LinkNotes: Fraunhofer Institute

2009-07-09

Drinking water from air humidity

Innovative System Creates Drinking Water from Thin Air

There is plenty of water in the world for everyone, the problem has always been trying to convert it into a form we can drink. German Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute recently announced that they have developed a new method to convert air humidity into drinking water using renewable energy. They are proposing large water harvesting plants to be located even in the most remote of places, such as the Sahara desert. Is this the solution to our water problems?

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com

Drinking Water From Air Humidity

ScienceDaily (June 8, 2009) — Not a plant to be seen, the desert ground is too dry. But the air contains water, and research scientists have found a way of obtaining drinking water from air humidity. The system is based completely on renewable energy and is therefore autonomous.

clipped from www.fraunhofer.de

Drinking water from air humidity

clipped from www.fraunhofer.de

The principle of the process is as follows: hygroscopic brine – saline solution which absorbs moisture – runs down a tower-shaped unit and absorbs water from the air. It is then sucked into a tank a few meters off the ground in which a vacuum prevails. Energy from solar collectors heats up the brine, which is diluted by the water it has absorbed. Because of the vacuum, the boiling point of the liquid is lower than it would be under normal atmospheric pressure. This effect is known from the mountains: as the atmospheric pressure there is lower than in the valley, water boils at temperatures distinctly below 100 degrees Celsius. The evaporated, non-saline water is condensed and runs down through a completely filled tube in a controlled manner. The gravity of this water column continuously produces the vacuum and so a vacuum pump is not needed. The reconcentrated brine runs down the tower surface again to absorb moisture from the air.

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2008-04-20

The Kolibri Cordless 3D Sensor

The Kolibri Cordless sensor, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics: a light and small device that can take 3D images of almost anything and almost anywhere. LED lights shine a projector light on an object, and two cameras record the image from two different angles. Then a computer compiles the data into a 3D image.

clipped from www.photonics.com

Wireless Sensor Images in 3-D

A cordless, lightweight sensor device the size of a shoebox can take 3-D images virtually anywhere, including crime scenes, doctors' offices, and manufacturing production lines.

The Kolibri Cordless sensor developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering is lightweight, about the size of a shoebox, and quickly takes 3-D images. (Photo copyright ©Fraunhofer IOF)

clipped from www.iof.fraunhofer.de

Research and development at Fraunhofer IOF focuses on optical systems technology with a view to continually improving the control of light from generation via guiding and manipulation up to its application.

clipped from www.iof.fraunhofer.de

Handheld scanning of a statue (enlargement of fringe pattern)

Sensorhead

3D overview, picture (with fringe pattern) and 3D detail of a design object

Scheme of 3D measurement set-up (self calibration by means of optional linking camera)

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