Aerogel: The Filter Design
Week #22: First Prototypes Of The Water Purifier
Preface! ✨
Hello everyone!
My intentions for writing these articles are:
- Explain technical information about aerogels in simple terms (to the public)
- Store information and habits for my future self and others (in <7 minutes)
Coolio? Sweet. Enjoy the series :-)
TL;DR | Water Purifier Design 🚰
This article will be 3 minutes long because developments on the design are in a constant feedback loop from target customers.
Consider all the articles that I wrote about contaminated villages with heavy metal ions in their water.
These individuals had specific criteria about the tools that the water filter should possess for them to purchase it.
The top three are:
- Affordability | ≤ 5 USD Bimonthly
- Reusability | Last 20–30 Days & Recycled For Other Applications
- Eco-Friendliness | Biodegradability Was The Main Feature
- Light-Weight | The filter must weigh less than .75 kg (~1.65 lbs) [MINOR]
The photo below is the CAD Prototype (Computer-Aided Design).
This design was meant to fulfill the prerequisites of the target customers.
The alginate aerogel beads are located inside the filter.
The real-life prototype (idea) is this photo:
P.S. I blurred out the writing attached to the filter because it had some contact information from mentors.
From my research, the closest product to the desired output of the filter’s modeling comes from a non-profit called “Club H2O” from USC, back in 2016.
The benefits of this filter are:
- Attachable hose for consuming water from the river (with purification)
- Weighs under the .75 kg limit
- The filter can be reused over 21 days thanks to its durability
- The size of the filter reduces costs for the manufacturers & the target customer
Closing Thoughts 💭
Without others, YOU cannot succeed.
- Ryan Mendelsohn
This article was a difficult one to publish because I had uncertainty that the publication would be useless. Why? Because it is NOT the final product. But unless I was willing to break the chains on my mind and release the article, nothing would have been achieved.
There is a level of freedom I am feeling after writing this. But there also comes the responsibility of reiterating the product after feedback on the process of the prototype before heading into the laboratory full-time.
No Action Comes Without A Consequence. ✔️
© 2023 by Carlos Manuel Jarquín Sánchez. All Rights Reserved.
