Getting Close...

Yesterday we got even closer to starting up the pilot. Today, engineers and workers from SANAA (Servicio Autónomo Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados) tested the brackish water source well and UPi workers installed a pipeline that will connect the well to the pilot. We were able to turn on the power and the array produced about 7 kW at the peak. The PV system has charge controllers that act as a traffic director, in that it sends energy to the batteries, the load (demand), or dissipates excess energy as heat. We had very little load (demand) on the array, so the batteries were charged quickly.

We began to construct our salt recovery and enhanced evaporation system while the brackish water piping was being installed. We realized that a few parts were forgotten in the US, so a trip to the local hardware stores was required.

Our day concluded with a lovely dinner with our UPi partners at a local seafood restaurant called Tony's Mar. It was nice to not cook and do dishes for an evening. Ing. Luis Eveline and Chancellor Jance Carolina Funes are kind and warm people and I am glad to know and work with them.

Installation of the pipeline.

The brackish well is towards the right in this picture. The pipeline was hung between poles and over the small street. This allows us to not have to dig up the street and impeded (already crowded) traffic in Tegucigalpa. I made a short video showing the pipeline as well. My apologies if you get dizzy watching it!

Measuring distances.

I always love it when I can capture ingenuity. We needed to measure the distance from our two brine lines to the location where we will extract salts and evaporate the remaining water. However, we only had one ladder at the time. So, we used a piece of PVC pipe and a marker. The pictures show Clara using a smaller piece of more rigid PVC pipe to hold the other one and also handing Ian a marker. 

 

Evaporation Area.

The final piece of our process involves the recovery of useful salts (gypsum and NaCl). We are using a tarp to minimize rainwater flowing into our containers because we have a limited amount of evaporators. Today, my husband (Ian) installed the tarp using his climbing and outdoor adventure experience for knot tying. In the top picture, the window on the left is where the waste streams will enter from the pilot system. The property that we are using used to have a nightclub in this spot (or, so I have heard). In case this tarp blows away (or leaks too much), we purchased a new tarp at the local stores.

Minimizing Leaks. Our container has been used for many things in its 20 year lifetime. So, sealing patches is regular maintenance. We had some very slight drips from some of the bolts and edges in this area. (Thanks for the picture, Victoria)

RAIN, and Progress on the desalination system

This will be a brief post. But, I will include some pictures because I like to include them.

The rain has hampered some of our progress, but we managed to unpack and reconnect most of the internal desalination piping inside the container today. We also secured the wiring connections for the PV system that were on the ground to protect them from rain water. UPi is building a platform and ramp so that we will be able to access the container more easily. And, finally, we were able to install what I hope will be a good temporary fix to the roof damage on the container.

Hello from the roof! (thanks to Victoria for the picture)
My husband, Ian, and I were on the roof to install a temporary patch on the roof between rain storms

Replacing PVC Piping. (thanks to Victoria & Clara for the pictures)
For shipment, we removed all piping from the front frame in case something tipped and fell onto the frame (good choice, in hindsight!). To replace, we remove old Teflon tape, add new tape, and reinstall. My feet were tired at the end so I sat down.

  

Finished Desalination Piping (more on the actual system in a future post).

I took this picture while on the roof of the container. Between rainstorms, our team took the time to get electrical connections off of the ground. (pooling water is not something we have experienced in the desert southwest in the USA)

The beginnings of our platform/ramp (we currently use ladders/step ladders to enter the container).

At the end of the day we enjoy talking and hanging out.