Atmospheric Water Capture in Arid, Rural Environments Using Solid Sorbents

Abstract

All around the world, there are still hundreds of millions of people who lack regular access to clean, safe drinking water. While there are many ways that various organizations attempt to aid this situation, one promising reservoir from which additional water could be generated is the atmosphere. The technology to collect this moisture exists for higher humidity values but does not exist for arid environments. This project aims to create a device that can pull water out of the air as a drinking source by using solid sorbent materials in an absorption and desorption cycle. It also must be able to operate in rural areas without external power sources, so it will take advantage of a direct conversion of solar to thermal energy. After several experiments and iterative design changes, the device was able to produce approximately 0.5 mL of clean drinking water per daily cycle. However, with additional development of certain components and at a larger scale, this device is a very promising solution for such a prevalent issue.