http://txchnologist.com/post/80093030840/fiber-optic-solar-toilet-turns-sewage-to-plant-friend
At the temperature the system achieves, liquid and solid waste is first sanitized of pathogenic bacteria and viruses and then converted into a type of charcoal called biochar. When added to soil, this material helps the ground retain significant amounts of water and increases yields of certain crops. Biochar, a high-carbon product of heated biomass, can also be used to essentially capture carbon that would otherwise contribute to greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
The CU Boulder team tested the prototype they are calling the Sol-Char Toilet in December and found that it could quickly boil water and torch solid waste. They say that each of the eight fiber-optic cables can deliver up to 90 watts of power to the reaction chamber. Their prototype can be used by as many as six people a day, and they are now working on a unit that can handle more users.
Global engineering effort for sanitation
The team’s innovative toilet is part of a larger effort being sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, which seeks to address the 2.5 billion people in the world who do not have access to sanitation. The program’s goal is to develop a next-generation commode that doesn’t need piped water, access to sewers or electricity. The winning devices will provide safe and sustainable sanitation at an affordable price while also producing a useful product from human waste, whether that is useable water, energy or materials that are produced from it.
The Gates Foundation has awarded CU Boulder more than $1.75 million to conceive and build their solar toilet.
A solar-powered,
fiber-optic-equipped toilet that requires no water and sanitizes sewage with
high heat.
Developed
by engineers at University of Colorado Boulder, the system uses eight parabolic
mirrors that focus sunlight onto an area the size of a postage stamp. This
energy is then piped through fiber-optic cables to a reaction chamber that
heats waste to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
From waste to useful
productAt the temperature the system achieves, liquid and solid waste is first sanitized of pathogenic bacteria and viruses and then converted into a type of charcoal called biochar. When added to soil, this material helps the ground retain significant amounts of water and increases yields of certain crops. Biochar, a high-carbon product of heated biomass, can also be used to essentially capture carbon that would otherwise contribute to greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
The CU Boulder team tested the prototype they are calling the Sol-Char Toilet in December and found that it could quickly boil water and torch solid waste. They say that each of the eight fiber-optic cables can deliver up to 90 watts of power to the reaction chamber. Their prototype can be used by as many as six people a day, and they are now working on a unit that can handle more users.
Global engineering effort for sanitation
The team’s innovative toilet is part of a larger effort being sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, which seeks to address the 2.5 billion people in the world who do not have access to sanitation. The program’s goal is to develop a next-generation commode that doesn’t need piped water, access to sewers or electricity. The winning devices will provide safe and sustainable sanitation at an affordable price while also producing a useful product from human waste, whether that is useable water, energy or materials that are produced from it.
The Gates Foundation has awarded CU Boulder more than $1.75 million to conceive and build their solar toilet.
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