Recipient Organization
ADVANCED COOLING TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
1046 NEW HOLLAND AVE
LANCASTER,PA 17601
Performing Department
Research & Development
Non Technical Summary
The agricultural sector is the largest freshwater consumer in the US and is significantly affected by freshwater supplies.However, there are areas that are significantly limited by access to freshwater, especially in the western part of the country. The search for new freshwater resources has led to the investigation of seawater desalination processes and the desalination of inland brackish groundwater to irrigate crops.Given the lack of freshwater resources and competition from other sectors such as thermoelectric power generation, the need for irrigation is frequently fulfilled by additional marginal quality water such as brackish groundwater, wastewater, drainage water, and even seawater in some areas. Depending on the salinity tolerance of specific crops, different amounts of the marginal quality water can be blended with freshwater for irrigation.The increased salinity caninduce farmland degradation. To address the water crisis, freshwater needs to be produced from brackish water or seawater and supplied as the major water source for farmland irrigation. Unfortunately, the cost of desalinated water by current technologies is far from affordable for agriculturalapplications.This project proposes to develop a low-cost irrigation system to desalinate brackish water using a solar-thermal process to provide affordable freshwater to depleted agricultural regions for high-value crop yield. Prototypes will be fabricated and installed at different sites in California with specific high-value crops to measure crop growth, yield, water usage, and energy savings. ACT will engage with the proposed stakeholders in the irrigation market to dessiminate results and develop the technology to an acceptable technology readiness level for adoption. The project aims to achieve a functional brackish water desalination product that is capable of saving energy and capital costs compared to conventional irrigation systems. With this development, society would benefit with a new technology that enables the use of previously unusable brackish water toirrigate farmland in freshwater-starved regions.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to developan irrigation system to desalinate brackish water for high value crop yield. This concept uses a humidification and condensation process to provide affordable freshwater to depleted agricultural regions. The successful implementation of this device will allow agricultural regions, especially in the western portion of the country, to use available brackish water for irrigation at a low-cost, while avoiding degradation of farmland by high-salinity runoff.The production of freshwater from brackish water and supply as a water source for farmland irrigation is an obvious solution for the lack of freshwater availability and can increase irrigated farmlands that use unconventional water resources with higher salinity.The objectives are as follows:1) Perform field testing of the Thermal Enhanced Condensation Irrigation (TECI) system using heat recuperation at multiple, separate locations in California2) Demonstrate crop growth and yield, water production rates, and reduced solar area required that outperforms conventional condensation irrigation systems3) Design and test a combined solar collector and humidifier system4) Engage with proposed stakeholders to form a mutual business arrangement for the proposed technology, based on the positive experimental results and technoeconomic studies.
Project Methods
Task 1. Define Design RequirementsThe objective of this task is to outline the design requirements of the proposed condensation irrigation system. A kickoff meeting will be conducted within the first month of the start of the program. The meeting will be held between ACT personnel, Dr. Daniele Zaccaria of UC Davis, Dr. Khaled M. Bali of UCANR, and the NIFA national program leader to review the proposed work plan and the objectives of this Phase II program. Separately, the team will establish baseline performance targets that this irrigation system should meet. Targets will include overall system cost (capital & energy), system thermal performance, maintenance expectation, and capabilities for integration to specified crops.UCANR will support ACT's efforts by providing guidance on identifying potential crops and integration strategies that can most effectively utilize the new irrigation technology. UCANR will implement ACT's new technology and test it on three University of California research locations (UC Westside Research and Extension Center, Five Points, CA; UC Desert Research and Extension Center, Holtville, CA; and UC Davis Russel Ranch, Davis, CA). The treated saline water will be used to irrigate sunflower and alfalfa (DREC), tomato (WSREC), and corn (UC Davis) at the above locations. UCANR will assist ACT in developing a concrete plan for field testing of the technology and perform the field testing in one of UCANR's agricultural testing stations as part of Phase II of the SBIR program.Task 2. 1st Field Prototype Development for DRECThis task will be used to design, fabricate, install, and test the 1st field prototype for the DREC.The prototype design and fabrication work will be completed at ACT. The most significant improvement of the TECI system is the partial heat recovery by the concentric pipe design. In this design, a brackish water pipe is embedded in the condensation pipe, in which the hot humid air is condensed for freshwater production. In the TECI system, water vapor in the hot humid air condenses on both the inner wall of the condensation pipe and the outer wall of the brackish water pipe. The heat released to the condensation pipe increases the temperature of the pipe and nearby soil, which keeps the soil temperature above 32°C to prevent root growth into the pipe. On the other hand, the heat released to the brackish water pipe pre-heats the cold brackish water before it is further heated in the solar collector, so that less solar energy is required to elevate the temperature of brackish water for airflow humidification. As a result, the solar energy can be more efficiently used in the proposed TECI system, and the cost of the system can be reduced.Other parameters may also affect the heat recovery rate and freshwater distribution. The flow rates of hot humid air and cold brackish water need to be properly set so that the temperature of the soil around the condensation pipe is maintained above design temperature. A portion of water vapor is condensed on the inner wall of the condensation pipe or permeated into soil through the perforated condensation pipe, which reduces the overall air flow rate along the pipe and change the water productivity and temperature distribution. Changes of the wall material, thermal conductivity, surface properties, and thickness also change the surface condensation rate.Experimental Design:Randomized block design with two treatments (standard irrigation water and treated drainage water) replicated three times.Data to Collect: Applied water based on actual crop water evapotranspiration demand to each irrigation treatment, measured with flow meters.The amount and frequency of irrigation events.The amount and frequency of fertilizer applied (according to standard practices in California) is measured.Soil samples for salinity and chemical and physical properties, one from each plot in the root zone, before planting and after harvest is determined.Rate of fertilizer applications will be based on standard practices.Crop yield.Solar energy makes low-cost desalination possible. In arid regions with high solar potential and large under-utilized land areas, solar energy could be used to desalinate water for agriculture and domestic use at a very low operating cost. There are several types of solar collectors that can potentially be used in agriculture for thermal desalination of brackish water: the flat-plate collector, the evacuated tube collector, the batch system, etc. Flat plate collectors are designed to heat water to medium temperatures around 60°C. This design is featured with high conductive metal tubes across the absorber through which fluid flows and gets heated.For the crop production, we can use the experimental and theoretical water production rate of 468 kg/day from the Phase I results. It is well established that the seasonal evapotranspiration rates for tomato, sunflower, and corn are between 20-26 acre-in/acre. Our freshwater production amounts to 1.5 in/week of freshwater required and using a drip efficiency of 90%, we can irrigate our crops using two sets of concentric tubes on a plot of land 8 ft. by 6 ft. with three replications for each crop with two planted rows. This freshwater demand is met by our technology. Further optimization of the design parameters (air flowrate, brackish water flowrate) will allow for larger plots of land to utilize the produced freshwater most efficiently.Task 3. 2nd Field Prototype Development for UCD, WSRECUsing the design principles established during the 1st prototype development in Task 2, the project team will assess the viability of the condensation irrigation system using the metrics established for crop growth and yield, energy use, ease of manufacturing, and installation practices. Two simultaneous revised prototypes will be developed for UCD and WSREC to complete crop testing at their locations. The improved prototype design will be evaluated on plots of corn and tomatoes at the UCD and WSREC locations, respectively, as shown in Figure 14. The experimental design and data collection at these two sites will be identical to the DREC site.Task. 4. CommercializationACT will complete 3 main subtasks to commercialize the proposed technology. First, ACT will protect its intellectual property through a patent search and potential patent application. Second, ACT will evaluate the technoeconomic benefits of the technology. This will involve collaboration with our partners and the state-of-the-art irrigation practices to evaluate the crop growth and production capabilities and energy/capital cost reduction potential. Finally, ACT will engage stakeholders to commercialize the technology and demonstrate the value of the testing results.Task 5. ReportingACT will submit a total of four reports during the Phase II effort. A status report will be issued at the end of the second, fourth, and sixth quarter of the project. These reports will detail the progress of the project, and will keep the NIFA national program leader informed of any developments and challenges experienced in the development process. A final summary report will be issued at the end of the eight quarter of the Phase II work.