Absolutely no shortage of dead/down wood for fuel where I paddle. I’ve experimented with a few designs for distilling water (using wood for fuel) but think I could do better efficiency wise. Any one know of some plans for a portable (enough for a kayak) distiller? It would extend the time I could tour my favorite area as well as add a margin of safety against running out of water. Hand pump RO units way too expensive!
Thanks in advance!
Maybe I am misunderstanding something
– Last Updated: Dec-03-05 4:23 PM EST –
Using wood to fire a distiller to purify water is very energy inefficient. Takes a huge amount of energy to boil and evaporate a few liters of water.
Sea water bro
Must be distilled. I am familiar with some solar designs but they would take too long for kayak touring.
Slow output
– Last Updated: Dec-03-05 6:58 PM EST –
and this is from a stove but
http://www.crystalline.com.au/page51b.htm
Not for me
Very Nice…
…Maybe exactly what I’m looking for. Thanks and I’ll follow up later!
Yeah let us know
might save a life on a big trip if there is quite a bit of wood around. Make a nice backup for anyone using a RO device.
Also have you ever thought about that old boyscout pit solar distiller?
Ah yes the old pit with clear plastic.
– Last Updated: Dec-03-05 7:22 PM EST –
That's for pure survival where you'll be in one place for a while.
But the link above looks perfect for sitting around camp for a couple hours before bed burning wood and distilling a supplement to your water supply.
BTW Peter, if you're interested in my home made design I'll try my best to describe it. It involves using your existing camp cookware and some oven bags and copper tubing.
Interested in how much you get
With a wood fire I think to approximate the heat output of a propane burner you are going to have to put the still in the coals and use some sort of bellows to drive it. The claim that you are going to get 99.9% pure water from any contaminated source is suspect. If you have any dissolved volatile organics, they are going to come right over too, any bumping ( violet steam bursts) are going to contaminate your collector with brine from the pot. I’d try this out at home on a wood fire before I botheed to take it along.
Yep, no VOC vent…
…That’s why there’s the charcoal filter I guess.
Idea
Would pouring boiling water into a pit style solar distiller do the trick? You could carry the plastic sheet in a coffee pot. Just a thought.
I’ve heard of pre-boiling before
and yes it does work. But my thoughts are if I’m going to be around a campfire a few hours each night anyway, why not try a device like the above link. I’ve emailed the company with some questions. I’ll keep you posted.