Solar technology extracts 3 liters of water from the air every day

The design improves material flow and energy use by producing 0.65 L/m2/h of fresh water with sunlight and 90% humidity.

A team of researchers developed a system that can sustainably extract liters of water from the air every day without requiring frequent maintenance.

The passive system is an advanced version of the Solar Atmospheric Water Harvesting (SAWE) method that can continuously produce fresh water in the presence of sunlight. By optimizing the design for efficient material movement and energy use, this system consistently produces 0.65 liters of fresh water per square meter per hour under standard sunlight and 90 percent humidity.

Researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) report that the system also works in arid conditions with humidity up to 40%. Its autonomous mode of operation makes this technology ideal for freshwater production and irrigation initiatives in remote or resource-scarce regions.

Current aerial water harvesting systems typically use cumbersome two-stage cycles that require manual intervention to switch between the absorption and extraction stages. water extraction. However, the new solar harvester from KAUST operates continuously without external intervention, automatically switching between these stages.

The innovative design of the harvester is based on natural processes, in particular the transport of water in plants. Vertical microchannels filled with salt solution absorb water from the air. Thanks to capillary action, this solution rises up through the channels, where solar heat turns it into steam. The steam condenses into fresh water and the concentrated solution diffuses downward again, repeating the process.

Experiments have shown that the system can produce two to three liters of water per square meter per day in summer and one to three liters per day in summer in autumn in the conditions of Saudi Arabia. The team worked on the project without maintenance for several weeks, demonstrating the autonomy and reliability of the system. The system was also demonstrated in use for watering desert plants and Chinese cabbage.

Materials used in the system include moisture wicking fabric, inexpensive hygroscopic salt and a plastic frame. The researchers chose these materials for their affordability, making the technology suitable for large-scale application in low-income regions.

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Taxonomy

• Atmospheric Water Generator
• Atmospheric Water Generation