Nano-thick coatings allow sand to repel water.
Nanotechnology may conjure up images of tiny robots, or machines in our blood stream, but what about really cool dirt? DIME, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, has licensed a nanotech process to create hydrophobic sand. The extremely thin coating on each grain causes it to repel water. While similar technologies have existed for several years (see the video for ‘Magic Sand‘ below), DIME sells a plastic wrapped hydrophobic sand that can be used to create an artificial water table. This high tech sand bag, called a HST-roll, could change the nature of farming in the Middle East. With a production of more than 3 thousand tonnes a day, DIME is on the path to help the desert bloom.
Water scarcity is an enormous problem around the world. While potable water gets all the press, irrigation is where much of the consumption happens (up to 85% in the Middle East). Regions with sandy soil leach water away as it is being used, and salt rises to the top. That’s a lethal combination for crops. DIME’s HST-rolls work by forming a giant water-proof layer under the topsoil. You lay them out like a pool liner. When crops are grown in the soil above, less water is needed because it isn’t sucked deep underground. It also prevents salt from flowing into the topsoil. Water use could be cut by as much as 35% (granted these numbers are from DIME itself).
DIME’s hydrophobic sand production is licensed from a German firm and they aren’t very forthcoming on the exact process, obliquely referring to the additive used as SP-HFS 1609. Some sort of nanometer thick coating is applied to each and every grain of sand. Similar products, like the one shown in the video above, use a silica layer. No matter the exact mechanism involved, the results are the same: the coated sand will repel water or move through it to minimize water contact. Hence the snake-like shapes that form as the sand is poured into a glass.
Part of the appeal of hydrophobic substances is that they are so versatile. Original designs called for them to be used as solutions to oil spills. Grains of the sand would float on the water until bonding to oil. At that point the sand would clump together and become dense enough to sink, eliminating most of the hazard of the floating crude. Hydrophobic sand can also be used under concrete foundations to stop water-caused settling or seepage. HST-rolls could help solve erosion concerns along beaches.
Typical land use on the left allows water to flow quickly away. With the use of hydrophobic sand bags, right, an artificical water table increases efficiency.
Yet it’s the water retention promises that make hydrophobic sand so important. The UAE, one of the wealthiest countries per capita in the Middle East, is a great testing ground for desert reclamation. While it imports major staples (rice, grains, etc) it also has a history of seeking of agricultural independence in recent years. If the Emirates can increase the water efficiency of their arable land they may secure themselves against future instability as petroleum prices continue to fluctuate.
Of course I’m no expert in water drainage management, but wouldn’t a plastic tarp work just as well as magic sand? That would seem like a much cheaper option. I can’t find an answer to that question anywhere, so I’m going to assume that I’m being obtuse somehow. I have to hope that the UAE would have at least investigated the ‘tarp-option’ before spending millions on hydrophobic sand.
We future-looking bloggers have a tendency to focus on the most awe-inspiring uses of technology, but it’s the way nanotech changes food, shelter, and water that will really alter our world. Sand that can pick up oil, or stay dry while you play with in the pool is cool, but sand that can help you feed your family? That’s powerful. And it’s proof that while technology can’t solve every problem, it’s certainly going to try.
[photo credits: Steve Jurvetson and DIME website]
Tags: desert, DIME, hydrophobic sand, scarcity, UAE, United Arab Emirates, water, waterproof
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Wow. If this pans out the benefits are truly unimaginable.
Why wouldn’t you just put a cheap liner under the soil like a tarp or something cheap?!?!
I suspect this would be a self-healing solution — if the layer were sprayed to be many grains thick, it couldn’t be punctured easily; and it’s easier to spray a huge area with sand than to manufacture a single, seamless sheet of plastic spanning multiple acres.
This used to be a childs toy. I remember playing with it in a bowl of water.
http://www.inthe80s.com/toys/magicsand.shtml
This is a ridiculous plan that would just drain what little water remains in the aquifers of middle eastern countries.
It will hold what water falls nearer to the surface, where it will quickly evaporate, instead of allowing it to accumulate and be stored in the natural aquifers in the bedrock.
This is a terrible idea that will turn dry but livable desert into dead space.
Sand that can help feed your family? Or sand that can starve entire nations.
A tarp would not work. Water, under the influence of gravity goes down. That’s obvious. Pressure is equal to force/area. Calculate the force exerted by the above sand and water, multiply it by gravity (~9.81 m/s^2) and then divide the total by the area. This would be a very large number in most cases. Leachate (garbage water) collection systems in landfills essentially collect and then pump polluted water into a processing area. This is very similar to your tarp idea. This water in an agricultural setting could be pumped back onto the fields. Now, imagine all the nerds necessary to make that happen, the labor (installation and maintenance), and the materials cost. Then, compare that to essentially digging a hole and putting sand in it. The tarp could work for a period of time, but eventually a leak could form, and water under that much pressure would seep through. With pressurized sand, the relationship between the grains (cubic or hexagonal) is called packing. The ability of sand to withstand breaking into smaller fragments is because sand is itself, a product of weathering and erosion. In other words, breaking down sand is difficult because sand is a product of being broken. Kind of like rusting rust.
Interesting. Two thoughts come to ming after reading this article. What about clay? Winnipeg is basically built on the Red River flood plain…a few feet below the city is basicallya thick clay layer that prevents ground seepage to a certain extent and causes surface pooling. Also, read a few weeks back that in the Amazon area…many hundreds of years ago biochar was spread along a vast area of S.America to create a better soil growing area. They -”the scientists”- figure an area the size of France was covered in biochar by the natives to better soil growth. Amazing.
So what happens to magic sand when it is no in controlled situations? What about when a pile of it is exposed to wind? Will it blow everywhere like real sand? And then what happens to it?
Does it ever degrade back to regular sand + its coating chemical? And what happens to its coating chemical? Does that degrade into something toxic or nontoxic? Or does it not degrade and its permanent?
wow, that looked really awesome
My weekend plans aren’t over the top. Saturday I’m just spending the day with my son and probably taking him to the park. Sunday my husband will be off work so we will just be enjoying our day as a family
Dear singularityhub Team, dear readers,
The DIME company in the United Arab Emirates is a copy group and has illegally made use of (stolen) the know how, DIME additive (SP-HFS 1609) to produce HYDROPHOBIC SAND which they produce based on an international patent.
DIME shareholder and their so called inventor Helmut F. Schulze from Germany is behind this great economic fraud!!!
For any further information please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Kind regards
M. Russ,
GEREMCO representative for the patent holders worldwide
dubruss@gmail.com
Mobile 0097150845 8473
P.S. Please see this new blog from us which we have posted recently as our GEREMCO website will be launched as well very soon in Arabic, English, German, French, Korean & Russian, Indian and other languages.
http://sanddimensions.blogspot.com/2010/01/gree...
For any comments and advices we are very thankful.