It is indispensable for us to work towards conservation of water. For this we must discard age-old water usage techniques that do not promote conservation and choose modern conservation techniques for effective water usage. We cannot forget that water cycle and life cycle are one.
If there?s water, there?s life.
Let?s begin by understanding the basics,
Precipitation is a vital component of how water moves through the Earth?s water cycle, connecting the ocean, land, and atmosphere. Knowing where it rains, how much it rains and the character of the falling rain, snow or hail allows scientists to better understand precipitation?s impact on streams, rivers, surface runoff and groundwater. Frequent and detailed measurements help scientists make models of and determine changes in Earth?s water cycle.
The water cycle describes how water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the oceans, where it will once more evaporate. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on Earth.
We know that while cooking food, every molecule of the grain releases moisture due to the high heat level that it?s put on while boiling or simply warming. But the moisture could not be trapped or consumed in any way until a set of extraordinarily talented students came up with the first-ever vapor collector. This technology uses a dehydrator to dry out the food molecules in it, the vapor collector that is placed right above the dehydrator converts the released moisture into water. This smart innovation has helped us discover that water cycle is a two-way process. This is a glorious step in the area of water conservation and harvesting. Vapor collectors can also be used in massive factories and food companies through which we can save tons and tons of water at once.
A topic closely related to vapor collectors is air wells. Let?s learn about it in detail.
An air well or aerial well is a structure or device that collects water by promoting the condensation of moisture from the air. Designs for air wells are many and varied, but the simplest designs are completely passive, require no external energy source and have few if any, moving parts.
Three principal designs are used for air wells, designated as high mass, radiative, and active:
? High-mass air wells: used in the early 20th century, but the approach failed.
? Low-mass, radiative collectors: Developed in the late 20th century onwards, proved to be much more successful.
? Active collectors: these collect water in the same way as a dehumidifier; although the designs work well, they require an energy source, making them uneconomical except in special circumstances. New, innovative designs seek to minimize the energy requirements of active condensers or make use of renewable energy resources.
A beetle, a cactus and a fly-catching plant have each provided inspiration for scientists who have developed a way of pulling water vapor out of the air ten times faster than standards methods of condensation.
The researchers have designed a surface that uses nature?s own ways of catching water droplets and transporting them for safe storage. They believe it is many times more effective than the most efficient water-condensation surfaces currently in commercial use.
A desert beetle, which collects moisture on its back, a cactus, which directs water droplets down its spines towards its roots, and the slippery surface of an insectivorous pitcher plant were all used to design a surface that collects condensed water vapor and rapidly transports the liquid to a collecting area, the scientists said. The surface is so effective it can draw water vapor from the air and even transport it against the influence of gravity or unfavorable temperature gradients, which could prove invaluable in some industrial situations, the scientists said.
?Thermal power plants, for example, rely on condensers to quickly convert steam to liquid water. This design could help to speed up that process and even allow for operation at a higher temperature, significantly improving the overall energy efficiency,? said Philseok Kim of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
?This research is an exciting first step towards developing a passive system that can efficiently collect water and guide it to a reservoir,? Dr. Kim said.
Current approaches to pulling water vapor from the air use technology that is good at either promoting either the growth of water droplets or the ?shedding? of water droplets away from the condensation area ? but rarely both together.
However, the scientists exploited the physical attributes of three living organisms that have evolved to do one or both of these functions, and then combined what they learned into a single, synthetic surface that exploits the evolved traits.
These are a few scientific techniques that can be used to store and reuse vapor.
" />It is indispensable for us to work towards conservation of water. For this we must discard age-old water usage techniques that do not promote conservation and choose modern conservation techniques for effective water usage. We cannot forget that water cycle and life cycle are one.
If there?s water, there?s life.
Let?s begin by understanding the basics,
Precipitation is a vital component of how water moves through the Earth?s water cycle, connecting the ocean, land, and atmosphere. Knowing where it rains, how much it rains and the character of the falling rain, snow or hail allows scientists to better understand precipitation?s impact on streams, rivers, surface runoff and groundwater. Frequent and detailed measurements help scientists make models of and determine changes in Earth?s water cycle.
The water cycle describes how water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the oceans, where it will once more evaporate. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on Earth.
We know that while cooking food, every molecule of the grain releases moisture due to the high heat level that it?s put on while boiling or simply warming. But the moisture could not be trapped or consumed in any way until a set of extraordinarily talented students came up with the first-ever vapor collector. This technology uses a dehydrator to dry out the food molecules in it, the vapor collector that is placed right above the dehydrator converts the released moisture into water. This smart innovation has helped us discover that water cycle is a two-way process. This is a glorious step in the area of water conservation and harvesting. Vapor collectors can also be used in massive factories and food companies through which we can save tons and tons of water at once.
A topic closely related to vapor collectors is air wells. Let?s learn about it in detail.
An air well or aerial well is a structure or device that collects water by promoting the condensation of moisture from the air. Designs for air wells are many and varied, but the simplest designs are completely passive, require no external energy source and have few if any, moving parts.
Three principal designs are used for air wells, designated as high mass, radiative, and active:
? High-mass air wells: used in the early 20th century, but the approach failed.
? Low-mass, radiative collectors: Developed in the late 20th century onwards, proved to be much more successful.
? Active collectors: these collect water in the same way as a dehumidifier; although the designs work well, they require an energy source, making them uneconomical except in special circumstances. New, innovative designs seek to minimize the energy requirements of active condensers or make use of renewable energy resources.
A beetle, a cactus and a fly-catching plant have each provided inspiration for scientists who have developed a way of pulling water vapor out of the air ten times faster than standards methods of condensation.
The researchers have designed a surface that uses nature?s own ways of catching water droplets and transporting them for safe storage. They believe it is many times more effective than the most efficient water-condensation surfaces currently in commercial use.
A desert beetle, which collects moisture on its back, a cactus, which directs water droplets down its spines towards its roots, and the slippery surface of an insectivorous pitcher plant were all used to design a surface that collects condensed water vapor and rapidly transports the liquid to a collecting area, the scientists said. The surface is so effective it can draw water vapor from the air and even transport it against the influence of gravity or unfavorable temperature gradients, which could prove invaluable in some industrial situations, the scientists said.
?Thermal power plants, for example, rely on condensers to quickly convert steam to liquid water. This design could help to speed up that process and even allow for operation at a higher temperature, significantly improving the overall energy efficiency,? said Philseok Kim of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
?This research is an exciting first step towards developing a passive system that can efficiently collect water and guide it to a reservoir,? Dr. Kim said.
Current approaches to pulling water vapor from the air use technology that is good at either promoting either the growth of water droplets or the ?shedding? of water droplets away from the condensation area ? but rarely both together.
However, the scientists exploited the physical attributes of three living organisms that have evolved to do one or both of these functions, and then combined what they learned into a single, synthetic surface that exploits the evolved traits.
These are a few scientific techniques that can be used to store and reuse vapor.
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