Abstract
We proposed a small distiller using wind energy for maritime lifesaving. The distiller consists of a wind turbine and a number of cylindrical partitions in contact with saline-soaked wicks. The shaft energy from the wind turbine is transported as the frictional thermal energy of a liquid heat medium to the distilling section, where the energy is recycled to increase the production rate of the distillate. The performance of the distiller was analyzed theoretically, and we found that the distiller can produce 1.7kg a day with 6 m/s wind velocity, a 0.6m wind turbine rotor diameter, a 5mm diffusion gap and 4 distillation cells. The amount of fresh water is enough to meet the requirement of one person in one day. The maximun amount of distillation is 4kg with 6 m/s wind velocity, a 0.6m wind turbine rotor diameter, a 3mm diffusion gap and 11 distillation cells.
