Turning Desert Fog into Fresh Water Using 50,000 volts

Quick Overview

The creator successfully built a highly efficient, 50,000-volt electrostatic fog condenser prototype that yielded 9 ml/minute of water in low wind conditions and achieved an impressive 21 ml/Wh efficiency, significantly outperforming existing fog harvesting nets which typically extract only 2% of available water.

Key Points: The electrostatic fog condenser achieved a water collection rate of 9 ml per minute in low wind conditions. The device demonstrated a high energy efficiency of 21 ml/Wh, which is 50% more efficient than existing fog nets that typically extract only 2-10% of available water. The high-voltage DC power for the condenser is supplied by a custom-built driver circuit, which steps up 12V battery power to 50kV AC. The design features two independently angled collection wings (Layout 2) to accommodate different wind directions, increasing effectiveness in variable weather. The creator built the custom components, including the high-voltage transformer driver board, using a Formlabs resin printer and perforated circuit board prototyping. The experiment was conducted in a simulated desert environment created in a garage using sand and drought-adapted succulent plants.

Context: This video documents the development and testing of a custom, high-voltage electrostatic fog condenser designed to extract potable water from fog, addressing water scarcity in arid regions like the Atacama Desert. The creator details the iterative design process, starting from a simpler model and ultimately building a dual-wing structure powered by a custom high-voltage driver circuit capable of producing 50,000 volts.

Detailed Analysis

The creator documents the two-week process of designing, building, and testing an electrostatic fog condenser intended to be more efficient than existing fog-harvesting nets. The initial design used a single-wing setup, but the final design (Layout 2) features dual, independently angled wings to ensure fog exposure even with variable wind patterns. The device is powered by a custom driver circuit that steps up 12V battery power to 50kV AC using a custom-wound transformer and a ZVS driver circuit, which generates the electrostatic field necessary to collect water droplets from the fog. The entire structure, including the central stake and support arms, was 3D-printed in blue plastic. The testing setup included a simulated desert environment on the garage floor, complete with sand and succulents. The initial test with the single-wing design produced 9 ml/minute of water at 40 watts, yielding 14 ml/Wh efficiency. After redesigning the structure to the dual-wing configuration, the efficiency jumped to 21 ml/Wh, a significant improvement over traditional nets that extract only about 2% of the available water. The final test showed the dual-wing setup successfully condensing fog into multiple streams of pure water, proving the concept works effectively even with simulated, unpredictable airflow.