Natural environments and fauna are the first to be hit by climate change. In Iran, where Soroush Moradi grew up, all national parks have been affected, and many areas are becoming extremely dry.
Some years ago, Moradi learned about Atmospheric Water Generators (AWG) from a TED talk and realised how these generators could make a positive impact on the environment. Moradi was happy to discover that the mechanics of an AWG combines his skills and talents due to his degrees and working background in engineering and industrial product design. With the right conditions, the AWG could be utilised to halt the disastrous droughts caused by climate change.
The AWG is not something new; the first ones originated in the fifties. The passive ones, like Soroush has developed, often collect fog with a mesh and drip system. The version Soroush developed, is collecting water from dew condensation on a thin foil. A passive AWG is relatively simple and can be maintained by people in arid or semi-arid areas, even without an engineering background. Although the production rate is low, there are no harmful byproducts like with the active AWG’s.
For his thesis, Soroush has researched how to improve available AWG’s and has gone through different methods to choose the most efficient and cheapest versions to strengthen in his capacity as a designer and engineer.
Using various design parameters, Moradi looked at the physical and environmental factors. A lot of his inspiration came from nature; from insects and plants that have successfully dealt with drought. ‘The design of athe cactus ‘Opuntia microdasys’ is amazing; their cluster of spines form and move droplets from the tip of each barb to their core continuously at nano and micro-scale’, Moradi says.
Moradi also used the Namib desert beetles as inspiration for collecting water efficiently in a situation of extreme aridity. The beetles inspired Soroush to advance the convex and conical shapes in his design, which increase the overall yield of the system, ‘They have demonstrable success which serves as a more solid example than just scientific theory’.
Soroush Moradi
Aalto University
Master's Programme in Creative Sustainability
Atmospheric Water Generator
Near futures – online exhibition
Near futures, exhibition tribute to the academic year 2019–2020 graduates
