Distillation: apparatus – Apparatus – Types
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-23
2003-12-16
Manoharan, Virginia (Department: 1764)
Distillation: apparatus
Apparatus
Types
C202S083000, C202S202000, C202S266000, C159S904000, C159S906000, C126S600000, C126S657000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06663750
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
Reference to a Microfiche Appendix
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to amelioration of salt build-up in earth under cultivation, and more particularly to distributed apparatus and distributive methods for continual, discrete removal of salts from irrigation water. The invention provides generally small, relatively portable, salt removal devices that are not typically fixed to the ground. These salt removal devices employ a solar distillation system of increased efficiency, and concentrate salts recovered in a readily removable and regenerable vessel. The invention method collects salt-bearing water from a source such as irrigating flows over a cultivated area, solar-distills the water, captures the salt in a solar energy-radiated wick structure and returns the desalted water to the field, all with a multiplicity of quite small devices that suitably fit within and among growing crops without any adverse effect on adjacent plant life.
2. Background Art
Water for agricultural use has historically been made available at low cost, providing little incentive to conserve or efficiently use the water. Typically, as in the United States Southwest, water is applied to the cultivated land in abundance and then drained away by gravity as agricultural runoff back into rivers for use and reuse down stream. Limited amounts of water are not applied and allowed to soak in since excess accumulations of salts from the applied water will remain in the soil, making the field unusable for agricultural use for many crops, i.e. all but the most salt tolerant. The saline content of the used and reused water increases with each use and reuse, and field contact adds even more salts, so that the saline content problem cascades and concatenates as the river water flows to the sea, requiring ever greater flooding to minimize salt accumulation and its effects in the soils being irrigated.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide method and apparatus for the desalination of water. It is a further object to provide in situ desalinization of agricultural water right in the field. A further object is to distribute a plurality of small desalination units over the water flooding the field, each unit acting as a desalinator by taking up saline water and solar distilling it, returning desalinated water to the field, and collecting the salt content in a wick system that can be removed and reconditioned at a remote site so that its saline content is not returned to the rivers and canals used to carry water for irrigation. A preferred object is to provide a hand-carryable unit that can be floated on the agricultural water, and, using a reflector such as a primary mirror and secondary mirror that concentrates the incident solar radiation on the upper end of a wick that has its lower end immersed in the field water, effect in situ desalinization. Other objects will appear hereinafter.
The objects of the invention are realized in an in situ desalinating system comprising a multiplicity of distributively arranged individual desalinating units for continually removing saline content from field surface water, the units being floatable on the field surface water, each unit comprising a wicking structure including a wick having a lower end portion immersed in the field water and an upper end portion, a solar energy collection structure circumjacent the wick upper end portion including a primary mirror adapted to collect incident solar energy and redirect it to the upper end portion of the wick in wick-contained water evaporating relation, and an evaporated water collector arranged to condense evaporated water in saline content-free relation and return the condensed water to the field water.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the wicking structure comprises a bracket arranged to support the wick within the unit, the primary mirror being supported by the bracket, the water collector comprises a light-passing transparent or translucent dome opposing the primary mirror and adapted to pass incident solar radiation to the primary mirror, and there is further included a secondary reflector or mirror enclosed by the dome and arranged to redirect solar energy reflected upward by the primary mirror onto the wick upper end portion, the dome defines a condensed water flow paths from the dome to the field water, the wick is removable from the bracket and returnable thereto in saline content-cleansed relation, the solar collection structure includes a lens opposite the primary mirror, which lens reemits all angles of incident light from the lens primarily normal to the lens such that the solar collection structure lens is a source of lambertian light within the dome.
In a further embodiment, the invention provides an in situ desalinating system comprising a multiplicity of hand-carryable, distributively arranged individual desalinating units for continually removing saline content from field surface water, the units being floatable on the field surface water, each unit comprising a wicking structure including a wick having a lower end portion immersed in the field water and an upper end portion out of the field water, a solar energy collection structure circumjacent the wick upper end portion including a lens and primary mirror system adapted to collect incident solar energy and redirect it to the upper end portion of the wick in wick-contained water evaporating relation, and an evaporated water collector including a cover above the wick upper end portion arranged to condense evaporated water in saline content-free relation and return the condensed water to the field water circumjacently of the wick, the cover defining the solar collection lens.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the wicking structure comprises a bracket arranged to support the wick vertically disposed within the unit, the primary mirror comprises a spherical or parabolic reflector supported by the bracket, the water collector comprises a light-passing transparent or translucent dome defining the solar collection structure lens, the dome opposing the primary mirror and adapted to pass incident solar radiation thereto, and a secondary mirror arranged within the dome to redirect solar energy reflected upward by the primary mirror onto the wick upper end portion, the dome defines condensed water flow paths from the dome past the primary mirror and to the field water, the wick is demountable from the bracket and remountable thereto in saline content-cleansed relation, the dome-defined solar collection structure lens reemits all angles of incident light from the lens primarily normal to the lens, and the solar collection structure lens is a source of lambertian light within the dome.
In another embodiment, there is provided an in situ desalinating system comprising a desalinating unit for continually removing saline content from field surface-disposed saline water, the unit being floatable on field surface water and comprising a housing having a solar heat energy-passing, water-impervious wall defining a generally closed chamber having a lower portion adapted for contact with the saline field surface water and an upper portion generally out of contact with the field water, a saline water collection structure within the chamber supported by the housing for saline water immersion, reflector structure arranged to concentrate solar heat energy passed into the housing and to direct the concentrated energy to the collection structure for heating saline water collected in the collection structure to temperatures increasing the rate of water evaporation, the evaporated water being condensed within the chamber upper portion for return to the field surface water, the housing defining a condensed water return path to the field surface water, whereby saline water is returned to the field surface water with lowered saline content in field surface water saline content-ameliorating relation.
In this
Bachand Louis J.
Manoharan Virginia
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