Extraction of Water from Air Using Solar Technology

A semi-open atmospheric water harvesting device using atmospheric water vapour processing technology was designed and built. The processor is a device which extract water molecules from the atmosphere, ultimately causing a phase change from vapour to liquid. This is done by concentrating air, containing water vapour through a solid desiccant. Then heating the desiccant to remove the air and allow it to condense and then collect the condensate. The research focuses on the development of a relationship for the amount of silica gel to the amount of water produced to determine the sufficient amount required for the specific application. This relationship was found to be Mw = 1.0776Ms - 0.4752, with a solar panel efficiency of 10.7%. The recorded values collected were then used to calculate the amount of water produced and were compared to the actual amount of water collected. The study concentrates on the extracting potable water from air especially with respect to the remote/rural arid places with deficit of natural fresh water and electricity supply. Solar energy as a power supply were focused on with discussing their strengths and limitations.