Design and demonstration of autonomous sorption unit for extraction of water from air

Abstract

An experimental system for extraction of water from ambient air has been proposed for hot and dry desert conditions. The energetically autonomous system is based on sorption unit with nominal flow 2000 m3/h of process air and 1000 m3/h for regeneration air, PV modules (20 m2), unglazed photovoltaic-thermal collectors (77 m2) for electricity production and night radiative cooling and solar thermal collectors (22 m2) for heat production. Water storage tanks (3 x 1 m3) of heat and cold are complemented by batteries (30 kWh) to balance electric production and load. The system has been designed and built as two containers: production container with sorption unit and energy container with storage of energy harvested by solar roof to establish an autonomous operation with no need for external inputs. Autonomous operation of the system produces about 100 l/day in extreme desert conditions in yearly average according to simulations. The experimental system is being tested and monitored in Sweihan (UAE) in desert conditions to get knowledge on system operation in real environment.An experimental system for extraction of water from ambient air has been proposed for hot and dry desert conditions. The energetically autonomous system is based on sorption unit with nominal flow 2000 m3/h of process air and 1000 m3/h for regeneration air, PV modules (20 m2), unglazed photovoltaic-thermal collectors (77 m2) for electricity production and night radiative cooling and solar thermal collectors (22 m2) for heat production. Water storage tanks (3 x 1 m3) of heat and cold are complemented by batteries (30 kWh) to balance electric production and load. The system has been designed and built as two containers: production container with sorption unit and energy container with storage of energy harvested by solar roof to establish an autonomous operation with no need for external inputs. Autonomous operation of the system produces about 100 l/day in extreme desert conditions in yearly average according to simulations. The experimental system is being tested and monitored in Sweihan (UAE) in desert c...