A method of obtaining fresh water from the humid atmosphere

H. I. Abualhamayel; P. Gandhidasan

doi:10.1016/S0011-9164(97)00114-8

A method of obtaining fresh water from the humid atmosphere

H. I. Abualhamayel^*, P. Gandhidasan

^*Corresponding author for this work

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

84 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper proposes to use a suitable liquid desiccant to extract fresh water from the humid atmosphere. The night-time moisture absorption and the day-time moisture desorption take place in the same unit. It consists of a flat, blackened, tilted surface and is covered with a single glazing. During the night, the strong absorbent flows down as a thin film over the glass cover in contact with the humid ambient air. Due to absorption of moisture from the ambient air at night, the absorbent becomes diluted. In order to recover the fresh water from the weak absorbent, it flows down as a thin film over the absorber during the day and is heated by solar energy. The water that evaporates from the absorbent rises to the glass cover by convection where it is condensed on the underside of the glass cover. The absorbent leaving the unit becomes strong and ready for moisture absorption at night. The performance of the unit was computed analytically for typical summer climatic data for the month of August in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, by solving the energy balance equations. It is shown that for the given operating conditions it is possible to obtain about 1.92 kg of water per m² of the unit. The influence of absorbent concentration and its flow rate on the performance of the system are briefly discussed in the paper.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	51-63
Number of pages	13
Journal	Desalination
Volume	113
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011-9164(97)00114-8
State	Published - Nov 1997

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the financial support and facilities provided by the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. One of the authors (HIA) wishes to express his sincere thanks to the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Reading, UK, and the British Council for providing the facilities and support to conduct this research during the summer of 1996.

Keywords

Absorption
Atmosphere
Desorption
Fresh water
Liquid desiccant
Saudi Arabia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Chemical Engineering
General Materials Science
Water Science and Technology
Mechanical Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/S0011-9164(97)00114-8

Cite this

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title = "A method of obtaining fresh water from the humid atmosphere",

abstract = "This paper proposes to use a suitable liquid desiccant to extract fresh water from the humid atmosphere. The night-time moisture absorption and the day-time moisture desorption take place in the same unit. It consists of a flat, blackened, tilted surface and is covered with a single glazing. During the night, the strong absorbent flows down as a thin film over the glass cover in contact with the humid ambient air. Due to absorption of moisture from the ambient air at night, the absorbent becomes diluted. In order to recover the fresh water from the weak absorbent, it flows down as a thin film over the absorber during the day and is heated by solar energy. The water that evaporates from the absorbent rises to the glass cover by convection where it is condensed on the underside of the glass cover. The absorbent leaving the unit becomes strong and ready for moisture absorption at night. The performance of the unit was computed analytically for typical summer climatic data for the month of August in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, by solving the energy balance equations. It is shown that for the given operating conditions it is possible to obtain about 1.92 kg of water per m2 of the unit. The influence of absorbent concentration and its flow rate on the performance of the system are briefly discussed in the paper.",

keywords = "Absorption, Atmosphere, Desorption, Fresh water, Liquid desiccant, Saudi Arabia",

author = "Abualhamayel, \{H. I.\} and P. Gandhidasan",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful for the financial support and facilities provided by the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. One of the authors (HIA) wishes to express his sincere thanks to the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Reading, UK, and the British Council for providing the facilities and support to conduct this research during the summer of 1996.",

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AU - Gandhidasan, P.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors are grateful for the financial support and facilities provided by the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. One of the authors (HIA) wishes to express his sincere thanks to the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Reading, UK, and the British Council for providing the facilities and support to conduct this research during the summer of 1996.

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N2 - This paper proposes to use a suitable liquid desiccant to extract fresh water from the humid atmosphere. The night-time moisture absorption and the day-time moisture desorption take place in the same unit. It consists of a flat, blackened, tilted surface and is covered with a single glazing. During the night, the strong absorbent flows down as a thin film over the glass cover in contact with the humid ambient air. Due to absorption of moisture from the ambient air at night, the absorbent becomes diluted. In order to recover the fresh water from the weak absorbent, it flows down as a thin film over the absorber during the day and is heated by solar energy. The water that evaporates from the absorbent rises to the glass cover by convection where it is condensed on the underside of the glass cover. The absorbent leaving the unit becomes strong and ready for moisture absorption at night. The performance of the unit was computed analytically for typical summer climatic data for the month of August in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, by solving the energy balance equations. It is shown that for the given operating conditions it is possible to obtain about 1.92 kg of water per m2 of the unit. The influence of absorbent concentration and its flow rate on the performance of the system are briefly discussed in the paper.

AB - This paper proposes to use a suitable liquid desiccant to extract fresh water from the humid atmosphere. The night-time moisture absorption and the day-time moisture desorption take place in the same unit. It consists of a flat, blackened, tilted surface and is covered with a single glazing. During the night, the strong absorbent flows down as a thin film over the glass cover in contact with the humid ambient air. Due to absorption of moisture from the ambient air at night, the absorbent becomes diluted. In order to recover the fresh water from the weak absorbent, it flows down as a thin film over the absorber during the day and is heated by solar energy. The water that evaporates from the absorbent rises to the glass cover by convection where it is condensed on the underside of the glass cover. The absorbent leaving the unit becomes strong and ready for moisture absorption at night. The performance of the unit was computed analytically for typical summer climatic data for the month of August in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, by solving the energy balance equations. It is shown that for the given operating conditions it is possible to obtain about 1.92 kg of water per m2 of the unit. The influence of absorbent concentration and its flow rate on the performance of the system are briefly discussed in the paper.

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KW - Atmosphere

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KW - Liquid desiccant

KW - Saudi Arabia

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A method of obtaining fresh water from the humid atmosphere

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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