Designing
the new urban paradigm.
Solar Desalination is the answer to our urban, energy and water crisis to the 21st century
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Jake Johnson SCI-Arc 2016
Table
of
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
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Chapter 2 Diagrams and Context
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Chapter 3 Drawings
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Chapter 4 Technology & Advancements
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Chapter 5 Refrences
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Solar Desalination
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URBAN SOLAR DESLAINATION Thesis Statement
Our cities have been designed to turn its back to our utilities and energy generation for the past century instead of integrating it into the urban context. We spend vast amounts of energy and resources to make our infrastructure dependent on periphery support regarding water and electricity yet see little benefit in maintaining that distance. This increases the latency of the grid while increasing the complexity of our infrastructure. Solar Desalination is a new technology that uses both architecture and engineering techniques to design a facility that safely purifies drinking water and generates energy within an urban context. The premise is simple, the generation system is a large glazed structure that allows solar radiation inside to boil ocean water that converts it into steam. The steam is then used to run a turbine that generates electricity at variable strata during the day. This technology needs full exposure to the solar envelope in order to maximize efficiency. A city could increase the efficiency beyond 100% up to 200% by angling the rooftops to the facility. By planning and coordinating the solar exposure, the facility will generate more energy, produce more water and decrease the dependency of facilities on the periphery. Radiant City by Le Corbusier is a urban plan for Paris that was more powerful unbuilt than permanently engraved on the surface of the French Capitol city. Variations of his plans were constructed by supporting architects around the world yet none were successful over time. Radiant city was not a 4 dimensional plan and did not allow for the adaptation over time. This new Radiant City is a Rebirth is a truly radial city that addresses the complexity and elastic needs of a contemporary city beyond formal estate. The concentric plan of the radial bands are essential to the success of the solar facility and the economic viability of the localized grid. Designing for optimal efficacy is the primary goal of the city but it will reduce efficiencies when urban and local strategies are needed for civil considerations such as light penetration, organics [parks and farming] and spatial considerations. Solar desalination allows for a city to remain autonomous from periphery support by establishing a localized network. By eliminating distance of travel and latency within the grid, our cities are capable of being more efficient and healthier in all elements of urban life. This first case study is an examination of a future refugee camp on a grecian isle in between Athens and Istanbul. The result of this research is an operable plan to implement on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Through solar research and investigation, a comprehensive approach to solving a global crisis will be a permanent model rather than a temporary displacement solution.
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Thesis Overview
Site
Our cities have been designed to turn its back to economic viability of the localized grid. Designing for optimal efficacy is the primary goal of the city but it will reduce efficiencies when urban and local strategies are needed for civil considerations such as light penetration, organics [parks and farming] and spatial considerations.
The site is an archipelago of islands between Athens and Istanbul. The egyptian philanthropist Naguib Sawiris is in the process of purchasing a series of islands from the government of Greece in order to create a refugee displacement sanctuary.
and
Context
Advantages: European governments would donate billions of dollars in aid so that there would be sanctuary that is outside of the european Union which reduces their costs of granting temporary or permanent residency.
Solar desalination allows for a city to remain autonomous from periphery support by establishing a localized network. By eliminating distance of travel and latency within the grid, our cities are capable of being more efficient and healthier in all elements of urban life. This first case study is an examination of a future refugee camp on a grecian isle in between Athens and Istanbul. The result of this research is an operable plan to implement on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Through solar research and investigation, a comprehensive approach to solving a global crisis will be a permanent model rather than a temporary displacement solution.
The islands are geographically closer to Syria and Northern Africa, where most people are emigrating from to seek asylum. Ships would be able to dock at the island at the final destination rather than dispersing throughout Europe. The islands are in a privileged climate with high solar exposure and temperate a climate. Optimal for the technology to perform without maintenance.
Readings and References
Disadvantages The islands would be considered outside the domain of sovereign land and will have no governance structure. Phasing from temporary to permanent structures requires organization and displacement of dwellings.
This technology has imposed readings outside of the discipline of architecture into the domain of scientific journals and research on emerging technologies. Precedents such as the Ivanpah solar project in the Mojave Desert and the Nevada Solar one project are examples of technology that has influenced and inspired the current thesis material. Concentric planning techniques are secondary to the research due to the nature of the technology and the integration between the overlapping systems.
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Chapter 1 Intro & baCkgrounD researCh The site in the Mediterranean is at the coordinates, 39째, 25째 with the Longitude at 39 being the most important figure at calculating preliminary solar radiation studies on an urban scale. The concentric plan is a response to the path and angle of the sun on an average over a year. That average geometry is then generated to create the preliminary design upon how a city reacts to the solar envelope and the specific climate requirements. After the geometric analysis is complete, the design within the domain is investigated on a microscale.
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Problem
The Global Crisis: Drought & Ecosystem Loss
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Jake Johnson SCI-Arc 2016
what
Is
DesalInatIon?
DefInItIon: salIne (salt water)
Is extraCteD Into
2
prImary substanCes, water anD salt.
what types of DesalInatIon are there anD what Is the most Common? There are several types of processes that remove salt from ocean water but the most common is Reverse Osmosis.
What
is
DesaliNatioN?
Saline (Salt Water) is extracted into 2 primary who relIes on DesalInatIon as theIr prImary sourCe substances, water and salt.
of hyDratIon?
Hundreds of millions of people around the world rely on clean drinking water that is sourced from ocean and salt water lakes and seas. These climates are almost exclusively in arid regions with Wthe hat tyPes of DesaliNatioN are there aND What is an abundance of sunlight. the most commoN?
There are several types of processes that remove salt what Is the publIC vIew on DesalInatIon? from ocean water but the most common is Reverse •Current facilities are expensive to build as well as maintain. Osmosis.
•They do not pay for themselves over time. environmental impact significant to the handling with the brine. They use a tremendous W•The ho relies oN DesaliNatioN as is their Primary due source of?energy that is not viable for long term use. (All are true with current facilities) ofamount hyDratioN Hundreds of millions of people around the world rely on clean drinking water that is sourced from the ocean and salt water lakes and seas. These climates are almost exclusively in arid regions with an abundance of sunlight.
What
is the Public vieW oN DesaliNatioN?
•Current facilities are expensive to build as well as maintain. •They do not pay for themselves over time. •The environmental impact is significant due to the handling with the brine. •They use a tremendous amount of energy that is not viable for long term use. (All are true with current facilities)
Intake
Filter 1
solar DesalInatIon
Filter 2
Filter 3
Map of dependency on Desalination and water purification
Auto Shut-off
Reverse Osmosis Membrane
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Filter 4
Carbon Filter
Water Grid
map
worlDs
of
DepenDenCy
on
DesalInatIon
wealthIest CountrIes DepenD on purIfICatIon more than any other regIon Due to the relIanCe on DateD teChnology
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Jake Johnson sCI-arC 2016
Reverse Osmosis | Current Technology Unnecessarily Complex
This is the typical network that current facilities maintain and replace on a daily basis. The facilities are designed by engineers who design machines rather than buildings. This paradigm is no longer viable or sustainable in a world working to be net zero.
5th Stage Post Carbon Filter Clean Faucet Water
Solar Desalination
1nd Stage Pre Carbon Filter
2nd Stage Pre Carbon Filter
Storage Tank
4th Stage RO Membrane
3rd Stage Pre Carbon Filter
Auto Shut Off Valve
Flow Restrictor
Drain Water
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Contaminated Feed Water
Hudson Wisconsin Reverse Osmosis Plant
Inefficiencies
These facilities are overly complex, need several full time employees to maintain the tubes and the filters must be replaced and discarded on a daily basis. The cost of maintaining these facilities is between $100 Million to $300 Million while consuming millions of gallons of fossils every year.
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Issues with Reverse Osmosis Filtration Systems
h Reverse Osmosis •High Construction and Operating Costs
ction & •Difficult osts
to maintain
•Unsustainable Energy Consumption aintain •Filter Waste
e energy consumption •Harms Marine Life •Does not filter harmful particulates
e Life
er out all harmful
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and
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Architectural Solution Proposed Technology
Solar Desalination
to an
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Engineering Issue
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what
Is
net posItIve water purIfICatIon?
Responsibly extracting water from the ocean or freshwater sources that generates more energy than it requires to run the facility. Net positive also includes the elimination of waste and staff to run a facility. how Is thIs system DIfferent than reverse osmosIs anD other DesalInatIon faCIlItIes? Net positive purification integrates architectural and engineering techniques to create a passive cleaning system. This system has the ability to clean any type water and is not limited to saltwater, freshwater or anything in between such as brackish water. The primary difference is that net positive purification is a more efficient and safer solution to desalination or filtering that could save millions of gallons in fossil fuels a year. what are the Costs of net posItIve purIfICatIon? Construction costs are estimated to be 0.5-1 percent of the costs to build a reverse osmosis plant. Operating costs are estimated to be $100,000 a year opposed to $50-$80 million a year for reverse osmosis. what are the envIronmental Costs? •When fully operational, the facility will generate energy to either be saved in Tesla Batteries or sent back into the grid for local use such as street lamps or homes. •Our team spent months designing the most environmentally responsible solution to extracting ocean water and freshwater by eliminating heavy construction on the seafloor where marine life is most abundant. •We have also taken into consideration the longevity of the materials and design strategies in order to reduce failure of components to save money over time rather than planning for rapid replacement.
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Intake The primary intake pipes will have multiple thresholds that will filter out particulates and larger marine life to systematically preserve wildlife as well as increase the efficiency of the overall system. The pipe will be flexible which will help with loosening up debris that could possibly build up over time as well as intake from more than one point of origin. The height of the intake pipes is a strategy that is implemented in order to reduce the amount of debris that would occur in lower altitudes. There is less biodiversity at the top of the ocean and will have a higher level of new water opposed the stagnant seabed. Flexible return pipes are utilized in order to reduce the infrastructure needed to build into the ocean. These pipes are suspended in the pycnocline strata within the ocean in order for high level of immediate mixing as well as eliminating ocean floor construction that could lead to higher costs and loss of marine life. These pipes are suspended by buoys that will maintain the integrity of the pipe as well as the position. The highest amount of blending is crucial to maintaining a healthy ecosystem that is able to sustain healthy amounts of higher saline levels.
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IntegratIon
wIth Context
This system is designed to use gravity to its advantage in order to reduce the load on pumps and conveying equipment to distribute throughout the city. The integration of this system into the immediate urban context would allow for more immediate responses that could increase the efficiency of the water grid as well as increase the local efficiency of the surrounding buildings.
heIght
anD
terraCIng
Architecture and urban planning are in a difficult impasse in this particular moment due to the concerns of the environment and the obesity epidemic. Several peer reviewed studies show a healthier neighborhood has multiple levels of mixed use. The integration of water resources and utilities as a local Identity will increase the energy efficiency of the systems.
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What is the Process Desalination?
of
Intake 1. Extracting water was a design problem that needed to be addressed in the most responsible way possible to save time money and marine life. We looked at all of the inefficiencies that current water intake systems had and we decided to take a completely different approach. In order to avoid applying for coastal permits we decided to not have any construction on the ocean floor that wasn’t absolutely necessary. The intake tubes are flexible high impact pipes that float in the pycnocline region of the ocean. The area where it is located allows boats and ships to pass over but it stays away from the marine life at the lower strata. When water is extracted, there are only few life specimens that are able to live because of the strong currents. The strong currents are ideal for the flexible tubes because the movement breaks up minerals and sediment that would build up over time. The tubes would be suspended in the pycnocline with the use of a simple buoy system that would take the energy from the ocean to power the small intake pumps. High Pressure Pumps 2. There are no high pressure pumps used in this system. The passive design pushed towards a minimal energy cycle. There will be a need for small pumps for the geothermal coils that will flow through the primary chamber. Filters 3. Filters are not a component to this design. We are able to achieve cleaner water without the use of any carbon filters that will need to be replaced and wasted. There are no components of the system that will need regular replacement to contribute to direct waste. This cuts down on material costs as well as needing employees to maintain the basic components.
Solar Desalination
Net Positive Solar Primary Chamber 4. The purification process is where all of the activity concerning water desalination or distillation occurs. The water that is stored in the preliminary holding tank lowers the temperature of coils and sends the cold tubes into the chamber. The sun heats up the water in the chamber to create steam. This steam is pure water that rapidly condensates on the surface of the geothermal coils. The pure water is then diverted to the main supply. Brine Handling 5. The same strategy for the intake is used to dissolve and distribute the water back to the ocean. The difference with this strategy and the current practice is that ocean water will dilute the brine back to acceptable levels but the brine will be at high temperatures which will dissolve and mix with the ocean water much more effectively. Our office will push to have recycled water that comes from showers, street runoff and non toxic sources to dissolve with the brine as well. When the recycled freshwater is dissolved with the brine at high temperatures, the bacteria that could be in the water will be killed by the heat and high concentrations of salt. Right now recycled water is fined if it is untreated and disposed of by releasing it in bodies of water. This gives an opportunity to safely dispose of recycled freshwater while eliminating the harmful brine that is being mitigated in final process. This saves money and it improves the environmental health of the coasts.
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Optimal Regions
Solar Desalination
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Chapter 2 DIagrammIng & Context These diagrams and images are a series of plans and sections that are not only applicable to the Mediterranean site but also able to be used on other sites in the same Longitude. These profiles are a result of solar and geometric calculations that were derived from both solar radiation angles and the repose of the the material limitations.
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Site
and
Context
Dignified Displacement Residences The site is an archipelago of islands between Athens and Istanbul. The egyptian philanthropist Naguib Sawiris is in the process of purchasing a series of islands from the government of Greece in order to create a refugee displacement sanctuary.
site Solar Desalination
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Jake Johnson SCI-Arc 2016
Converting
a
Machine
into
A City
The Mojave concentrated solar plants are a primary inspiration to the urban planning strategy. The reflective panels are a catalyst to the solar tower in the center. The heat and steam generated for this facility is exponentially increased proportionally to the size and radius of the reflective panels. Using this as a planning strategy allows for an entire city to generate energy as well as clean water for the displaced refugees. This technology is strongest in high yielding solar conditions which were diagrammed in the previous chapter regarding cost effective regions. The concentrated solar is a means of generating renewable energy but also a way of influencing our urban planning for new and interesting combinations. Permutations and Models were generated to optimize the spectrum and angle of repose on an urban scale.
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Optimizat will never relationsh oftware ermutations sun and t Optimization is the journey that will never end. The most reliable relationship we have is with the sun and the climate patterns. This constant allows the geometry to be flexible to the solar demands that the system constant needs. Countless iterations from optimization programs such as honeybee in conjunction with Ladybug to flexible to predict the solar radiation that will be on the site during all times of the year. the syste Some of the calculations have been as specific as to optimizing every hour of every day of the year to from opti find the most effective geometry. Another constraint is the scale and material restraints that need to beas honey explored further in order to not make any custom materials manufactured which would increase the price Ladybug of the overall system. One of the primary concerns for this project is to build a full scale at as low cost to the local government as possible. Each new built system is a learning experience that will inform new design that will times of decisions that will move towards creating the best water purification systems as well.
S
P
Some of as specifi hour of e find the m Another material explored any custo which wo overall sy concerns full scale governme built syste that will that will best wate well.
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ts are nt of
ts tell ans s hot than a imate on s low nditions
s more telligent ade in y of the ate their ments eat uture oduct. onmental is e the ess.
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Jake Johnson SCI-Arc 2016
Plan Module Iterations Using solar geometric envelope software to generate the form of the plan of the city allows us to make certain optimized predictions regarding the angle and efficiency of the site restraints.
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Ville Radieuse [Radiant City] Original Le Corbusier’s urban plan for Paris was an unrealized attempt at transforming the European Capitol into a modernist prototype. With the solar desalination organization strategy, the plan would be concentric in profile while creating an updated definition of Radiant City.
Definition Radiant
of
Radiant
in this context is the concentric wave pattern
that broadcasts proportionally to the epicenter.
Le Corbusier’s
definition is the poetic version of the
word radiant is used as a means of activating a city in a radiant pattern.
The
radiant city operates as
waves of influence rather than literal lines on a plan.
Solar Desalination
Sphere
of Influence
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The
concentric model was generated from
a series of solar radiation studies for the specific coordinates of the site. After arraying them on a pattern on the site, a network of water channels are carved out to convey water as a means of aquatic access and egress in the city. This preliminary plan would allow for desalination facilities that are deeper into the island terrain instead of remaining coastal.
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Jake Johnson SCI-Arc 2016
Ville Radieuse [Radiant City] Reborn Le Corbusier’s urban plan for Paris was an unsuccessful attempt at transforming the European Capitol into a modernist prototype. With the solar desalination organization strategy, the plan would be concentric in profile while creating an updated definition of Radiant City.
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Chapter 2 DesIgn DrawIngs These images are a series of iterations that support the current level of study on both the urban and micro scales of Phase 1 regarding the warm shell design.
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OPTIMAL RATIO 1:5
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Chapter 3 DrawIngs [Site and Program] Site Greecian Island Coordinates 39째, 25째 Scale: Urban
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Chapter 5 referenCes This technology has imposed readings outside of the discipline of architecture into the domain of scientific journals and research on emerging technologies. Precedents such as the Ivanpah solar project in the Mojave Desert and the Nevada Solar one project are examples of technology that has influenced and inspired the current thesis material. Concentric planning techniques are secondary to the research due to the nature of the technology and the integration between the overlapping systems.
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IVANPAH SOLAR
This cutting edge technology is a primary inspiration to the urban planning and organizational strategies that are will be referenced in the formation of cities on a city scale.
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HELIOSTAT | TROUGH DESIGN
Parabolic geometries at an urban scale are a viable resource to use as a preliminary primitive within the design process. Allowing the sun to influence the design while generating a new means of city planning is the position this thesis is founded upon and will move towards in the phase of planning.
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URBAN SYNERGETICS AUTONOMOUS CITIES OF THE FUTURE
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