Laminar Solar Desalination

Passive Cellular Array

Structures and Deployment
A Pictorial Summary
World View Water
Gordon Rogers
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In the late eighteen hundreds in Chile, this
system is said to have produced 5,000
Gallons per day in 50,000 Square Feet.

The counter-current gradient exposure to the condensation surface

assures significantly higher energy capture and water production
 Cellular Element

Summary:
The present invention provides a scalable means for the purification,
including desalination, of water by use of multiple layers of thin plastic.
These layers would be convoluted into bubbles and manifolds forming
channels, thermal transfer interfaces and containment, as well as thermal
isolation in contained gas volumes.
 Layer Definitions
1) Layer above ‘2’ forms the outer dome. Provides thermal isolation.
2)This Layer, above ‘3’ forms the inner dome and evaporative containment vessel. Is
thermally isolated from airflow above the system by external dome above it.
3) Not a complete layer:, but above 4, constitutes the evaporative structure. Should be
porous water insoluble being of food-grade materials and capable of sustained
temperatures approaching 100 degrees centigrade.
4) Layer above ‘5’ forms an elevated cup whose interior bottom is formed by the sheet two
layers below and is additionally accessed by the end point of the spiral one layer
below. The layer is otherwise in contact and seals with the layer below it. It should
be non-porous, water insoluble and be of food-grade materials on its upper-surface
and capable of sustained temperatures above 100 degrees centigrade.
5) Layer above ‘6’ is composed of a spiral channel of the same curvature as that below.
Its spiral is principally contained by the spiral below except at its endpoints on the
output end that terminate outside the thermal containment bubble created by layer
below, and of the end closest to the center of the cell that terminates opening onto
the bottom of the central cup.
6) Layer above ‘7’ forms the incoming channel by means of a spiral conduit where the
layer is otherwise in contact with the layer above it forming seals around the
perimeter of the spiral channel and in a central depression forming the floor of the
cup two layers up. Feeds perforation with effluent process water slightly enriched in
saline concentration.
7) Layer above ‘8’ forms the upper boundary of the tube described above. Should be
sealed along the sides of the tube of Layer ‘6’. Forms sealed regions around the
features on the next layer up to provide thermal isolation of those features. Is
perforated into flat tube below. Lower surface is of food-grade materials.
8) Layer constitutes upper boundary of a wide but shallow tube and contains water flowing
downhill on a slight grade to provide suction and seawater or process water to be
purified for slightly saline enriched water to mix. The water should be at the lowest
ambient temperature easily available.
9) Bottom layer constitutes Collection Channel for freshwater effluent to be routed for
collection.
 Notional Representation of Relative
Temperatures Dictating Heat Flow
Fresh
Water Thermally Isolated System
Effluent

SUN
Collection Water Vapor in Air Solution
at
Controllable Condensation at 99° Centigrade
Evaporation
Temperature Condensation Condensation

Heat
Laminar Plastic Interface 99°C
Liquid
Solution in
>>> >>> >>> >>> Evaporative
15°C 44°C 45°C
15°C Cup
Seawater Incoming Water Flow Spiral Common to
Target Laminar Plastic Interface Both
and Incoming
Source and
<<< <<< <<<
Reservoir 16°C 45°C Outgoing
Outgoing Water Flow Spiral Water
 Details of Spiral Incoming and Outgoing Channels
Depicted above are the nested spiral layers forming the mechanism for the water’s thermal-transfer counter
current gradient flow. Water enters the outer loop of the upper spiral through a hole in the layer above it. The
water then flows around the incoming spiral loops to enter the inner cup. The water level rises to cover the exit
channel’s opening. Warmed water of slightly increased salinity flows around the outgoing spiral loops,
exchanging heat as the water moves in opposite directions, incoming water warming, outgoing water cooling,
until it changes course and exits the area under the upper domes, ending its thermal exchange cycle. The
increased-salinity water then drains from the system.
Common Reservoir Contact
Section of Nested Spirals
Inter-Layer Registrations
Finite Element Analysis Progress
 Early Testing

Model verification through thermographic testing will

expand in its support of optimized production design
Early Prototyping
Surface Filling Views
And From Below
Long-term Permanent Installations
Using Existing Structures…
Canal Cross Section
The Use of Existing Structures in Concert with the System Gives
Great Flexibility and Economy to the Approach
Emergency and Provisional Installations

Dedicated Tanker Ships Will Require Independent Pipelines to Shore

 Remote Deployment
This system will be deployed in emergency circumstances
anywhere in the world on short notice to remediate flooding,
contamination of local sources, and provide marine
desalination for local droughts
 May be combined to form

The Implications for the use of conventional solar-electric energy for

water production are profound. Efficiencies achieved by this direct solar
desalination method may approach 50:1 by area and more in cost!
Heated Water Storage Can be Used Directly
on Production or Stored Overnight
Retrofit or Designed Buildings
using the System
In Urban Areas by the sea, like
ninety percent of the population
Co-location with Oil Platforms
Brackish Land-locked Systems
 Various
Feasible Orientations
 Implications
• Current calculations suggest
that Los Angeles’ 200,000,000
gallons per day would require
approximately 19.6 sq miles
for the 5 cm2 cells or 14.04 sq
miles for the 1cm2 cells.
 Milestones
• Preliminary cellular design documented 3/05
• First Prototype executed 3/05
• First water produced 3/05
• Extended Computer assisted design effort initiated 5/05
• Favorable Patent search completed 06
• Detailed studies of cell and array operational physics and design space
• Provisional Patent Filing 07
• worldviewwater.com goes online ‘07
• Contacted Business Development Manager of Flextronics, equipment manufacturer for Design
for Manufacturability ‘07
• City of San Antonio Water System Expression of Interest Presented ‘07
• Commitment for DFM study and extended prototype systems
• US and Patent Cooperative Treaty Priority (PCT) Utility Patent Filed February, ‘08
• Protected Intellectual property valuation ‘08-‘09
• In-Country Patent Application filings under PCT‘08-‘09
• Low Rate Initial Production ‘09
• Break Even ‘10
• Ramp to Production
 US and PCT Patent Files
• 12036250
• PCT/US/08/54925
 PCT Filing Calendar
• Under Construction
 Market Study Eye-chart:
Click Segment
Detail
for
31 segments identified Market Size/ Persons Percent Market Estimated Revenue
Market
Value Percent Current Value
Target Population Served Capture per Unit Subtotal Available USD
Municipal
Large Scale This opportunity focuses on large-scale United States, Germany, India, 4,418,261,000 people NOT Par = 2 projects @ 100,000,000
Municipal - municipal applications for the PCDA. This Belgium, France, China, United DETERMINED $50 mil lion over ten
Developed Areas entail contracts with customers including Kingdom, J apan, Italy, Spain, South years =
water districts such as DW P of Los Angeles Africa, Netherlands, Poland, Saudi $100,000,000
and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Arabia, Pakistan, Algeria, Mexico,
W ater Project of Northern California. Such Brazil, Indonesia, Austria, Australia,
applications would involve very large linked- Russian Federation, Morocco,
PCDAs integrated with existing supply and Romania, Hungary, Ukraine,
control infrastructures. Very-large systems Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey,
would be impleme nted to provide sustainable Slovakia, Philippines, Israel, United
potable water supplies, replenish depleted Arab Emirates
aquifers for public consumption.

Large Scale This opportunity focuses on large-scale Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Ghana, 728,616,000 people NOT NOT DETERMINED NOT
Municipal - municipal applications for the PCDA. This Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Ethiopia, DETERMINED DETERMINED
Undeveloped or segment is identified as unique to Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso, Viet Nam,
Developing Areas undeveloped and developing areas. Benin, Guinea, Chad, Madagascar,
Afghanistan, Eritrea, Burundi,
Gambia, Cambo dia, Central African
Rep, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Rwanda,
Tadjikis tan, Liberia, Bhutan, Comoros

Southern California This opportunity focuses on integration of State of California $470,000,000 at 76 NOT Par = 10 projects @ 150,000,000
W ater Area PCDA with existing and planned public projects = $6,184,210 DETERMINED $15 mil lion over ten
infrastructure. Add to freshwater capacity and avg. ea. project years =
for public consumption. Implement through $150,000,000
local water authorities. Agricultural water
conservation, urban water conservation and
water recycling applications funded under
state grants.

San Joaquin Delta This opportunity focuses on integration of State of California $111,324,000. at 124 NOT NOT DETERMINED NOT
Project PCDA with existing and planned public projects = $897,774 DETERMINED DETERMINED
infrastructure. Replenish depleted aquifers. avg. ea. Project
Add to freshwater capacity and for public
consumption. Agricultural water conservation,
urban water conservation and water recycling
applications funded under state grants.

Santa Barbara City This opportunity focuses on coupling PCDA City of S anta Barbara $104,000 Public W orks NOT NOT DETERMINED NOT
Project with existing source and supply pipelines. Special Projects DETERMINED DETERMINED
Facilities previously dedicated for a defunct Funding
reverse osmosi s system would be utilized.

Industrial
Industrial W aste This opportunity focuses on industrial DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 20 projects @ 8,000,000
Stream Scrubber customers who need to recycle process DETERMINED $400,000 over ten
waters and to separate hazardous impurities years = $8,000,000
from effluent. The PCDA would be integrated
with waste stream s eparation processes and
replace less efficient and more costly
components of t hese processes.

Industrial W ater Pre- This opportunity focuses on industrial DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 20 projects @ 8,000,000
Treatment customers who require fresh water for DETERMINED $400,000 over ten
processing operations. years = $8,000,000

Bottled/Packaged This opportunity focuses on industrial USA, Mexico, China, Brazil, Italy, 154,300,000,000 NOT Par = 8 projects @ 12,000,000
Water Producers customers who produce water based products Germany, France, Indonesia, Spain, liters/year and DETERMINED $1,500,000 over ten
(not including agricultural markets). India $10,980,000,000. per years = $12,000,000
year

Sea Deployment
Large Scale This opportunity focuses on shipboard DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 5 projects @ 7,500,000
Platform, Shipboard applications for freshwater harvesting and for DETERMINED $1,500,000 over ten
stationary platform freshwater sources. years = $7,500,000

Portable/Specialty
Wilderness Sports This opportunity focuses on a s mall (hand- United States 98,682,000 fishermen, 0.1 150 14,802,300
Unit carried) configuration of the PCDA suitable for campers, hunters
remote loc ation temporary or permanent applicable
installations.
Marine Pleasure This opportunity focuses on pleasure marine United States 6,900,000 Recreational 0.1 450 3,105,000
Craft Unit accessories market. The PCDA would be Boats Appropriate for
included in or supplement existing first aid or Kit
survival kit s carried on-board private pleasure
craft.
Garden Greenhouse This opportunity focuses on a garden kit United States $13,000,000,000. 0.1 1200 30,240,000
Kit distributed by major retailers. Providing dollars/year flower,
greenhouse and shade space. landscaping, container
gardening

Emergency Provisional
Home Safety Kit This opportunity focuses on a home s afety kit United States $33,954,344,000. Misc. 0.1 75 5,400,000
distributed by major retailers. Providing Home Supplies/Year
filtering of water and purification during
disruption of s upply.
Disaster Area This opportunity focuses on medium s cale United States Drinking W ater NOT Par = 5 projects @ 2,500,000
Response portable systems suitable for airlift delivery, $2,000,000 Each Large DETERMINED $500,000 over ten
container ship, and/or delivered by truck. The Hurricane years = $2,500,000
customers are government and charitable
humanitarian or emergency disaster relief
organizations.

Residential
Commercial This opportunity focuses comm ercial Japan, Italy, Poland, Barbados, 1,068,075,000 people NOT Par = 15 projects @ 7,500,000
Residential and properties, public buildings, government Netherlands, Hungary, United Arab affected DETERMINED $500,000 over ten
Developers buildings and commerc ial residential Emirates, Spain, Portugal, United years = $7,500,000
properties. The PCDA would be integrated Kingdom, Mexico, Switzerland, Malta,
into the building’s primary water supply for Lithuania, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece,
initial treatment form ma rine or tainted ground Denmark, Latvia, Oman, Ireland,
sources as well as gray water waste stream to United States, etc.
remove impurities for recycling to fresh water.
Array panels are added to exterior walls, as
decorative panels, to form awnings, roofs or
fascia or can be integrated into the s tructure
by architects for new structures.

Private Residential This opportunity focuses on the home United States 72,000,000 homeowner 0.01 1200 21,600,000
and Homeowners improvement green movement market buyers of improvement
comprised of private homeowners. Whe ther materials
through an installation contractor or as a do it
yourself project, these customers would
integrate PCDA panels into the building’s gray
water waste stream to rem ove impurities for
recycling to fresh water. Array panels are
added to exterior walls, as decorative panels,
to form awnings or can be integrated into the
structure by architects. Distributed through
leading building and lumber stores.

Agricultural
Large Agricultural This opportunity focuses on large scale China, India, United States, 5,013,469,000 people NOT Par = 20 projects @ 9,000,000
Producers PCDA systems, for close to medium proximity Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Russian affected DETERMINED $450,000 over ten
to saltwater, which supplies fresh water for Federation, Japan, Mexico, Germany, years = $9,000,000
open air agriculture and food production. Philippines, Egypt, Turkey, Thailand,
France, United Kingdom, Italy, South
Africa, Ukraine, Colombia, Spain,
Poland, Argentina, Algeria, Morocco,
Peru, Venezuela, Malaysia, etc.

Commercial This opportunity focuses on PCDA systems United States $12,115,000,000. NOT Par = 50 projects @ 2,500,000
Greenhouses configured with greenhouses. So configured, dollars annual product DETERMINED $50,000 over ten
as a partial fill-factor, the PCDA provides years = $2,500,000
insulation, shade and fresh water.

Run-Off Scrubber This opportunity focuses on runoff cleanup DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 10 projects @ 500,000
and removal of salt buildup. DETERMINED $50,000 over ten
years = $500,000

Large Scale Restoration of wetland ecosystems has been DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 1 project @ 50,000,000
W etlands indicated as a primary means of stabilizing DETERMINED $50,000,000 over ten
Restoration desertification in areas with historically high years = $50,000,000
rainfall.

Atmospheric CO2
Scrubbing
Integrated Scrubber This opportunity focuses on integration of DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 10 projects @ 5,000,000
Systems PCDA-supplied agriculture in greenhouse or DETERMINED $500,000 over ten
open air applications primarily intended to years = $5,000,000
increase green area CO2 removal from the
atmosphere. Integrated systems operating as
greenhouses would also be capable of
scrubbing CO2 from urban air streams or
industrial processing exhaust when coupled to
the gas production waste stream. Both
approaches allow for food and excess water
production for human or livestock
consumption.

Large Scale Large-scale weather impacts of ocean surface DEVELOPMENT NOT Par = 0.3 projects @ 15,000,000
Scrubber installations is anticipated to form an DETERMINED $50,000,000 over ten
increasing role in system deployment years = $15,000,000
planning

Fresh Water Recovery for

Impoverished Families and
Villages
Poverty and Disease This opportunity focuses on development of China, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, 1,017,844,780 people NOT Par = 50,000,000 273,750,000
Relief Kit personal or small village adaptation of the Indonesia, Bangladesh, Dem Rep of without water who we DETERMINED people @ $0.003/day
PCDA for impoverished people where the Congo, Brazil, Afghanistan, U. can reach! beginning at year 5 =
humanitarian activities exist in relief-packaged Rep of Tanzania, Pakistan, Kenya, $54,750,000 per year
bundles. The adapted version of the PCDA Viet Nam, Phil ippines, Myanmar, x 5 years =
would be portable by small truck (potentially Sudan, Madagascar, Romania, $273,750,000 at year
could include a smaller backpack-portable Cambodia, Niger, Angola, Yemen, 10
personal configuration) allowing its use in etc.
remote areas. Since the PCDA has no
moving parts and requires no other energy
aside from s unlight, its use by people without
facilities or technical training is feasible. The
PCDA may be readily integrated as a
component of relief packages currently in
humanitarian distribution.

Conservatively exceeds $750 M