Capillary action and graphite foam are being enlisted by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to solve a logistical nightmare for the military and U.S. troops deployed around the world. While soldiers require nearly seven gallons of water a day, just getting that water to them increases troop vulnerability and limits their tactical use. Using an ORNL proprietary system, however, this problem could be greatly reduced. The system uses the pores of inorganic membranes to condense water present in a diesel's exhaust stream to produce about gallon of water from each gallon of diesel. The system also uses graphite foam, an R&D 100 Award-winning material developed at ORNL. Previously explored methods to produce potable water from diesel exhaust have been deemed "undeployable" by the military.
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