Big pseudo wetland based solar-osmosis tandem power station with multiple benefits

Old title:

Co-generation of power and distilled water on big land by solar-osmosis closed-loop system

Abstract

This paper presents up-conversion methods on whatever available big land, e.g. backyard or vacant land or farmland for booming green economy with new invention of solar-osmosis tandem technology so as to maximize multi goals: co-harvest of summer solar distilled or winter frozen potable water + pressure retarded fluid power, as well as pool buffered energy storage, cold energy utilization in frigid zones, plus local climate tuneup by evaporation pool mimicking wetland. By estimation, 1 km^2 land annual yield: 88 GWH energy + 1 million tons H2O in average zones.

Also interlaced with some relevant political views.

Approximate read time: 25 minutes

Version #1.0 DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14682.39364

Version #2.0 DOI: to be determined soon

1. Technical solution

It is a perfect idea to co-generate power & fresh water with my patents: Pressure Retarded forward Osmosis (PRO) hydraulic energy storage & recovery solar powerplant + automatic gearless hydrostatic Continuously Variable Transmission(CVT) + solar distillation farm.

Power generation by PRO will convert lots of quasi saturated saltwater to exhaust diluted saltwater, and a reverse conversion is needed for sustainable power output.

There is a free method to do the reverse conversion: by solar evaporation then condensation to re-concentrate subsaturated saltwater.

Usually, therein solar evaporation pond is open air for low capital investment, and let "atmosphere heat engine" condensate vapor to rain in God's convenient time. Usually the precipitation average interval is about 9 days, and raindrop is polluted undrinkable water.

But if wish instant artificial "rain" for pure water production, then a closed-loop solar distillation configuration should be used. It may increase some cost, but profit is remarkably greater & specially fit for scarce water resource districts, where there probably are factories of drinkable water. 

Even such a co-generation station can replace a big desalination plant if abundant land available!

In fact, solar distillation is free or almost free if considering casual maintenance, despite it needs big land sprawl. In contrast, per same average annual harvest, the prevailing reverse osmosis needs far less land for factory, but production cost may be > $1/ton.

By improvement of wick manifold, evaporation rate can be significantly increased, so as to make pure water production density & rate equivalent to, even greater than average one of the God's global precipitation -- 1000 mm/year or 2.74 mm/day.

Thank Dr. Eric Torbet's pioneering work (ref #1), his solar distillation panel does apply wick technology for evaporation acceleration. Daily production rate in California is about 4 quarts per square meter.

Even recent best wick-sped product (ref #2) can have 0.86 L/m^2/sun-hour, then for summer daily 10 hour sunshine, max rate 8.6 L/m^2/day.

As to the power areal density performance, it is determined by the evaporation capacity, and as per result of many experiments, the least harvestable solar power density by yearly average, is circa 3 w/m^2 in high latitude zones to 12 w/m^2 in tropic zones. If evaporation is accelerated by advanced wick technology, more higher capacity will be rendered.

So 1 km^2 solar-distillation-panels-cogen-farm can give city about 88 GWh/year + potable water for 1 million population. Thank capillary effect of wick material, for pure water production density & rate at least: 1 ton/m^2/year.

Frigid zone works too, e.g. Canada

If only in purpose of solar distillation, no need of saltwater, but the water from drilled-well is good enough as source input, even grey water can be used, and production rate will be increased by about 10%, because the evaporation rate of saturated saltwater is 10% less than natural water, according to Raoult's law.

Assuming still water sale at $0.25/gallon, i.e. $66/ton, the sales income will be at least 4047*66 = $267100/acre, though main cost is HDPE or other recyclable bottles + labor.

In contrast, a soybean farmer can only get sales valve as miserable as about $650/acre.

Therefore, even not include power generation, the pure water sales per acre is 411 times more lucrative than crop produce!

Now that I have this "power + freshwater" co-generation technology of Forward Osmosis + wick-sped evaporation with solar energy harvest & energy storage, why still waste money to build Reverse Osmosis desalination plant for drinkable water with energy consumption?!

Further profoundly, with my improved PRO invention, the saturated salt water can cheaply store energy as well as harvest solar energy in large scale, even cheaper than the geologic- & location-picky Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity (PSH), so why to promote PSH?!

It is the CVT between osmotic engine & generator that enables capacity of energy storage, because adaptivity to large pressure fluctuation caused by wide salinity differential, can endure short term low or zero evaporation in cloudy weather or night.

If needless of solar help, Reverse Osmosis recharger is needed, but have to buy external power, then this application case can be modeled as exclusive energy storage & recovery to take time-of-use advantage by dodging hydro peak price and hugging valley price. For such dedicated application, big land is not necessary, but a big tank or cavern is OK.

Anyway, even the PRO power generation is not given a chance to try at all, or leave it as a place holder for future update, this closed-loop system can be still profitable, because of the cost-free (except packing material cost) drinkable water.

2. How about maturity of technology?

Some guys may doubt the maturity of PRO technology, though I have enough confidence on my breakthrough invention, because they witnessed the lowest economical competitivity of a pioneer's first-of-its-kind pilot project in Norway by Statkraft, to all other harnessable renewable energy, though the pilot did successfully prove the technical feasibility.

I have learnt lesson of Statkraft "failure", and believe that it only proves sea + river mix NO commercial value. Too many membrane usage, too low energy density, even the Pelton turbine therein is so impossible!

But quasi SATURATED saltwater + freshwater PRO, which osmotic pressure is 20x higher than sea + river mix, can still render great commercial value, with lead-acid battery sub-equivalent (20%) decent energy density.

In physics, pressure directly reflects energy density, as manifested by the identicality of their dimensions PressurePascal = Newton/m^2 = Jule/m^3 = EnergyDensity, and low energy density may seriously affect economical efficiency.

In fact, without a pilot project, even only by a gedanken experiment with rigorous calculation, the same correct conclusion can be made: the sea + river mix is not viable!

If the pressure behind the piss equivalent flow rate is in level of commercial hydraulic, then the embodiment by a small hydraulic motor will defeat the low pressure monster pelton turbine in economy performance, as illustrated in following figure:

Currently membrane technology is the "neck-of-bottle" of performance sublimation, and needs to fix the key issue of low breakdown pressure; another issue is the concentration polarization, though this issue not too serious. 

Similar dilemma appeared in semiconductor industry long time ago, then-diodes suffered from low breakdown voltage, e.g. 1N4001 only 50 VDC, luckily soon later, 1N4007 debuted, with big leap to 1000 VDC.

I believe it will be same lucky to improve forward osmosis membrane up to 5000 psi breakdown pressure in near future.

Practically, current membranes can endure 80 bars or 1200 psi, that is beyond 3 times osmotic pressure of sea/river pair, despite still far less than 20 times of water vs saturated saltwater pair.

Supposedly, there exists a threshold pressure or salinity differential for economical viability, and if best utilization can be done, even current imperfect membranes can still make osmotic power competent amid all renewables, while running on a compromised salinity differential yet moderately larger than sea/river pair.

The next technical challenge is how to properly retard osmosis for best performance.

Retardation is an art, not only important to osmotic energy harvest, but also to all energy conversion, because no matter how powerful an energy source, as long as it stalls because of greedy over-retardation, or disengages without load, or is equivalent to disengagement because of too small retardation to break immovability, then there is zero output, and if ill-retarded, then systematic efficiency will be greatly discounted.

Although sea/river mix osmotic pressure 27 bars, by scrutinizing the pictured pelton turbine of Statkraft osmotic power, viewers can guess how low is the retardation pressure, probably unregulated big range 1 ~ 12 bar pressure, far from optimal retardation requirement.

That is why I have to invent another breakthrough cleantech: Gearless Automatic Digitostat Hydraulic Continuously Variable Regenerative Transmission. In fact, it is also the common gateway to secure commercializable utilization with decent efficiency, for all non-electrochemical energy sources.

Nobody does witness the commercial success of those hotly hyped "breakthroughs": Flywheel Energy Storage, Compressed Air Energy Storage, and so on many other similar likes, because the key CVT technology doesn't emerge until now, and carmakers focus only on their own vehicular demand, but no interest for other industrial call.

As to why Statkraft lost interest on PRO, all bystanders just simply believe their official statement, which mainly complains high capital & membrane fouling; but in my viewpoint, those reasons just beautiful excuse, though severe yet conquerable factors, the fatal bug is that: they don't have a proper transmission to adapt ever-changing salinity gradient & loads for adequate retardation!

Even directly use vehicular automatic transmission in cleantech application, it still not works well, because their gear shift is Never designed for so-called smart retardation.

Luckily, battery can conveniently use mature technology of high efficient switched-mode electrical power supply, which is equivalent to my retardation-oriented CVT, that is why battery energy storage can be viable and prevail.

My innovation has perfectly & artistically optimized the retardation of osmotic pressure with my proprietary CVT, tailing to the high efficient fluidic DC-AC oscillator of duplex osmosis, rather than the conventional one way pass aka Direct Current (DC) parallel dual channels flow-and-skimmingly-osmotize across membrane. And all these features together lead to a successible solution!

Based on their ill-retarded prototypes, nowadays high impact scientific papers misrepresentedly deduce the areal power density of membrane 5 to 10 w/m^2, which is far less than economically viable threshold ~30 w/m^2, then bring out the pessimistic conclusion of uneconomicality.

As the differential between theoretical osmotic pressure & retarded pressure determines flow rate, and power equals flow rate multiplied by the retarded pressure, so with upshifted salinity gradient & optimal retardation, optionally Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be applied to do smartest retardation, then the said density will upsoar exponentially, so that shall lead to an affirmative conclusion of most competent economicality.

Therefore, the fading Norway pilot project should NEVER discourage & deter mankind further R&D of osmotic energy -- the promising Blue Power!

By the way, even "the art of the deal" boasted by president Trump, or "the parenting art" attributed by some great personages with current distinguished achievements to their parents past fulfillment of it, whatever one essentially is an art of retardation, just rendered in different domain.

3. How farmers are globally exploited by modern society?

Craving for this real 100% clean energy, land is aimed; dealing with land, farmers have to be dealt with; concerning about farmers, their status quo has to be understood.

Farmers are taken advantage for long time! Look at this table:

In fact, growth photosynthetic energy yearly average 45w/m^2 is priced < 0.04¢/kwh or 1% of hydro 5¢/kwh, even assuming labor + seed + fertilizer + diesel + MachineDepreciation = $0.

∵ 365*24*0.045*0.0004*4047 = $638/acre = normal crop sales

Of course, the zero cost assumption is not correct. Usually cost will take ~90% of crop sales, so the real growth solar energy may be sold at tiny as 0.004¢/kwh.

∴ comparing with hydrogrid energy price 5¢/kwh, everyone will see this almost zero 0.004¢/kwh i.e. 0.08% of hydro price, rendering how extreme unfair to our lovely farmers!

By the way, if you ate today, please thank a farmer, because the food is almost free, though you paid per the market price, which is not even cover 1% of input photosynthesis energy.

Someone may argue the solar energy for photosynthesis is God's free gift. However, the private farmland is never free, but high price capital, which is more expensive than PV (PhotoVoltaic) panels, on which the same free gift sunshine converted energy is priced as high as ~20¢/kwh with government subsidy.

Further, not all eaters created grateful, even food almost free.

Farmers work hard to supply cheap beef, but ungrateful gluttonous guys may berate your cows big emitter of flatulent bio-methane, one of the culprit of global warming like carbon dioxide, so they are considering to impose carbon tax on meats. A few of bad guys even intentionally stigmatize the crude food producers as redneck.

Do you know a cash crop farmer how hardly to make same money with a sunshine-listed government officer, i.e. > $100,000 annual salary?

Generally speaking, per net profit $50 to $100/acre, shall the Lord have mercy with good weather, he or she has to farm at least 2000 to 1000 acres with use of expensive fleet of heavy duty machines (tractors, harvest combines, pesticide sprayers, etc. mostly have hydraulic power) in total weight 100+ tons; even a dairy farmer has to pay government about $36900 per 1 kg milk protein quota in our Canada, Yes, that is the answer!

Elite groups, policy makers, tax-sucking bureaucracies and highfalutin governments have been greedly exploiting farmers too much, and they also try to hide the scientific facts, so as to appease farmer's discontent.

It is a shame!

With miserable sweat-soaked marginal profit, many farmers are too vulnerable and risking of bankrupt if hit by heavy retaliation of trade war.

This situation does not comply with the Sustainable Development Goal #8: decent work & economic growth of United Nations 2030 Agenda, and must be changed, for no more hillbilly elegy, for no more victims of trade war!

It is the high time for farmers to uprise by land industrialization.

4. Obligation for US farmers to feed world as more as possible?

It seems that US farmers produce too much food far more than total domestic demands, so most produces have to be sold oversea to feed other countries.

In fact, US 3-million farmers have been feeding global 2-billion population!

But no obligation to do so, why not reduce farming, and industrialize surplus farmland to reconstruct then optimize domestic economic spectrum?

China provides a good example on such transformation.

Since accepted by WTO, China has mobilized surplus farmers 286M, i.e. ~1/3 of total agri-labors to factories, & many farmland is converted to high value industrial or residential use, so its domestic food supply is short of 1.3B population need, & has to depend on import.

The more export of farming produces, the more high value non-ag workforce in other countries, then the higher competitive stress of US global leadership, because rivals can transfer more resources from miserable agriculture to lucrative industry, and pay little to import dirty cheap food, even as trade war retaliation tool.

Once upon a time, this MIT-graduated talent Thomas Massie would dream of being a great farmer with decent income to support a large size family.

But perhaps felt impossible to realize his dream after long time fumble, now he becomes a prominent republican congressman with real decent salary, and doing a good job for MAGA.

This powerful genius president #Trump seems to love farmers very much, but if without a smart adviser, he may not really know how to create an epoch with great farmers.

5. Land size dependence for some commonest demanders

The Sun gently cooks our common Earth, and all creatures or man-made machines prosper with necessary solar energy consumption by direct or indirect means.

To sustain existence, there must be basic quote of land size that is supposed to receive sunshine to do whatever conversion for feeding:

one man -- 400 (unit m^2, same for all other likes if unspecified)

one woman -- 300

one cattle -- 4000 ≈ 1 acre

one car -- 450

Based on assumption:

internal combustion engine efficiency 25% (burning ethanol from crops)

commuter's car usage 50km/day

body heat dissipation - cattle 1000w, man 100w, woman 75w.

All above reference data are backed by substantial scientific study, readers can google it.

6. Industrialize farmland & reformulate economic spectrum

As productivity of US agriculture is far more than domestic demands, even keep 1/6 farmers can still feed USA & let 5/6 become non-farm workforce, & surplus land can be for solar energy &/| drinkable water production or other purpose.

Now farmers will eventually have a rude awakening, they should partially convert their dirty-cheap use of precious farmland to high value use of energy production, or the equivalent one, so as to play fair with other walks of life.

Planting ethanol crop or algae for biofuel may be a choice, but not as good as my proposal: land for power + potable water co-generation.

PV should not be a choice, because high capital is hardly affordable for any farmer.

If energy from farmland is fairly priced 5¢/kwh, farmers don't have to use my solar-osmotic energy + water co-gen patent for farmland value upconversion, and can use whatever zerotech or cheapest/free method to make same sales value with grains, by scraping tiny 0.36w/m^2 from solar standard 1360 w/m^2.

∵ 365*24*0.00036*0.05*4047 = $638/acre = normal crop sales.

Therefore the net profit will be some times higher than crop's, as the cost is quite low.

With lowered expectation, even picking up as tiny as yearly average 0.18 w/m^2 from sunshine , then $330/acre, still may be better than farming.

Above estimation even does not include the cash-printer-like production of drinkable water, otherwise the acceptable minimal harvestable yearly average power density may further lower to 0.05 w/m^2.

The Sun offers power density 1360 w/m^2 for free, how is a humblest guy not able to get yearly average 0.05 w/m^2 for making a living?! I believe everyone can if sticks to do it.

Of course, my advanced CleanTech can guarantee harvestable solar power density yearly average 3 w/m^2 at least even in extreme frigid zone, or 9 w/m^2 in most regular zones. 

Good choice: let land be lucrative co-generator of solar energy + distilled water with luxury expectation of gross profit $17K/acre/year, even without consideration of water value, by my disruptive invention:

Pressure Retarded forward Osmosis energy storage & recovery hydraulic engine with SOLAR wick-sped evaporation saltwater panels farm.

1 km^2 cogen-land = (Solar Energy 88 GWh + distilled water 1 MM tons)/year.

The harvestable power density of my invention depends less on membrane, as hydraulic output high pressure ~4000 psi, then low flow rate; but highly depends on evaporation rate of subsaturated saltwater, as forward osmosis dilutes & solar energy periodically concentrates exhaust solution.

Also, tiny harvestable solar power density doesn't mean tiny output, the backend hydraulic engine can output as high as huge MW power if the osmosis flow rate high enough, but backlog storage will be quickly drained.

Cheap wick-accelerated distillation will improve this system upto even more than photovoltaic level, i.e. >20 w/m^2 yearly average, as wick manifold is simply to multiply evaporation area, which is linearly proportional to evaporation rate!

By reducing farmland & ag-labors, then industrializing land for solar-osmosis energy+distilled water, gradually, food price will significantly hike, so as to increase landowner's income & protect vulnerable farmers, as well as to lower clean energy price, then cleanly power whole country, because power from farmland is so cheap & easy to defeat traditional hydropower 5¢/kwh.

Following figure illustrates cellular scheme of solar-osmotic co-generator of power + drinkable water with inborn energy storage to buffer short time weather change:

Imagining scaleup of above solar-osmotic panels to cover most farmland, then renewable energy will be tremendously abundant & convenient of accessibility everywhere, and its wake effect will attract US-originated but global-oriented manufacturers to relocate factories home, then foreign investors will troop in, next then boom economic ecology, eventually make America great again!

7. Co-harvest cold energy & ice in frigid countries

With tandem cooperation of landscape solution concentrator and Pressure Retarded forward Osmosis (PRO) power generator sucking flowable water from well or reservoir, not only hot is harvestable energy, but also COLD, because at frontend of tandem, either hot or cold can re-concentrate the diluted exhaust of backend.

As water evaporation heat 2.4MJ/kg is 7x fusion heat 0.33MJ/kg, therefore cold energy efficiency of heat-to-work is 7x higher.

Winter wind speed is far higher than summer, it credits more higher areal power density, because chilling effect enhances the heat transfer coefficient, easy >> 10 w/m^2/K, so as to quicken icing rate.

In -30 °C deep winter days, ice thickness growth rate 10 cm/d is possible, & it means the fulltime continuous harvestable power density 52 w/m^2 pond, multiples of summer time!

The thicker the ice sheet, the lower the followup icing rate, as ruled by itself insulation.

So to keep high energy density, some labor should input to rake out ice sheet, them dump in crushed ice pit by a reasonable schedule;

As the labor is not difficult, automation machine can save labor cost to do same job.

Provided pit is large enough, no worry of ice in pit, it is drinkable quality, just leave it there, and wait for spring or summer season to melt it, or sell ice anytime.

In Canada, if good maintenance job or frequent ice harvestation, total ice accumulation can reach 1.5 meters per winter, even Rideau canal natural as-is skating rink 60 cm thick.

Even an operator is lazy or loves to use it for skating sport, free cold energy can still be harvested, though less amount, as long as the pond can hold all winter ice.

Imagination of the nameplate on your topsoil-embedding pond co-generator for cold weather: one meter thick ice is equivalent to 15 kwh/m^2 kinetic energy, as well as potable water in ice form. Sounds cool?

Currently electricity is very expensive in all remote municipalities where are 500 km away from nearby border of US-Canada, e.g. the town Ivujivik Quebec $1.32 CAD/kwh, is at least 10 times more of Montreal price.

As per estimation of originator Dr. Sidney Loeb, electricity from PRO will cost $0.15/kwh, manufacturing cost $16000/kw, also per somewhat higher real cost of Statkraft' pilot project, so a poorly built osmotic powerstation can still be lucrative in those expensive remote areas.

However, if all those remotes are equipped with my solar-osmosis tandem system, with the almost free remote land, the monolithic cold energy will drastically slash electricity price thereof, possibly deep lower than regular hydro-grids in metropolis.

The colder the weather, the higher the harvestable cold energy; but it may be not fit to year-round extreme cold zones, such as arctic or antarctic, because forever no chance to solarly melt ice for recycle.

As freezing point of saltwater is lower than freshwater, the real chart of harvestable cold energy versus temperature may need substantial downshift along temperature axis.

Of course, for this application scenario, saltwater panels are not recommended, and no production of solar distilled water in summer, except only backend PRO power output, or say, recovery of frontend evaporation energy; just let it be an open-air shallow pond open-loop system with wall-less transparent low roof for rain/snow shedding, and enjoy the cheaper capital investment than distillation panels closed-loop system.

By the way, another business of salt production, not only can use evaporation pond method, but also icing pond method. Although the icing method is more efficient, however the Great Nature never offer seaside frigid weather, thus the latter is rarely used. A few of inland salt lakes in cold zones use both methods in different seasons.

8. The world cheapest means for energy storage

Nobody is aware of the cheapest energy storage = saltwater for osmotic power: $5/kwh. How & why?

Given: seawater (3.5% concentration) + freshwater osmotic energy 0.7kwh/ton.

Needless storage function at seaside with estuary, as all kind of water are free & abundant thereof, so meaningless to say $0/kwh.

But in midland, freshwater is free, have to buy at $100/ton road de-ice raw salt as non-consumable material, then store onsite-made saltwater in compact tank if by RO recharge, or in evaporation pond if by solar recharge so as to simultaneously & indirectly harvest solar energy 32kwh/year/m^2.

1 ton water dissolve 35 kg salt to mimick seawater, cost $3.5, so 3.5/0.7 = $5/kwh.

To get higher energy density, add more salt up to saturated concentration 35%, so as to get up to 7kwh/ton, even then the capital input still 35/7 = $5/kwh

Above estimation is before consideration of power generation capital cost, which is $20,000/kw if membrane 1 w/m^2 or $4000/kw if 5 w/m^2, as per the first prototype of Statkraft in Norway.

Homemade saltwater easy double stronger than concentration of seawater, then double retarded pressure, half flow rate for same kw, half membrane usage, half capital $/kw.

To avoid concentration polarization, too strong saltwater may be not good, but still safe for 3x/4x seawater concentration, and current hi-end FO products already support it.

With my patent pending invention and the latest membranes product, power capital cost is easy < $1500/kw, many times cheaper than PV: 1 m^2 or 100W for $600, i.e. $6000/kw.

Don't confuse dimensions $/kwh and $/kw, the $/kw must amortize to $/kwh by service life.

If big storage kwh capacity equipped with tiny kw power, so still $5/kwh as amortization neglectable, though $/kw very high. For such configuration, duration = kwh/kw can be super long time.

As to plastic tank cost, it's relatively small for count; But big land evaporation pond cost matters depending on depth, anyway, it is still cheap, total capital may rise from $5/kwh to $10/kwh, because of very shallow pond, perhaps in same quantity level as puddles.

Of course, big kwh usually pairs big kw. With commeasurable kw capacity, the said $5/kwh may rise abruptly by big amortization, even up to double digits $/kwh, luckily still far lower than the sought-after $300/kwh battery system.

Despite Statkraft think their prototype no commercial competitivity, but for example if relocated to inland 1 acre homestead with drilled-well water supply & 1 ft depth puddle/pond for homemade "seawater" evaporation, then volume = 4047*0.33 = 1335 m^3, energy storage capacity = 1335*0.7 = 935 kwh, and duration = 935/4 = 234 hours ≈ 10 days, which means even no sunshine for almost half month, the storage still can serve user.

Wow, instant gem after minor modification for energy storage! Likely Guinness record duration time & low capital, though other aggressive modification can easily break the record, e.g. by larger land lot usage, 4x stronger saltwater, etc.

Above figure shows long time perspectives of different energy storage choices, and the pumped hydro seems cheapest $150/kwh at current time, in eyes of mainstream experts.

Unlike battery trending $300/kwh with limited life cycles (~1000), dirty cheap saltwater is eternally reliable.

For example, 1000 kwh big tank with 100W osmotic generator, duration = 10000 hours = 417 days = 1 year + 2 months. Even sealed 10 years later, it still works without leakage & capacity loss.

In contrast, big kwh battery pairing tiny kw load for long duration, such pattern is not feasible, because battery is prone to die if long time trickle discharge without recharge.

9. Net zero buildings

If there is reasonable minimal size of vacant land surrounding a building, then the building can realize net-zero even net-positive energy self-supply year-round, by implementing solar-osmosis tandem.

Considering both harvestable evaporation & condensation energy mingled with wind boost, aka hot & cold energy, designer can calculate how many square meters land is required.

Usually annual harvestable average power density can range from 3.6 to 10+ w/m^2 by solar-osmosis tandem depending on location, assuming the mediocre value 5 w/m^2, its annual energy density = 365*24*5 = 43800 wh/m^2/year = 44 kwh/m^2/year.

Generally speaking, a regular family home consumes 12000 kwh electric energy per year in developed countries, thus the required puddle or pond surface area has to be 12000/44 = 273 m^2 for net zero.

If the family has an electric car, then the minimal area could be up to 400 m^2.

Household air conditioners should thermally hook to this system by routing radiators to submersed heat exchanger, so as to utilize the waste heat for evaporation acceleration.

In winter, space heaters should use heat pump for moving heat of solar evaporation pond to indoors, as well as simultaneously boost cold energy harvest of solar-osmosis tandem.

Under the pressing situation of global climate action, California will be first state to mandate Net Zero new homes in year 2020, and it is believed that many other jurisdictions will fow soon or later. This policy will induce huge market demand.

As cheap energy storage is not ready in market, and conventional electrochemical method seems hopeless of breakthrough on economicality. Thus rooftop PV solution is just a makeshift inferior choice, and even equipped with affordable storage, net zero goal is still unreachable by PV alone.

The readily embedded energy storage in this system makes it the perfect choice for net zero.

Data centers can also go net zero by this invention.

The above photo shows a newly planned Google data center. Lots of land are available for solar-osmosis tandem utilization.

10. Comparison of profitability vs land usage by purposes

Following picture tells the result of comparison at all dimensions:

Is PV the king? Let math speak: though 100 w/m^2 can be seen at moment of summer noon, because Earth sphere area = 4*π*Radius^2 = 4 times of area of max cross section circle, thus 100/4 = 25 w/m^2 daily average in summer, even assuming whole year only summer or so seasons, ideal density of best PV may be 20 w/m^2 annual average

Typical real data of long runtime large scale PV installations indicate 7.6 w /m^2 annual average or (7.6/1000)*365*24 = 66 kwh/m^2/year in middle latitude belt. The density is per land usage, not PV panel surface area, and include necessary maintenance aisles in PV array.

For film PV, its performance is about one third of silicon crystal PV, so the annual average power density is < 2.5 W/m^2, or annual energy density < 22 kwh/m^2/year.

Capital cost of PV farm is usually $1M/acre if $3 per 1 peak watt, and unlimited land sprawl can reduce cost 50+% by economies of scale. For 1 m^2 land, investment $250, return 66 kwh/year, if sold $0.2/kwh, after 250/(66*0.2) = 19 years, then will see net profit.

In contrast, capital cost of solar-osmosis tandem is insensitive or irrelevant to land sprawl, only sensitive to power output capacity, which is determined by scale of compactly installed membranes. Further, PV itself no energy storage, but solar-osmosis does have.

As osmotic energy utilize both solar and wind energy, so the annual gain performance should be higher than PV, at least on a par.

In frigid zones, solar-osmosis may render higher energy density than PV in yearly average, because of potential extra phenomenal cold energy harvest in winter.

11. How to feed those motorized vehicles by solar-osmosis?

I'm R&D-ing car-fed-by-land too.

Above prototype is heavily dependent on home-base evaporation pool or solar distillation recharging backend. After exhausted, both water tank and saltwater tank of the vehicle must be refilled and replaced respectively.

In future improvement, the top surface of vehicle will be used for on-the-fly evaporation in summer or icing in winter, so as partially to or not to depend on home-base implement.

To feed a car with 50 km/day usage, the owner needs 450 square meter backyard, and the area size may reduce to 200 square meter in the future with technology evolvement.

12. Land zoning & policy maker's stance

In most countries, land use is usually regulated by zoning plan.

If wish use farmland for solar energy production, I suggest farmers to lobby policy makers or to fight for land zoning change with help of non-government organization!

Following photo: farmers setup sign "Back off government"

For national food security, policy makers could use below equation to calculate how many minimal total square meters farmland should be guaranteed for crops:

reserved farmland quote = population * 400 + cow/cattle heads * 4000 + hog heads * 600

13. Niche applications

a. Environment remedy on hydraulic fracking wastewater

Shale gas revolution is driving the widely application of hydraulic fracking method, but it is really not friend to environment, because lots of wastewater is generated.

If the tailings too muddy, as osmosis membrane is delicate, co-gen is not recommended, but the simplest solar distillation uni-generation is encouraged, so as to reclaim most water for nearby fracking project.

b. Greywater recycling

Residential waste water is most likely grey water that is relatively sub-clean, and my co-gen solution can be applied for household water saving plan, as well as producing drinkable water plus clean energy.

c. Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) cold energy recovery

In the LNG exporter side, substantial energy is consumed to liquify natural gas, so as to pack as much as possible in a special designed transocean ship with cryogenic (< -162°C) insulated tanks.

In the importer side, the chilly LNG should be gasified for end users. There is 900 kj/kg enthalpy change that can be recovered as cold energy.

My concentration-osmosis tandem energy recovery system can be used for such a quality cold energy harvest, by freezing saltwater pool to concentrate diluted exhaust solution of osmotic engine, as well as to heat LNG for gasification, furthermore the ice product can be sold locally or naturally melted for drinkwater.

Per 1 kg LNG, its gasification can freeze about 2.7 kg water, and in my system, 40 kwh kinetic energy or equivalent electricity can output from 1 ton LNG, or say 17 kwh from 1 cubic meter LNG.

Nowadays giant LNG ship can hold 266000 m^3, thus circa 4.5 GWH electricity may be recovered, as well as ~1.7 million cubic meter marketable ice or potable water after melt.

d. Other potential applications

More applications can be possible if deeply delve, such as converting desert to oasis by long time deployment, local climate tune-up by vast evaporation pool mimicking wetland, etc.

There is no restrict to location of deployment, so don't freeze your imagination!

Even the "sounds-good" seaside may be less favorable for open loop system if humidity too high, because quick evaporation of solar salty pond is very important, despite tremendous ocean saltwater, but herein only quasi-saturated or hypersalinity saltwater is used.

As long as cheap bulk non-food-grade salt accessible, or good transportation infrastructure for logistic facilitation of salt trade, everywhere is OK. Even local farmed cane sugar is possible to replace salt.

It is also good idea to dig canal for channelling seawater to inland, and for leading to subsequent large scale extending sprawl , seawater has to be firstly used for sea salt production in destination, so as to prepare enough hypersaline drawer solution, furthermore, seawater itself can replace freshwater as drawee.

Anyway, even pumping from sea is worthy, because of the lucrative triple harvests: water + energy + solar dried sea salt product.

14. Side benefit to cool our common Earth

Although making money may be everyone's motivation to take initiative on something, anyway not only this solar-osmosis tandem multi-goal harvester offer investors clean energy, but also it can cure our climate problem.

As per latest researches, Earth energy budget failed to reach zero balance, but with net 0.6 w/m^2, i.e. 312 TW unwanted heat left on spherical surface, and it drives global warming!

By using solar-osmosis open loop system, its pool functions as pseudo-wetland, and it can contribute higher Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) via atmosphere window of wave length 8 ~ 13 μm, so as to cool down Earth.

Unlike vapor condensation on surface of copper heat sinker, the precipitation, i.e. rain or snow, most likely emits infrared photons in all directions to release latent heat, with 50% more probability towards outer deep space. It is aka PeTa effect.

NASA scientists perfectly describe the Earth energy budget in following figure:

It shows: average evaporation power density 86.4 w/m^2 and clouds OLR 29.9 w/m^2 = LatentHeat * 35% that is leaving off Earth.

Because evaporation main source is water surface that takes 75% area of Earth, so for 1 m^2 water area, evaporation heat consumption should be 86.4/75% = 115 W/m^2, and OLR dissipation 40 w/m^2.

To offset 0.6 w/m^2 balance, we need new water area = 0.6*4*3.14*(6.4*10^6)^2/40 = 772*10^10 m^2 = 7.72 million km^2 = 5.9% * total area of all continents.

Coincidently, in recent centuries, global industrialization has just resulted in the shrinkage of lakes + rivers + wetland + forest by the same percentage or more.

Therefore if we could pay back the 5.9% continental area with this "fake wetland" by proliferating the solar-osmosis tandem clean energy application, then humankind will almost get rid of fossil fuel forever, as well as a no-worry climate.

By calculation based on conservative estimation 3.6 W/m^2 solar-to-osmotic power density, the potential electricity production is about 233600 Twh, which is 8 times of global real production in 2018.

Median performance of pseudo-wetland per m^2, i.e. one square meter : electricity 365*24*3.6 = 31536 wh/year = 32 kwh/year, therm of cooling Earth 365*24*40 = 350400 wh/year = 350 kwh/year.

Cheers! Climate crisis will be fixed, as well as renewable energy will be able to fully cover global demands, then fossil fuel will be simply redundant.

Thus even your guys don't like my solar-osmosis tandem invention, I am still happy to see your conversion of backyard to pool, even as shadow as 5 inches.

Remember & be proud: money is far less important, if comparing with the great cause of human beings common interests & sustainable future!

Hereby I solemnly call responders for climate action initiative:

Our Earth is hosting tremendous 7.53 billion population or earthizens, even grassroot movement may reverse the emergent global warming trend, simply by shovelling instant shallow pools then fill with water in our backyards and whatever dry lands.

In order to eliminate the deficit of water surface area afore-calculated 7.72 million km^2, so as to zero the NASA asserted surplus 0.6 w/m^2 heating our planet, averagely, every earthizen should shovel 1025 square meters pseud-wetland.

15. Want to earn your credit in this cleantech revolution?

The impetus of renewing attitude plus seeding capital will soon nudge the long time stagnation of blue power to a tipping point, then a great leap development will trigger next energy revolution, serially reform layout of many relevant industries, and result in worldwide prosperity of near-zero-carbon green economy.

Phenomenal opportunities are forthcoming, not it will wait for you to catch, but you serendipitously meet it with blessed luck. Just earn your credit today!

If you're membrane maker, please donate some forward osmosis cartridges for benchmark samples; core should withstand 3000+ psi. As a quid pro quo, I'll designate you as OEM since market is ready;

If you're hydraulic parts manufacturers, such as Eaton, Parker, etc., please help us by customizing our special hydraulic cylinders;

If you're rich acreage land owner or farmer, we could build pilot project on your property;

If you're visioned investor or angel, please earmark your quota in our incorporation equity;

If you're deep-pocket philanthropist, please donate to support our R&D;

If you're grassroot perfervid bystander or climate activist, just show you supportive attitude by sending any small money to our Papal donate@kiwaho.com. Every dollar counts;

If you're venture capital, it is not good to wait for my call or dangle after bellwether, even magnate bellwether may slip too, e.g. Bill Gates lost out in $80M Lightsail Energy startup;

If you're web celebrity/influencer, please leave an applause emoji on my post or article, even by such a simple action, you can do mankind a favor for better future;

If you're think tanker, please coordinate your advice listener, served groups & policymakers to quickly reorient green energy strategy & tactics on the solar-osmotic tandem revolution, else if like a sitting duck, your lord may be not affordable to miss this precious opportunity;

If you're university | national lab, let's collaborate; or if feel my researches exhibiting high quality scientific elements, you can nominate me to be conferred of honorary doctorate;

If you are a candidate of master or doctorate degree, and interested in this realm forefront, please ask your scholar advisor for setting co-op opportunity + letting me as co-tutor on your thesis of solar-osmosis tandem study, and I will retard your adverse inertia to forge you summa cum laude;

If you are good at engineering & have confidence on my invention & can introduce an investor to fund us, then don't hesitate, come on to be our board director even CEO & teamwork with me, we can realize the long-awaited commercialization of blue power as soon as possible, then gloriously proclaim "veni, vidi, vici";

If you ( are a rich guy | have a rich daddy ) & you graduated from university in STEM especially energy relevant engineering specialty & you are self-starter with ambition of entrepreneurship, welcome you on our board as a co-founder, and I can negotiably dilute my equity shares for your wanted percentage with reasonable offer based on IP appraisal;

If you are special interest commercial entity that wish integrate this promising renewable energy into your business portfolio by any combination of generation, engineering, product and service, it may be a good choice to acquire assigneeship of patents & merge my R&D team, so as to boot up the commercialization pace then boost its application scale by the best resource configuration;

If you are power generation company, though conservative business rule may suggest you watching & waiting for its final commercialization, however I still wish you aggressively engage me in a pilot project just now, so as to streamline & expedite its maturity by shortcut of peripheral grope & externalism, then take big advantage in future market share;

Last but not least, if a broker of intellectual properties, you can earn fortune by commission.

However, if you only love highest energy harvest for quick money, this may be not for you.

As no time to identify which offer is the best amid others, the “Hobson’s choice” will be most likely picked, so as to tactically steer us on fast track as vanguard of emerging blue energy epoch.

All contributors, will be credited, while we speak out success story someday of future.

As a special deal, if you are government administration, I may be open to your buyout offer or other customized offer at the highest priority, and I believe this breakthrough invention can make your country great again and powerful again in the world!

No restrict on credit-earner's geographical locations or identity of countries, unless those active US-sanctioned countries or entities, all in all, we need your support, thank you!

If feel enlightened, why not share a link in whatever cyberspace or like or say something about this insightful article? Please sir or madam! then receive million thanks from me, the once-upon-a-time redneck, even now a hobby redneck, as a bonus, I gladly present a download link of full patents specification:

* patent: Solar-Osmosis Tandem

choice #1 Original pdf manuscript, 1.5 lines spacing, easy read version

choice #2 USPTO standard publication, 2 columns page-layout, compact version

* patent: Automatic Gearless Digitostat Fluid Power Continuously Variable Regenerative Transmission, alias: Wei-Trump powertrain

choice #1 Original pdf manuscript, 1.5 lines spacing, easy read version

choice #2 USPTO standard publication, 2 columns page-layout, compact version

Currently my local government is calling Private-Public Partnership (PPP) proposal on breakthrough energy solution for grant up to 75% budget of R&D or 50% budget of pilot project, and I am seeking a co-founder to complement the rest percentage, so as to meet the challenge. If interested & worry about risk, you can even present me conditional offer on the PPP settlement. Application deadline September 11 2019.

The shorten government information link http://kiwaho.com/i9

My business plan download link http://kiwaho.com/a

Reference:

1. Dr. Torbet's handmade solar distillator http://kiwaho.com/cu
2. A commercial product by Rainmaker http://kiwaho.com/cv
3. Official statistics: 2017 Crop Budgets, 2016 Crop Returns and 2016 Incomes http://kiwaho.com/d6
4. News: WISCONSIN FARMER TELLS FOX NEWS SUICIDES, BANKRUPTCY RISING IN RURAL U.S. AMID CHINA TRADE WAR http://kiwaho.com/d-
5. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development http://kiwaho.com/ec
6. Sunshine list of Ontario province, Public sector salary disclosure, 151198 persons.
7. Thomas Massie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Massie
8. The hydrostat tranny embedded in subject co-gen system: Switching-mode fluid power supply + Continuously Variable Transmission + regenerative brake
9. Osmosis energy era is looming... http://kiwaho.com/1i
10. Powermag.com article: Statkraft Shelves Osmotic Power Project
11. Power-technology.com article: Statkraft Osmotic Power Plant, the First Osmotic Power Or Salinity Gradient Power Generation Plant
12. Article "The Myth about Cow Flatulence" of FarmersForum by Tom Collins
13. Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of a Hypersaline Pressure-Retarded Osmosis Power Plants: Dead Sea–Red Sea Conveyor, Energies 2018, 11(11), 3118
14. SALINITY GRADIENT ENERGY TECHNOLOGY BRIEF, in IRENA.org
15. Sidney Loeb, One hundred and thirty benign and renewable megawatts from Great Salt Lake? The possibilities of hydroelectric power by pressure-retarded osmosis, Desalination 141 (2001) 85-91.
16. Sidney Loeb, Large-scale power production by pressure-retarded osmosis, using river water and seawater passing through spiral modules, Desalination 143 (2002) 115-122.
17. GreentechMedia, LightSail Energy Storage and the Failure of the Founder Narrative
18. Wikipedia: Earth's energy budget
19. PeTa effect: M. E. Perel’man and V. A. Tatartchenko, “Phase Transitions of the First Kind as Radiation Processes,” Physics Letters A, Vol. 372, No. 14, 2008, pp. 2480-2483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2007.11.056
20. Alternatively, this article has a pdf version, downloadable from any of following links (all shortened by my domain server, just like bit.ly or t.co): Vixra http://kiwaho.com/fp ResearchGate http://kiwaho.com/fo

#Technology #Science #Energy #Power #EnergyStorage #Solar #SolarEnergy #SolarPower #NetZeroEnergy #NetPositiveEnergy #FluidPower #Transmission #CleanTech #Invention #Innovation #Automobile #EV #PV #PowerSupply #BreakThrough #Disruptive #Renewable #RenewableEnergy #HolyGrailOfEnergy #Osmosis #SolarOsmosis #Sustainable #Battery #OffGrid #OffTheGrid #EnergyWaterNexus #Emission #ZeroEmissionEnergy #FutureOfEnergy #CoGeneration #HybridPower #HybridEnergy #CarbonFreeEnergy #LEED #Farm #Farmers #Land #Farmland #Water #DrinkableWater #PotableWater #NaturalResource #Oil #Fuel #FossilFuel #Coal #Petroleum #Gas #Climate #Weather #Evaporation #Precipitation #Desalination #FreshWater #GreyWater #Ecology

#Hydraulic #Fracking #ShaleGas #WasteWater #Recycle #WaterTreatment #Agriculture #Irrigation #Soil #Environment #Pollution #Wetland #BioEnergy #GlobalWarming #CO2