scholarly journals Exploiting radiative cooling for uninterrupted 24-hour water harvesting from the atmosphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (26) ◽  
pp. eabf3978
Author(s):  
Iwan Haechler ◽  
Hyunchul Park ◽  
Gabriel Schnoering ◽  
Tobias Gulich ◽  
Mathieu Rohner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Heat ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Continuous Production ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Cooling Power ◽  
Water Harvesting ◽  
Atmospheric Water ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Mass Fluxes ◽  
Power Enhancement

Atmospheric water vapor is ubiquitous and represents a promising alternative to address global clean water scarcity. Sustainably harvesting this resource requires energy neutrality, continuous production, and facility of use. However, fully passive and uninterrupted 24-hour atmospheric water harvesting remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a rationally designed system that synergistically combines radiative shielding and cooling—dissipating the latent heat of condensation radiatively to outer space—with a fully passive superhydrophobic condensate harvester, working with a coalescence-induced water removal mechanism. A rationally designed shield, accounting for the atmospheric radiative heat, facilitates daytime atmospheric water harvesting under solar irradiation at realistic levels of relative humidity. The remarkable cooling power enhancement enables dew mass fluxes up to 50 g m−2 hour−1, close to the ultimate capabilities of such systems. Our results demonstrate that the yield of related technologies can be at least doubled, while cooling and collection remain passive, thereby substantially advancing the state of the art.

INTERFACES BETWEEN ATMOSPHERIC WATER HARVESTING AND SOLAR ENERGY: EVIDENCES FROM A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Lamas da Silva ◽  
Elias Rocha Gonçalves Junior ◽  
Virgínia Siqueira Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Bibliometric Study ◽  
Water Harvesting ◽  
Atmospheric Water

Alan Kenneth Head AO FAA. 10 August 1925 — 9 January 2010

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 147-166
Author(s):  
Peter Humble
Keyword(s):  
Galois Theory ◽  
Elastic Anisotropy ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Atomic Scale ◽  
Cooling Power ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Spherical Lens ◽  
Commercial Aviation ◽  
Effective Lifetime

Alan Head had many scientific interests. He was a mathematical physicist but was so widely read that he could turn his hand to almost anything that had a scientific basis. His achievements were in many fields: they ranged from a design for a giant radio telescope to writing a computer program to simulate the diffraction of electrons as they pass through a crystalline specimen containing defects on an atomic scale and to calculate the images produced by these defects; from the elastic properties of engineering materials to the aberrations in aplanatic, non-spherical lens systems; from the causes of fracture in solid state materials to the patented design for a refrigerator that obtains its cooling power by selectively radiating electromagnetic radiation through a ‘window’ in the Earth's atmosphere to outer space; from Galois theory to quantum computers. Perhaps his greatest success was the theory of fatigue in aluminium alloys used in the construction of jet aeroplanes. Not only was he able to establish the micromechanisms involved, but his analysis was also such that the time that the processes would take to produce a complete failure could be estimated. Without this analysis, commercial aviation as we know it today would have been totally unsafe. But knowing the effective lifetime of components and replacing them before the end of their lifetime meant that, provided that the relevant maintenance was performed diligently, travel by air could be safe. I think the project that gave Alan most pleasure was his understanding of Galois theory and being the first person to apply it to a practical case concerning the elastic anisotropy of crystalline materials (see the section below on the correspondence between Professor H. M. Edwards and Alan Head). His work on fatigue and Galois theory epitomizes the value that Alan put on ‘theory’. Theory was only good if it led to a practical, useful result. Alan Head had a brilliant career, but his feet were always firmly on the ground. He was modest, quietly spoken and very approachable. He was a friend and mentor to many. There are more than 10 scientific topics (including those mentioned above) described in this short biography, and he made significant contributions to all of them. The memoir is in three parts: a narrative of Alan Head's life and career, recollections of him by his colleagues and family, and a list of his published works cited in the text.

scholarly journals Super Moisture-Absorbent Gels for All-Weather Atmospheric Water Harvesting

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (10) ◽  
pp. 1806446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Zhao ◽  
Xingyi Zhou ◽  
Yi Liu ◽  
Ye Shi ◽  
Yafei Dai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Harvesting ◽  
Atmospheric Water ◽  
Moisture Absorbent

Thermo-economic Limitations of Ambient Heat Rejection in Vertical Fin Arrays With Buoyancy-Driven Flow Enhancement Through the Chimney Effect

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noris Gallandat ◽  
J. Rhett Mayor
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Sink ◽  
Cooling Power ◽  
Heat Rejection ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Power Enhancement ◽  
Flow Enhancement ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Heat Sink Design ◽  
Chimney Effect

This paper presents the thermo-economic limits of ambient heat rejection in vertical fin arrays with buoyancy-driven flow enhancement through the chimney effect. A one-dimensional semi-analytical thermo-fluidic model is developed to assess the cooling power enhancement of the proposed heat sink design. A bi-objective optimization is performed utilizing genetic algorithm to present the tradeoffs between the cost and the thermal performance of a heat sink. For the considered baseplate geometry, the maximal cooling power without a chimney amounts 1540 W at a heat flux of 1.03 W/cm2. By adding a chimney up to 2.5 m high, the cooling power is increased by 46% to 2250 W at a heat flux of 1.50 W/cm2.

A Techno-Economic Analysis of Solar-Driven Atmospheric Water Harvesting

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Nathan Siegel ◽  
Ben Conser
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
System Level ◽  
Water Model ◽  
Water Harvesting ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Atmospheric Water ◽  
Atmospheric Humidity ◽  
Energy Flows ◽  
Solar Electricity ◽  
Latent Heat Of Vaporization

Abstract Water may be produced from atmospheric humidity anywhere on Earth; however, current approaches are energy intensive and costly, thus limiting the deployment of atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) technologies. A system level thermodynamic model of several AWH pathways is presented to elucidate the important energy flows in these processes as a means to reducing the energy required to produce a unit of water. Model results show that fresh water may be produced from humid air via processes driven solely with solar electricity in an arid climate with an energy input between 116 kWhe/m3 and 1021 kWhe/m3, depending on atmospheric conditions and processing configuration. We describe a novel, desiccant-based AWH approach in which the latent heat of vaporization is internally recovered resulting in a significant reduction in energy requirements relative to the state of the art. Finally, a parametric model of a desiccant-based AWH system is used to estimate the minimum levelized cost of water (LCOW) via solar-driven AWH at 6.5 $/m3 when both latent and sensible energy are recovered internally.

scholarly journals Autonomous atmospheric water seeping MOF matrix

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. eabc8605
Author(s):  
G. Yilmaz ◽  
F. L. Meng ◽  
W. Lu ◽  
J. Abed ◽  
C. K. N. Peh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Metal Organic Framework ◽  
Sorption Kinetics ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Atmospheric Water ◽  
Polymer Metal ◽  
Metal Organic ◽  
Delivery Efficiency ◽  
Organic Framework ◽  
Liquid Delivery

The atmosphere contains an abundance of fresh water, but this resource has yet to be harvested efficiently. To date, passive atmospheric water sorbents have required a desorption step that relies on steady solar irradiation. Since the availability and intensity of solar radiation vary, these limit on-demand desorption and hence the amount of harvestable water. Here, we report a polymer–metal-organic framework that provides simultaneous and uninterrupted sorption and release of atmospheric water. The adaptable nature of the hydro-active polymer, and its hybridization with a metal-organic framework, enables enhanced sorption kinetics, water uptake, and spontaneous water oozing. We demonstrate continuous water delivery for 1440 hours, producing 6 g of fresh water per gram of sorbent at 90% relative humidity (RH) per day without active condensation. This leads to a total liquid delivery efficiency of 95% and an autonomous liquid delivery efficiency of 71%, the record among reported atmospheric water harvesters.

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