Apparently, necessity teaches us better than any ecological drive, or at least this seems to be the case for the U.S. military. Missions can’t do without water, but the amounts they need are very hard to transport. So the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found a way to ease the pain of carrying large water supplies.
Since fuel is easier to come by, researchers are now able to obtain drinkable water from burning diesel fuel, the same that all military equipment runs on.
Lab tests have shown that as much as 1 gallon of water can be extracted from 1 gallon of diesel. If there are any eyebrows raised, the resulting water is 85% drinkable, since a great deal of the contaminant particles just vanish.
How exactly is that being done? The key role in the process is being played by an inorganic membrane with a capillary action. The exhaust from the diesel go through multiple ceramic tubes, which are provided with pores; these pores take up the water vapor, giving out clean, drinkable water.
The process is to be perfected in the next couple of years, which would bring down the costs to $6 million. This solution could also be applied in a number of scenarios like emergency situations. I’s better than to die from thirst, right?
[via Cleantechnica]
