1. Portable Desalination
System
Project E3
Renn Darawali, Kevin Park, Leyden Recinos, Jacob Sanchez, & Mio Unno
Client: CleanSpark (Lauren Cwiklo)
Course Advisor: Jan Kleissl

2. Objectives
Project Description
To design and construct a portable desalination device
Ideal Project Parameters
o Produces a significant amount of potable water (~10 gal/day)
o Utilizes some form of renewable energy
o Must be transportable
o Preferably able to be constructed with $400 dollars
PIcture taken from http://www.collinsvilleil.org/
PIcture taken from renewablemarketwatch.com

3. Project Task Descriptions
1. Research solar desalination
2. Heat transfer modeling
3. Construction
4. Testing
5. Efficiency analysis

4. Our Design
Solar collectors & reflectors
Tan
k
Figure modeled on Solidworks by Jacob Sanchez
Distillation

5. Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors
● Evacuated tube
transfers more energy
to speed up
evaporation
● Acetone used for non-
toxic liquid
● Heat collects at the top
and condensation runs
back to the bottom
Figure taken from

6. Parabolic Reflectors
● Parabolic geometry
● Concentrates solar irradiation to a single
line
● Reflective material uses a mylar-type
material called Reflectech with a
reflectivity ~0.93
Photo from www.reflectechsolar.com
Photo from wikidot.com

7. ● Graham Condenser
● Cold Water flow in at C, out at
D
● Steam flow in at A, distilled
water out at B
● Water pump powered by solar
panel
● Easily taken apart, portable
and replaceable
Distillation
Figure taken from

8. Experimental Methods
Efficiency of the design can be tested at various points of
construction:
Solar Collector:
- Measure temperature
from solar collector
Within the tank:
- Measure initial and
final mass of
seawater
Distillation:
- Measure water quality
of output water
Bacteria
Lead
Nitrate/Nitrite
Hardness
pH
- Measure mass of
output water

9. Team Assignments and Organization
1. Solar Collector → Renn & Mio
2. Reflectors → Jacob
3. Tank → Leyden
4. Distillation → Kevin
5. Quality Testing → Mio

10. Work Schedule
Week 1-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Research of Desalination
Week 2-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Idea Proposal + Initial Design
Week 3-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Fabrication of Solar Collectors
Week 4-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Modeling of Solar Reflectors and
Distillation Components
Week 5-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Week 6-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Fabrication of Tank,
Condenser, and Solar
Reflectors
Week 7-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Assembly of Complete
Prototype
Week 8-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Prototype Testing
Week 9-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Field Test at La Jolla Shores

11. Preliminary Results
Testing the rod in boiling pot of water:
● Water Temperature→ 79℃
● Surface Temperature of Heat Pipe → 38℃
→ Results may be faulty, due to the use of a infrared
thermometer
Picture taken from
www.stereophile.com

12. Preliminary Results (contd)
4/25/15, 3:00pm
- GHI: ~300
W/m^2 (UCSD
DEMROES)
- Tbulb = 32oC
- Tpipe = 44oC
- Ttube = 87oC
*suggests new heat
pipe design
Picture taken by Renn Darawali

13. What’s next
Solar Collectors
● Assemble
parabolic
reflectors &
combine with
tubes
Tank
● Design connection
between solar
collector, tank , &
distiller
Distillation
● Test efficiency and
capacity of distiller

14. Questions?