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MIT unveils groundbreaking technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of water per day using only solar energy! Solution could change the future of humanity and combat global water shortages

Written by Valdemar Medeiros
Published 28/12/2024 às 08:42
MIT unveils groundbreaking technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of water per day using only solar energy! Solution could change the future of humanity and combat global water shortages
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New MIT technology promises to revolutionize access to drinking water! Discover how the desalination plant, capable of purifying 5.000 liters per day, can transform the lives of millions.

engineers from MIT (MIT) spent six months in Alamogordo, a city in New Mexico, in the United States, known for being the site of the test of the first atomic bomb in 1945, to develop a new MIT technology. The goal was to operate an automated system that could revolutionize the world. It is a technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of groundwater using solar energy.

The impact of new MIT technology

The result of the desalination plant was a technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of drinking water per day, a volume sufficient to supply a community of 3 people. In the coming months, the team plans to launch a company based on the technology used.

To understand the importance of creating MIT, it is necessary to understand the importance of exploring groundwater and what methods already exist for harnessing clean energy in a desalination plant.

Brackish water is a mixture of fresh and salt water and is not suitable for human consumption. In addition to being present in some seas, it is generally found in environments such as mangroves, estuaries and lagoons.

However, the tests for the technology that desalinates 5.000 liters per day were carried out in a region far from the coast. In Alamogordo, the brackish water being exploited was underground.

Understand how the new solar-powered desalination plant works

The new technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of water is that it respects the sun's rhythm, optimizing production. As sunlight increases and decreases throughout the day, the device is able to automatically adjust to speed up or slow down the desalination process. It can even sense if a passing cloud has covered the sun and react quickly.

A conventional desalination plant uses constant power and battery storage to compensate for variations in solar energy throughout the day. In the new MIT technology, researchers have managed to eliminate the need for Batteries, reducing system response time: it updates the desalinator rate 3 to 5 times per second.

It works like this: when the sky opens up, the panels are generating more energy than the system is currently using.

In this way, the controller of the new technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of water tells the system to increase pumping, pushing more brackish water through the electrodialysis cells (which are actually responsible for desalination). At the same time, part of the solar energy is already diverted to increase the electrical current supplied to the cell, so that it can remove more salt from the water.

New MIT technology harnesses more than 94% of clean energy

The faster the reaction time, the less battery power will be used. Researchers see brackish groundwater as having great potential to supply inland communities where access to seawater and energy is limited.

The technology that desalinates 5.000 liters of water would be a low-cost alternative powered by renewable sources.

An article published in the magazine NatureWater highlights that, during the entire test, the engineering team's prototype operated for six months in diverse solar conditions, harnessing more than 94% of the clean energy from the solar panels. Now, the challenge of the new MIT technology is to expand the system in the hope of serving larger communities or even entire municipalities.

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Jarbas Prates Neto
Jarbas Prates Neto
28/12/2024 08:57

It could be a solution not only for the neediest populations but also for plants that can contain the desertification process that is occurring in several regions.

Ernesto Yo Hayashi
Ernesto Yo Hayashi
28/12/2024 10:31

The control system is interesting. And where does the salt from desalination go? And what is the investment and cost per liter of water?

Lemoel
Lemoel
28/12/2024 12:06

It can solve one problem but create another, oceans will disappear, and when the sea waters run out, what will be left????

Wagner
Wagner
In reply to  Lemoel
28/12/2024 14:26

Shut up ****!

Jose Roberto
Jose Roberto
In reply to  Lemoel
28/12/2024 17:41

WTF!!!!??

Joao
Joao
28/12/2024 18:54

Lemoel, do you have any idea how big the oceans are to say that?

Valdemar Medeiros

Journalist in training, specialist in creating content with a focus on SEO actions. Writes about the Automotive Industry, Renewable Energy and Science and Technology

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