New Atmospheric Water Harvesting Device Turns Air Into Water

Staying hydrated in arid environments may no longer be a challenge, thanks to innovative solutions like the compact atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) device developed by University of Utah engineering researchers.

The rapid cycling AWH device, which purely runs on liquid fuel, is the first of its kind. It uses adsorbent materials, specifically a metal-organic framework, to extract water molecules from non-humid air.

"The water molecules themselves get trapped on the surfaces of our material, and that's a reversible process. And so instead of becoming ingrained into the material itself, it sits on the walls. What's special about these absorbent materials is they have just an immense amount of internal surface area. There's so many sites for water molecules to get stuck, said Nathan Ortiz, a graduate student and the lead author of the study.

Referring to the study published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, Ortiz and Sameer Rao, assistant professor at the University of Utah and senior author of the study, explained how their prototype device uses heat as a second step to convert the collected water molecules into a liquid form:

"As it collects water, it's releasing little bits of heat. And then to reverse that, we add heat. We just put a flame right under here, anything to get this temperature up. And then as we increase the temperature, we rapidly release the water molecules. Once we have a really humid airstream, that makes condensation at ambient temperature much easier."

The Department of Defence funded the study through the DEVCOM Soldier Center. Its primary goal was to provide the Army with a solution to keep soldiers hydrated when deployed in remote areas with limited water supplies or sources.

The two authors, however, emphasized that the preliminary patent they filed for the novel technology applies to both military and non-military needs:

"As we were designing the system, I think we also had perspective of the broader water problem. It's not just a defense issue, it's very much a civilian issue. We think in terms of water consumption of a household for drinking water per day. That's about 15 to 20 liters per day."

Based on their tests, their prototype produced five liters of water per day per kilogram of adsorbent material. Meanwhile, Ortiz said they opted for energy-dense fuel instead of photovoltaics to avoid limitations such as non-operation at night and non-reliance on batteries that make the device less portable.

Read the full article here to know more about the new compact atmospheric water harvesting device.

Discover top-quality Type I and Type II water systems from Aqua Solutions, which are available at reasonable prices. Find your preferred ultrapure water system at https://www.aquaa.com/.