Solar Based High Voltage Water Purification System
Water is among the utmost necessity for living beings on the surface of the earth. Over the passage of time, the increase in population has become the major source of causing a shortage and poor quality of drinking water. Consequently, a lot of people are compelled to use polluted water all around t
2025-06-28 16:29:35 - Adil Khan
Solar Based High Voltage Water Purification System
Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject SummaryWater is among the utmost necessity for living beings on the surface of the earth. Over the passage of time, the increase in population has become the major source of causing a shortage and poor quality of drinking water. Consequently, a lot of people are compelled to use polluted water all around the world. The various causes that contaminate the water include the presence of elements/substances such as microbiological, inorganic, organic, etc. Thus, purification of water prior to its usage in daily activities is compulsory. In this project, contrary to the conventionally used techniques, a solar-based high voltage water purification system is proposed. The motivation/idea behind is to develop a system that accounts for the sustainable development goals through employing solar-based technology. The procedure is based on eliminating contaminates by applying high voltage. The setup includes a DC-DC converter for generating a high pulsed electric field that can be used effectively in the drinking water purification process by applying it across the water sample to be treated. The project is a hybrid technique that used high voltage and carbon filters. The high voltage technique will remove inorganic compounds as well as microbiological contaminants. In this project, we are targeting only two pathogens, E. coli, and Serratia marcescens. The carbon filter removes particulate matter as well as organic compounds. Our adopted methodology is more effective than the existing techniques as methods such as chlorination result in the production of carcinogenic compounds and alters the taste and smell of the water. Ultraviolet Light has little ability to penetrate matter and is not effective on two of the main pathogenic organisms found in water that can cause sickness in humans, Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum. Ozonation is a very high capital cost, extremely high operational costs, and difficult to get even treatment. Distillation requires a large amount of energy. The resultant water can have a flat taste and requires careful maintenance. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a very high maintenance technique. Water must be pre-treated to protect the filters from clogging. The reject stream from an RO system contains twice the amount of salt as seawater, which is often disposed of back to the ocean, with untold impacts on the ecosystem. Therefore, a sustainable solution is developed for water purification that disinfects and cleans chemically and biologically contaminated water through the utilization of a readily available energy source, the sun.
The objectives of this proposed project are:
- To provide pure and clean drinking water.
- To design a hybrid water treatment system that involves the use of high voltage and carbon filters.
- To design a DC-to-DC converter to boost the voltage level to the desired value.
- To design and manufacture electrodes with a specific shape for making the electric field uniform.
- To utilize solar energy to drive water treatment in order to develop a sustainable solution that causes no hazards to the environment. To provide a water supply that is biologically and chemically safe for human consumption.
- To provide drinkable water that fulfills the standards of the World Health Organization.
In this setup, a 4000V, Voltage source is applied across a flow of contaminated water. The water next passes through two filters, sedimentation and carbon filter which reduce the water's conductivity. The electrodes in the electrode chamber are designed of stainless steel because of their hardness and corrosion resistance. The dc to dc converter designed will boost the voltage value to the desired 4000 V. The device will be tested on two pathogens, E. coli and Serratia marcescens.
Benefits of the ProjectOur project indeed has many possible applications worldwide as the pollution and availability of purified water supplies becomes an increasingly important issue. The development of a sustainable water purification system that relies readily on the renewable resources is necessary and important as such a system can assist in improving the quality of human life. Solar energy poses no polluting effect and may be used a dependable energy source. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a water purification system that disinfects and cleans chemically and biologically contaminated water through the utilization of a readily available energy source, the sun. Application of sufficient high PEF guarantees to kill off harmful germs and bacteria in the drinking water. The main advantages of the proposed approach are modularity, scalability, redundancy, and employment of relatively low/medium voltage semiconductor devices to generate a high output voltage.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableThe contaminated water will flow in a sedimentation filter that will remove solid particulate matter, act as a barrier against particulates and grit that can foul the water filter system, and reduce the efficiency of high voltage electric fields as it can hinder the ability of the field to reach the waterborne illness-causing viruses. The rating of this sedimentation filter will be an absolute 5 microns which means that the filter will remove over 95% of anything, five microns in size. After passing through the sedimentation stage, water will pass through the carbon filter. It removes contaminants through adsorption. It blocks organic chemicals, VOCs, pesticides, heavy metals, and chlorine. The rating of this can vary from 50 to 0.5 micron depending upon desired results. The contaminated water will then enter the electrode chamber where the disinfection process takes place. The electrode chamber is supplied with high voltage by DC-to-DC Converter. Voltage around 4000V is applied to the electrodes to create a high electric field. Microorganisms in untreated water experience a high electric field as they pass between the electrodes designed which provide a uniform electric field. This high electric field causes cell membrane dielectric breakdown resulting in cell membrane rupture. Throughout this thesis, exposure time is defined as the length of time a suspended particle is directly between the electrodes during treatment i.e. in the region of high field strength. Control Electronics will be controlling the overall process. The whole device can be controlled using a switch button that can be used to disable the high voltage generation when necessary. It will also monitor the overall voltage. If it falls below a certain value, the device will switch off. One of the major functions it will be performing is to ensure that water is exposed to a high electric field for a certain time. This step is necessary for the complete disinfection of water from viruses like E.coli and Serratia marcescens. A display will also be mounted displaying information like low voltage, time for filtration, battery charging, etc. The treated water collected from the outlet will be tested for contaminants through a certified water testing laboratory. For the safety purpose of the consumer, proper insulation techniques will be followed. Safety of the consumer will be ensured through the design of containers with properly insulated walls and by using overcurrent protection devices.
Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry FoodOther Industries Others Core Technology OthersOther Technologies Internet of Things (IoT)Sustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate ActionRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 66500 | |||
| Solar Panel | Equipment | 1 | 22000 | 22000 |
| Battery | Equipment | 1 | 20000 | 20000 |
| DC-DC Converter Material ( Transformer , ICs , PCB Fabrication etc) | Equipment | 1 | 9000 | 9000 |
| Steel Enclosure | Equipment | 1 | 4500 | 4500 |
| Pipes, Water Outlet, Small Water Tank | Equipment | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Electronic Sensors - Microcontroller | Equipment | 2 | 2000 | 4000 |
| Printing | Miscellaneous | 1 | 500 | 500 |
| Logistics (Material Procurement) | Miscellaneous | 1 | 5000 | 5000 |