An installation has been created that receives drinking water from the air

An international scientific group consisting of American and South Korean experts has developed and successfully tested a heating plant that is capable of generating drinking water even from air with reduced humidity. In this case, the solar panel acts as a power source for the prototype, which makes it completely autonomous. It is about this device that I want to tell you now.

Long development path

On this project, engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began to work three years ago and already then developed a conceptual system that used daily fluctuations in ambient temperature and accumulated moisture in the dark for absorbent material.

And already in the daytime, moisture left the absorbent as the material was heated and condensed on the collecting plate of the device.

At the first stages, scientists used metal-organic frames, which are very expensive and have low productivity. In the new development (which is discussed in the material), they decided to use the natural adsorbent zeolite, which scientists have created quite recently.

This material is easy to obtain, stable and highly efficient.

In addition, the engineers finalized the installation and made it two-stage. It was decided to add a second desorption and condensation stage.

How the new installation works

And now the principle of the installation is as follows: a solar panel converts sunlight into electricity, which, doing work, heats the zeolite, and he, in turn, gives up the moisture accumulated overnight to form of steam.

Then the steam condenses on the copper part of the collector, which is located above the second layer of zeolite. In this case, heat is also released, which is used to release steam from the second zeolite plate.

In this case, the resulting water is accumulated in a storage tank.

Thus, the installation is capable of producing approximately 0.8 liters of drinking water per square meter of the installation in one day-night cycle.

Of course, the amount of water is highly dependent on local conditions such as humidity, daytime and nighttime air temperatures. Engineers who tested the installation, located on the roof of the institute, noted that the productivity was twice the calculated one.

But even the basic (calculated) performance will be quite enough to provide much-needed water for a couple of people in arid and remote places where there is no access to electricity.

Installation prospects and further research

Despite the obvious success with this prototype, scientists are already actively studying five new materials at once, which have an adsorption almost five times higher than that of zeolite.

Therefore, scientists are actively working on new prototypes, which in the future will replace existing bulky and energy-intensive installations and capable of operating only in conditions of increased humidity.

Considering how rapidly the global climate is changing in some parts of the Earth, such installations can be actively used.

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