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Thermal modelling and performance evaluation of a low-grade heat-driven sorption-based atmospheric water generator under various weather conditions

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Abstract

Drinking water is scarce in many regions of the world despite the omnipresence of water in the form of vapour in large quantities in the atmosphere. Currently, majority of water harvesters use vapour compression refrigeration cycle, which is inefficient. Thus, to reduce electrical energy consumption, the idea proposed in this study is to use a sorption-based atmospheric water generator (AWG) which works on low-grade heat energy. The key component of the proposed AWG is a desiccant-coated fin tube heat exchanger (DCFTHX) which humidifies and heats the air to such an extent that the vapour present in the air can be condensed by simply bringing it in thermal contact with a surface at atmospheric temperature. Thermodynamic modelling of the proposed AWG is first presented, followed by a systematic study under various weather conditions ranging from temperatures of 6 °C to 40 °C and specific humidity from 0.004 to 0.22 kg kg d.a.−1. Results indicate that water can be produced even for specific humidity of 4 kg kg d.a.−1 (near zero dew point temperature) if the ambient temperature is low (10 °C), at regeneration temperatures of 60 and 70 °C. The highest rate of water extraction and the highest yield is 10.9 g s−1 and 62.2 kg kWh−1, respectively, under ambient conditions of 26 °C and 0.02 kg kg d.a.−1. Under the winter (when the absolute humidity is at its lowest) weather conditions of Dubai, as much as 39.3 kg of water can be produced per kWh, which translates to only 0.59 cents per kg water produced.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area (m2)

C p :

Specific heat (J kg−1 K−1)

D :

Mass diffusivity (m2s−1)

d :

Diameter (m)

f d :

Mass fraction of sorbent

h :

Heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

H :

Height or thickness (m)

h m :

Mass transfer coefficient (m s−1)

k :

Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

L :

Length of heat exchanger (m)

ṁ :

Mass flow rate (kg s−1)

P f :

Pitch (m)

q″gen :

Heat flux (W m−2)

q ads :

Sorption heat (J kg−1)

r :

Tube radius (m)

r 2 :

Outer radius of the equivalent annular fin (m)

RH:

Relative humidity

T :

Temperature (°C)

t :

Time (s)

U fr :

Frontal velocity (m s−1)

W :

Sorbate uptake

X l :

Longitudinal tube-pitch (m)

X t :

Transverse tube-pitch (m)

Y :

Absolute humidity

ε d :

Desiccant porosity

η :

Efficiency

\({\eta }_{\text{m}}\) :

Efficiency of heat exchanger when no condensation occurs

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

∆P :

Pressure drop (Pa)

υ r :

Pore radius of the desiccant (m)

0:

Initial value (t = 0)

1:

During dehumidification time period

2:

During regeneration time period

i:

Inner

o:

Outer

a:

Air

app:

Apparent

b:

Blower

c:

Cold

d:

Desiccant or sorbent

de:

Dehumidification

eq:

Equivalent

f:

Fin

h:

Hot

in:

In/inlet

o:

Out/outer

p:

Pump

re:

Regeneration

s:

Surface

s-avg:

Spatially averaged quantity

t:

Tube

v:

Vapour

w:

Water

DPT:

Dew point temperature

DCFTHX:

Desiccant-coated fin tube heat exchanger

FTHX:

Fin tube heat exchanger

AWG:

Atmospheric water generator

RH:

Relative humidity

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the funding support granted by SERB, file number SRG/2021/000887.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, 500078, India

    Karandeep Singh, Emma Mariam Punnoose & Mrinal K. Jagirdar

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  1. Karandeep Singh
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  2. Emma Mariam Punnoose
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Contributions

Karandeep Singh contributed to conceptualization of the system, the simulation part of the work and drafting of the results and discussion part; Emma Mariam Punnoose contributed to the literature review and writing of the introduction part as well as analysis of the results; Mrinal K. Jagirdar contributed to the development of the thermal model, conceptualization of the proposed system and final editing.

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Correspondence to Mrinal K. Jagirdar.

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Singh, K., Punnoose, E.M. & Jagirdar, M.K. Thermal modelling and performance evaluation of a low-grade heat-driven sorption-based atmospheric water generator under various weather conditions. J Therm Anal Calorim (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-13354-7

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