Development of A Large Scale Outdoor Air-To-Water Harvester (OAH) for Various Applications

Description

The atmospheric water (consisting of clouds, fog, and water vapor), a huge, natural, and renewable reservoir of freshwater, is estimated to be equivalent to 5.2 billion Olympicsized pools (ca.12,900 km3), which opens up a new way for us to obtain water andalleviate the human water shortage crisis. Especially in coastal regions like Hong Kong, the annual mean relative humidity (RH) is as high as 80%. To tackle the unbalance between water production and water demand, we propose to develop an all-day atmospheric water harvester (All-day AWH) that combines the high-performance composite sorbent and the energy-efficient joule heating technique. The fast sorptiondesorption kinetics driven by Joule heating avails multiple cycles per day. Predictably, our portable, disperse, multicyclic All-day AWH in the form of an array network can satisfy at least 100 litres per day water demand for the residents in Hong Kong.This is a joint project supported by Water Supplies Department (HKSAR), Civil Engineering and Development Department (HKSAR), and Chun Wo Construction & Engineering Co. Ltd. It is aimed to produce fresh water for various applications in several remote areas including Po Tai Island, Lantau Island, construction sites and floating fish farms etc.