Seawater greenhouse

A seawater greenhouse is a greenhouse structure that enables the growth of crops

in arid regions, using seawater and solar energy. The technique involves pumping seawater
(or allowing it to gravitate if below sea level) to an arid location and then subjecting it to two
processes: first, it is used to humidify and cool the air, and second, it is evaporated by solar
heating and distilled to produce fresh water. Finally, the remaining humidified air is expelled
from the greenhouse and used to improve growing conditions for outdoor plants. The
technology was introduced by British inventor Charlie Paton in the early 1990s and is being
developed by his UK Company Seawater Greenhouse Ltd. The more concentrated salt
water may either be further evaporated for the production of salt and other elements, or
discharged back to the sea. The seawater greenhouse is a response to the global water
crisis and peak water.
Process
A seawater greenhouse uses the sun, the sea and the atmosphere to produce fresh water and
cool air. The process recreates the natural hydrological cycle within a controlled environment.
The front wall of the building is a seawater evaporator. It consists of a honeycomb lattice and
faces the prevailing wind. Fans control air movement. Seawater trickles down over the lattice,
cooling and humidifying the air passing through into the planting area. Sunlight is filtered through
a specially constructed roof. The roof traps infrared heat, while allowing visible light through to
promote photosynthesis. This creates optimum growing conditions cool and humid with high
light intensity. Seawater that has been heated in the roof passes through a second evaporator
creating hot, saturated air which then flows through a condenser. The condenser is cooled by
incoming seawater. The temperature difference causes fresh water to condense out of the air
stream. The volume of fresh water is determined by air temperature, relative humidity, solar
radiation and the airflow rate. These conditions can be modelled with appropriate meteorological
data, enabling the design and process to be optimized for any suitable location.


Figure 1. Inside the greenhouse - evaporation: water
is pumped from the sea to be evaporated over a


Figure 2. Inside the greenhouse - condensation: Water
cardboard lattice vapour is created by an array of hot pipes and
successively condenses on cooler pipes
A seawater greenhouse evaporates much more water than it condenses back into freshwater.
This humid air is `lost due to high rates of ventilation to keep the crops cool and supplied with
CO2. The higher humidity exhaust air provides some benefit to the cultivation of more hardy
crops downwind of the greenhouse.


Figure 3. The surrounding area from the front of the
greenhouse


Figure 4. Two years into operation from the back of the
greenhouse
This phenomenon could enable the cultivation of bio fuel crops in the area surrounding the
seawater greenhouse.