Comments by "Tony Wilson" (@tonywilson4713) on "Unlimited Fresh Water: Can MIT's Breakthrough Save Us?" video.

  1. AEROSPACE ENGNEER here: When I first saw the title of the video I was very sceptical considering some of the ridiculous claims made by other solar powered systems. Thunderf00t has debunked at least 1 of those. But this looks damn interesting and a genuine breakthrough. Because I work in industrial control systems and automation AND have worked in mining where they do a lot of water treatment I have worked on both RO and Multi-effect systems although the MES system I encountered was called a Mechanical Vapour Compression system. One thing people misunderstand with RO is that its NOT that cheap and its often compared to more expensive options. Its biggest advantage is that you can turn it off and on quite easily. With MES systems they are tricky to get started and you just can't turn them off and back on. One of the effects they use is to keep the system under vacuum because you can get the water to boil at around 70℃. I think the limit is about 67-68℃. One they are running and stable they use very little power because of the thermal exchanges going on. BUT those systems have 1 major drawback - they only operate over a very narrow range of flow rates. So you turn them on and cross your fingers they will start as expected. The best analogy I have is that MES systems are like a 2 stroke motorcycle. When they are on song in their happy place they are brilliant. When they are not happy and off song they are horrible. And if you're wondering why and aerospace engineer is interested in water treatment. Ask what would be one of the first items of critical infrastructure for a moon base.
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