1) The EZPower™ – an off-grid power generation and energy storage unit. (2) The condensation unit that is built on array of pipe connected to the cold-water reservoir; the cold water is circulated during the night, and vaporizing the water from the air.
The EZCond™ System
There is a time difference between the time that solar energy can be produced (during the day when sun-light is available) and the time that Dew is high, and water can be condensed (night). The way to solve the conflict is:
- Produce energy when possible.
- Condensed water when it is optimal.
- Bridge the time gap with water-based energy storage.
EZPack® solution is built on 2 innovative elements:
- Utilizing sun and wind energy to produce power to cool the water. Instead of storing the sun and wind energy in batteries, we use the green energy when it is available, to cool the water. We use a very large water reservoir (~20,000-liter) to store the energy as cold water. During the night, we use small amount of the water volume, so the total temperature of the whole water volume is slightly change. During the day we use the green energy to compensate for this small change.
- Using smart algorithm to optimize the condensation process – The Dew Point (DP) is the temperature which air become saturated with water vapor. When further cooled, the water vapor condenses and form liquid water. When air cools to its dew point through contact with a surface that is colder than the air, water will condense on the surface.
The following drawing shows the various blocks of the EZCond™:
The amount of water produced is defined by the number of heat-exchanger used.
Specifications:
The cooling container:
Type |
20’ shipping container |
Bladder volume |
20,000-liter |
Cooling pump |
|
Power |
3.7 KW |
Electricity consumption |
6 KWH |
Pumps |
|
Number |
2 |
Electricity consumption |
1.2 KWH |
No. of condensation units supported |
8 |
The Condensation unit:
Dimensions |
200*100*70 cm |
Electricity consumption |
0.25 KWH |
Water production |
100-200 liter/day |