Vertical wire array fog harvester for passive freshwater
This technology is a fog collection system that uses vertical wire arrays instead of the traditional mesh nets to pull water droplets out of fog and harvest usable liquid. The vertical wire design improves how efficiently water droplets collide with and drain from the collector surface. It works passively — no energy input required — making it potentially deployable in remote or off-grid environments where fog is a reliable atmospheric resource. The inventors claim performance advantages over standard mesh-based fog harvesters in one or more key metrics.
What you could build
A passive water collection unit — installed on hillsides, coastlines, or rooftops in fog-prone regions — sold to municipal water authorities, agricultural operations, or humanitarian NGOs operating in fog-belt geographies such as coastal Chile, Morocco, or Oman.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based defense contractors or international development organizations (e.g., USAID-adjacent firms in the DC/NoVA corridor) focused on water security in forward operating or humanitarian contexts.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- —
- Granted
- October 11, 2022
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 113308
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.