War is not just about surviving bullets and bombs but ruthless environmental conditions and inhuman conditions. A recent survey revealed that US military requires around 7 gallons of water for daily purposes, such as drinking, cooking and cleaning. Supplying such amount of water consumes both time and money, which could otherwise be used for some other purposes. Spearheaded by a team of experts, Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) came up with a unique solution to address this critical issue. The have come up with an innovative technology that can capture drinkable water from combusted diesel fuel emitted by power tanks, Humvees and other machines.
The basic concept behind this technology is that whenever hydrocarbon fuels burn, they get oxidized to produce carbon dioxide and water. Water, thus produced is emitted out from the exhaust. This water can be collected and condensed before use. ORNL also worked upon the principle of capillary condensation to extract clean water. Capillary condensation depends upon the capillary action in the micropores of hollow pipes. The water condenses in these micropores to be extracted later. Humvee has a 25-gallon tank which is capable of providing adequate water for 3 soldiers per tank of fuel burned.
This technology is capable of recovering about 65-85 percent of it. Once commercialized, this technology can be of immense utility to harvest water in drought affected areas. The US Military has filed an application to fund the project. The estimated cost to commercialize this technology is around $6 million.
Via: Physorg
