Spiracle

What it does

Deforestation is worsening, with up to 90% of afforested saplings dying from drought. Our nature-inspired “Spiracle” collects water from the air without electricity, watering and protecting saplings to restore forests and fight climate change.

Your inspiration

As a Young Innovator to the state, I aligned with its vision to increase tree cover, as nearly 90% of districts were classified as very high heat-risk zones. After discussions with forest officials, we found most plantation drives fail due to lack of watering and grazing with sapling mortality rates nearing 90% in global cases. After multiple iterations this urgency led us to develop Spiracle inspired by the structure of protein complexes. It offers a passive, electricity-free solution using phase change materials to harvest water from the air and protect saplings, helping to reduce heat in a practical and affordable way.

How it works

Our design effectively collects water from the air and provides it to young plants without using electricity or human efforts It uses a simple nature inspired helix structure made of metal tubes which are placed around the sapling. These tubes are filled with phase change materials which can stay cool even in the morning by emitting heat at night through latent heat process. When the air is humid this cool surface promotes water to condense like morning dew over grasses and gently drip into the soil keeping the plant hydrated. The spiral shape is inspired from natural structures like protein shells allows more air to flow through the coil as the surface area increases thus improving water collection. We also coat the spiral with radiative cooling paint, that can reflect sunlight and help the surface stay even cooler. Spiracle also protects saplings by shielding them from grazing animals thus helping saplings survive without any external watering or care.

Design process

To understand the problem we interviewed state forest officials and found that existing solutions like water tankers and drip irrigation were costly and labour intensive. To address this we explored atmospheric water generation to extract water directly from air. Our initial experiments used Peltier based water generators which worked effectively, but they were both expensive and energy intensive. This led us to pivot toward passive cooling with phase change materials that can stay cool in the morning by emitting heat at night. Our first design enclosed PCM within protective shells, but it had poor airflow and heat transfer which reduces water output. After multiple iterations we developed “Spiracle”. It is a nature inspired patent pending spiral shield surrounding the sapling. These coils hold PCM efficiently, maximize airflow through increased surface area and enable effective heat transfer. We can enhance condensation further by coating the surface with radiative cooling paint. The design was validated with copper-based prototypes, showing strong results and we’re now moving to a low-cost stainless steel version which is lightweight, easy to produce and ready for pilot testing with the support of Tamil Nadu government.

How it is different

Most existing solutions address watering and protection separately. Traditional watering methods like tankers or drip irrigation require heavy infrastructure, electricity and ongoing maintenance. For protection cheap plastic guards are often used but they’re easily damaged and harmful to the environment. Our patent-pending design, “Spiracle”, is fully passive. It needs no power, plumbing or external water source while also shielding the sapling from grazing. Unlike conventional dew or fog harvesters that work only under specific temperature and humidity conditions. Spiracle is designed for individual saplings. It uses spiral metal tubes filled with Phase Change Material (PCM) that stay cool in the morning by releasing stored night-time coolness. The spiral shape increases airflow and condensation surface and a special white cooling paint enhances heat radiation. Spiracle uniquely combines watering and protection into a simple, low-cost and scalable solution.

Future plans

Our next step is to test the product in real world conditions with IIT-Madras Research Park for research validation and to optimize its design and cost. Leveraging our teams experience working with the state government, we plan to partner with the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company and Advanced Manufacturing centers like TANCAM to pilot the solution in dry regions. We aim to secure government funding under the Tamil Nadu Innovation Initiative (TANII) to fund our pilot testing. As a recognized global champion of United People Global we plan to expand adoption globally, making sustainable sapling growth affordable in climate vulnerable regions.

Awards

"Champion Project" - Recognized by United People Global (UPG), an international organization promoting sustainability and empowering grassroots solutions to global challenges.