Water Production from the Atmosphere in Arid Climates Using Low Grade Solar Heat
Abstract
Water scarcity is a severe problem that involves large area of the Middle East and North Africa. The possibility to extract water from atmosphere is more and more investigated as a fascinating solution to face this problem in arid climates. A day-night thermodynamic cycle is here investigated to produce water from air using thermal energy at low temperature in an adsorption bed typically used for air dehumidification in DEC system. The system can be easily integrated with a solar thermal collector and waste heat at 50-80 °C. The preliminary results of the experimental tests of a prototype that gives the possibility to exchange contemporary heat and mass through the adsorbing mass are here presented.