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Solar Powered Desalination Farm to Bring Life to the Sahara

Thanks lynlynch for the information. There are as well other gigantic plants being build or planed, like the ALMERIA-Project in Spain, and now the start is being given for the SAHARA-Project empowered my german interests to produce electricity in the "nearest" dessert and have it shipped to our ever so hungry consumers. Well I´m more in for "decentralized systems". Something to have in your house with a solarpanell on the roof, fed by a saltwater pipeline from the near coast. I did collect already some very promissing technologies here in Germany, - one very cost effective one, and one with combined electricity production by ORC (Orgine Rankine Cycle) technology. I just like to know where the rest of the world stands. Giantism as we had it before, and as we still continue to use might be of interst for the real "big ones" to make the market dependent. What I seek in independance. It`s always good to have other options!

Andreas

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Thanks PWSlack, - I see your point. Sometimes you get carried away, specially in a platform like this,when you think only decent, interested individuals are correponding.

Depending on land available and ready availability of water for desalination, there are several simple, home handy man level methods.

One simple one which could be mounted on a flat roof is a trough covered by clear plastic which is pitched tent like above it and extends slightly wider so the sides can shed condensed water into a trough each side.

Saline water flows slowly through the central trough. Solar heat heats the water and some evaporates, condensing on the sloped clear plastic above, where it runs down into the trough at either side.

Doesn't work for oil or organic contaminated water, but good for salt water or normal saline ground water.

H2S from ground water tends to be driven out and not redissolve in the distilled water.

Of course you use black plastic under the central trough to improve the heat absorption.

Other methods use a variety of reduced pressure distillation rigs, with heat exchangers etc and are more energy efficient (need less space) but are much more complex and expensive.

Practically any handy man can build this one.

It could be adapted as a series of terraces on a sloped roof, but this is more expensive.

The system also works, at reduced output (due to reduce insolation), on cloudy days.