Engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun.
In a paper appearing today in the journal Joule, the team outlines the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.
The researchers estimate that if the system is scaled up to the size of a small suitcase, it could produce about 4 to 6 liters of drinking water per hour and last several years before requiring replacement parts. At this scale and performance, the system could produce drinking water at a rate and price that is cheaper than tap water.
Maybe you could contact them to do some joint work? If they’ve proven out the concept, the next step is scale up. And that’s a gigantic fucking step. I should think they’ll want people who are very familiar with the technology instead of people they have to train from the start. Alternatively, since this is in academia, you could work with them on commercializing it.
You’ve got options! I think it’s probably wise to consider your next moves at this point, since they’d be likely to beat you to a patent :/.
Good luck my friend, I’m rooting for you! And if I had more expertise in transient fluid and heat dynamics I’d offer some of my help.