Vertical wire fog harvester for passive water collection
This technology is a fog harvesting device that uses a vertical array of non-touching wires to pull liquid water out of fog or humid air. Unlike traditional mesh-based fog collectors, the wire array avoids the clogging and interference problems that reduce efficiency in woven designs. Water droplets form on the wires and slide down by gravity into a collection reservoir below. The design is mechanically simple, potentially low-cost, and scalable to different sizes depending on water demand.
What you could build
A passive, infrastructure-free water collection panel for rural communities, agricultural operations, or remote installations in coastal or high-altitude fog zones; primary buyers would be humanitarian aid organizations, off-grid agricultural operators, and municipal water utilities in water-stressed regions.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based defense contractors or humanitarian logistics firms (e.g., those supplying forward operating bases or disaster relief) could use this for off-grid water supply; Virginia coastal and Appalachian fog zones also offer local pilot opportunities.
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
- Jonathan B. BOREYKO, Brook KENNEDY, Weiwei SHI, Joshua TULKOFF, Mark ANDERSON
- Granted
- October 11, 2022
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 11466437
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.