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Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

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Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby jsb1969 » Sun 25 Jun 2006, 08:09:35

Any one familiar with these newer projects of invention by Dean Kamen? (Segway). The sterling engine was mentioned once here, but the pump has not (as far as I know), been discussed. I will be moving to a coastal town in Delaware next year and i'm interested in a watermaker. These two inventions, if they work, would be something i'd like to get.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 156573.DTL

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')amen's device purifies water through a distillation and condensation process tied to a proprietary system designed by Deka. Kamen said the purifier can handle any contaminants and produce 10 gallons of water an hour on 500 watts of electricity.

The company claims the purifier can convert 75 percent of seawater and up to 95 percent of contaminated water into drinkable water, but it acknowledges that it does not yet have outside verification of the purifier's reliability.
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Re: Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby grabby » Sun 25 Jun 2006, 12:56:13

You can get a sears water distiller for 100 dollars that distills water on 500 watts electricity, he is making 1400 dollars per weasel unit.,
We have run ours daily for years and it is reliable.

Me thinks people who try to save the world sometimes, like Moonsanta, may have alternate agendas, so I could be sure this guy is pure as the driven snow with no interest in profit, though.
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Re: Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby Clouseau2 » Sun 25 Jun 2006, 13:53:42

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('grabby', 'Y')ou can get a sears water distiller for 100 dollars that distills water on 500 watts electricity, he is making 1400 dollars per weasel unit.,
We have run ours daily for years and it is reliable.

Me thinks people who try to save the world sometimes, like Moonsanta, may have alternate agendas, so I could be sure this guy is pure as the driven snow with no interest in profit, though.


How well would the Kenmore unit work with seawater or contaminated water?
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Re: Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby EnergyUnlimited » Sun 25 Jun 2006, 14:41:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jsb1969', 'A')ny one familiar with these newer projects of invention by Dean Kamen? (Segway). The sterling engine was mentioned once here, but the pump has not (as far as I know), been discussed. I will be moving to a coastal town in Delaware next year and i'm interested in a watermaker. These two inventions, if they work, would be something i'd like to get.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 156573.DTL

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')amen's device purifies water through a distillation and condensation process tied to a proprietary system designed by Deka. Kamen said the purifier can handle any contaminants and produce 10 gallons of water an hour on 500 watts of electricity.

The company claims the purifier can convert 75 percent of seawater and up to 95 percent of contaminated water into drinkable water, but it acknowledges that it does not yet have outside verification of the purifier's reliability.


Total bullshit:

1. 500W in 1 hour will theoretically (with no heat loss) evaporate approximately 0.79 kg of water.
This is MAXIMUM possible.

Heat of evaporation for water is ca. 41kJ/mole; mole of water=18g; J=W*s; 0.5kWhr=500*3600J;
To distill 10 gallons you MUST evaporate 10 gallons and then condense it back.
Sounds like energy from nowhere device.

2. Distillation does NOT purify water very well:
All steam-volatile substances (say oil, dioxines, DDT, MTBE, PCB to name few better known) will co-distill and contaminate purified product (they CAN be absorbed however, say with charcoal filtering pad).
Ionic salts and "polar substances" like sugars, proteines etc will be remooved.
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Re: Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby jsb1969 » Sun 25 Jun 2006, 17:58:20

grabby, can you use yours (Kenmore?) as a watermaker with sea water?
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Unread postby PeakOiler » Mon 26 Jun 2006, 18:53:35

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jsb1969', 'A')ny one familiar with these newer projects of invention by Dean Kamen? (Segway). The sterling engine was mentioned once here, but the pump has not (as far as I know), been discussed. I will be moving to a coastal town in Delaware next year and i'm interested in a watermaker. These two inventions, if they work, would be something i'd like to get.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 156573.DTL

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')amen's device purifies water through a distillation and condensation process tied to a proprietary system designed by Deka. Kamen said the purifier can handle any contaminants and produce 10 gallons of water an hour on 500 watts of electricity.

The company claims the purifier can convert 75 percent of seawater and up to 95 percent of contaminated water into drinkable water, but it acknowledges that it does not yet have outside verification of the purifier's reliability.


As soon as I read that the water purifier needed electricity, I quit reading. Sorry.

I've been using one of SolAqua's solar water distillers for nearly five years now. I began distilling the city utility water, but the utility water is so hard, I was constantly needing to clean the calcium carbonate (limestone) out of the basin.
So now I only distill naturally soft rainwater. There's no oil-based organics in rainwater either, (or at trace levels only, less than what leaches from plastic bottled water.)

Here's a couple interesting exceprts from SolAqua:

"The basic principles of solar water distillation are simple yet effective, as distillation replicates the way nature makes rain. The sun's energy heats water to the point of evaporation. As the water evaporates, water vapor rises, condensing on the glass surface for collection. This process removes impurities such as salts and heavy metals as well as eliminates microbiological organisms. The end result is water cleaner than the purest rainwater. The SolAqua still is a passive solar distiller that only needs sunshine to operate. There are no moving parts to wear out."

"The first "conventional" solar still plant was built in 1872 by the Swedish engineer Charles Wilson in the mining community of Las Salinas in what is now northern Chile (Region II). This still was a large basin-type still used for supplying fresh water using brackish feedwater to a nitrate mining community. The plant used wooden bays which had blackened bottoms using logwood dye and alum. The total area of the distillation plant was 4,700 square meters. On a typical summer day this plant produced 4.9 kg of distilled water per square meter of still surface, or more than 23,000 liters per day. This first stills plant was in operation for 40 years!"

" Obtain a US$135 FEDERAL TAX CREDIT for purchasing a single solar still in 2006-07. The House and Senate approved a 30% tax credit bill for the installation of a solar system on your home or place of business, and President Bush signed the bill into law on August 8th 2005. There is a maximum $2,000 for residential applications and no cap for commercial applications. Additonal state credits may apply in your state. Call your Tax Preparer for information for your particular case."

I think SolAqua is a member of the Texas Solar Energy Society.
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Re: Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby strider3700 » Mon 26 Jun 2006, 19:49:37

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jsb1969', 'A')ny one familiar with these newer projects of invention by Dean Kamen? (Segway). The sterling engine was mentioned once here, but the pump has not (as far as I know), been discussed. I will be moving to a coastal town in Delaware next year and i'm interested in a watermaker. These two inventions, if they work, would be something i'd like to get.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 156573.DTL

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')amen's device purifies water through a distillation and condensation process tied to a proprietary system designed by Deka. Kamen said the purifier can handle any contaminants and produce 10 gallons of water an hour on 500 watts of electricity.

The company claims the purifier can convert 75 percent of seawater and up to 95 percent of contaminated water into drinkable water, but it acknowledges that it does not yet have outside verification of the purifier's reliability.


Total bullshit:

1. 500W in 1 hour will theoretically (with no heat loss) evaporate approximately 0.79 kg of water.
This is MAXIMUM possible.

Heat of evaporation for water is ca. 41kJ/mole; mole of water=18g; J=W*s; 0.5kWhr=500*3600J;
To distill 10 gallons you MUST evaporate 10 gallons and then condense it back.
Sounds like energy from nowhere device.

2. Distillation does NOT purify water very well:
All steam-volatile substances (say oil, dioxines, DDT, MTBE, PCB to name few better known) will co-distill and contaminate purified product (they CAN be absorbed however, say with charcoal filtering pad).
Ionic salts and "polar substances" like sugars, proteines etc will be remooved.


If I remember correctly it worked by burning something that provided the heat to do the distilling and as a by product they generated electricity off of it it was meant for rural areas in india or africa where they could supply firewood and get some power and clean water out of it. I read about this back when the segway was the next big thing so I could be wrong at this point.
shame on us, doomed from the start
god have mercy on our dirty little hearts
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Re: Dean Kamen's electrical generator and water purifier

Unread postby Doly » Tue 27 Jun 2006, 09:52:51

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '
')Distillation does NOT purify water very well:
All steam-volatile substances (say oil, dioxines, DDT, MTBE, PCB to name few better known) will co-distill and contaminate purified product (they CAN be absorbed however, say with charcoal filtering pad).
Ionic salts and "polar substances" like sugars, proteines etc will be remooved.


I always understood that distillation was the best method for purifying water. Of course, if you want really pure water you need to combine several methods. But if you have to do with only one, my understanding is distillation is the best.
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