See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: [Link]

net/publication/261061300

Vapour compression Refrigeration system generating fresh water from

humidity in the air

Conference Paper · January 2011

DOI: 10.1049/cp.2011.0338

CITATIONS READS

8 4,410

2 authors, including:

Pavithra Sekar
Veltech Multitech Dr. Rangarajan [Link] Engineering College
23 PUBLICATIONS   17 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Accelerate NVIDIA GPU Implementation of the MVDR for Sonar Imaging System View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Pavithra Sekar on 28 September 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Chennai and [Link] University Second International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Intelligent System (SEISCON 2011) ,
Dr. M.G.R. University, Maduravoyal, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. July. 20-22, 2011.

Vapour Compression Refrigeration System Generating

Fresh Water from Humidity In the Air
T. Anbarasu*, S. Pavithra†
*M.E Student, Adiparasakthi Engineering college,
†[Link] Student,Veltech Multitech Dr. R.R & Dr.S.R Engineering college

Keywords: Extraction freshwater, Refrigeration, Vapour Com- more susceptible to UV than they are to chlorine [3]. Atmospheric
pression, Desiccants Dew point. water generator technologies can address the need for clean wa-
ter without any health or environment concerns. They are already
available in locations that have grid power and public waterworks.
Abstract This paper reports the design and fabrication of a water-from-air
In vapour compression Refrigeration system, it generates fresh system, coupled with rainwater collection, that can run from bat-
drinking water and also extracts water from humid ambient air by tery banks powered by the sun.
using Cooling Condensation process. The two primary techniques
in use are cooling and desiccants. In a cooling condensation based
atmospheric water generator, a compressor circulates refrigerant 2 Water Generation System
through a condenser and an evaporator coil which cools the air
surrounding it, lowering the air’s dew point and causing water to Atmospheric water generating systems harvest fresh great tast-
condense. A controlled-speed fan pushes filtered air over the coil. ing water from air. Many people have no idea that the extracting
The resulting water is then passed into a holding tank with purifica- “water from air” technology exists, and most people have no idea
tion and filtration system to keep the water pure. Atmospheric water how much water is readily available in Earth’s atmosphere – there
generating technology offers 99.9% pure drinking water 365 days a is over 3,100 cubic miles of water, or more than 3.4 quadrillion
year. The atmospheric water generator is an environmentally safe gallons at any one time in our atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle
source of sustainable water. ensures that billions of gallons of water are evaporating into or
raining out of the atmosphere every day. This creates a never
1 Introduction ending continuous supply of fresh water that is available and
accessible almost everywhere in the world. Atmospheric water
An atmospheric water generator is a device that extracts water generator produces water similar to the way rain is made and
from humid ambient air. Water vapour in the air is condensed by are the most environmentally friendly water dispensing systems
cooling the air below its dew point, exposing the air to desiccants, available on the market. The world desperately needs alterna-
or pressurizing the air. Unlike a dehumidifier, an AWG is designed tive “water cultivation” methods and producing water from air
to render the water potable. AWGs are very useful in locations is one of the most viable and sound solutions presented as the
where pure drinking water is difficult or impossible to obtain, as world’s fresh water needs increase daily. The revolutionary tech-
there is almost always a small amount of water in the air. The nology is making available the ability to meet and fill the growing
two primary techniques in use are cooling and desiccants. Severe demand for economical, safe, great tasting drinking water in an
water shortages are currently experienced by 470 million people clean drinking water is to health and wellness for people every-
and it is projected that by 2025, the number of people living in where. The atmospheric water generator is an environmentally
water-stressed countries will increase to 3 billion [1]. It is also safe viable source of sustainable water. It can be used solely for
estimated that 2.4 billion people in the world lack access to safe agriculture in which the use of our sophisticated water purifica-
drinking water and that there are about 1.7 million deaths per year tion and water filtration methods isn’t necessary. But, when clean
worldwide because of diseases found in poor water quality [1]. In drinking water is essential the water created by the A.W.G. goes
the initial unoptimized tests, it generated 18.3 litres of water in 24 through both UV light and Ozone water purification systems in
hours in ambient air conditions with an average relative humidity addition to the multi-step patented carbon water filtration system
of 70% RH. Within this period, it consumed 2 kilowatt-hours to produce 99% pure drinking water.
of energy per liter of water generated. In a recent paper, it was Prototype of water generation were assembled Prototype in Fig-
mentioned that UV irradiation is quickly gaining popularity in the ure-1 was a modified dehumidifier which used a commercial
consumer market as a safe, effective, and economical approach to household dehumidifier with its compressor replaced by a 1.1
disinfection [2]. There are many pathogenic organisms that are kilowatt car compressor and assembled with an electric motor.

75
 Chennai and [Link] University Second International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Intelligent System

from the storage tank by a submersible pump at a flow rate of up

to 83.3 liters per minute.
This water pump is needed to provide the minimum pressure of
50 psi to run ceramic filter with a production flow rate of 750ml
per minute. This is where water sediments are removed. It then
proceeds to the final treatment level -- the UV radiation where re-
maining pathogens, bacteria, and viruses are eliminated in the wa-
ter by exposing it to a UV light with 253.7 nm wavelength [4].

2.3 Water Formation In A Humid Atmosphere

The fact that water treeing occurs in humid air is important to
current insulation theory because it reveals that water in the liq-
uid state is not required for water treeing to begin. But, if water
Figure 1: Block diagram of prototype in the liquid state can occur as a result of some force in organic
materials in humid air, then the same explanations which have
Figure 2 shows the process of air vapour condensation and water
been proposed for water treeing in the presence of water might
generation in Prototype.
be applied to the mechanism in humid air [5]. First, we will con-
sider water formation due to ambient temperature change. Then
the possibility of water formation due to a change of electrical
field energy will be considered. The quantitative discussions in
this section indicate the two possibilities cannot be accepted. The
authors propose a possibility of water formation in the form of
induced capillary condensation due to electrical stress.
The absolute water vapour pressure P1 (Pa) at RH% of relative
humidity is calculated. The estimated numerical values of P1 are
plotted against temperature for the relative humidity of 60, 80,
and 100% in Fig. 3. We can consider the actual possibility of liq-
uid water formation from Fig. 3. For example, in the experiment
under the conditions of ș1=50°C and RH = 80%, P1 is equal to 74
mmHg (9864 Pa).

Figure 2: Water Generation Systems

2.1 Operation Of Water Generation System

Powered by grid electricity, the car compressor liquefies the tet-
ra-fluoroethane refrigerant (R134a) at a pressure of 200-250 per
square inch (psi) and raises the coil temperature to about 80-89 de-
grees Celsius (oC). This hot liquid passes through the filter dryer
that removes unwanted sediments and absorbs moisture. It, then,
passes through an expansion valve that automatically regulates
the flow of refrigerant with respect to the temperature of the cold
suction coil of the compressor. This compressor is run by an AC
motor and a car battery to enable its magnetic coil. The refrigerant
Figure 3: Dew Point on water vapor pressure curves
expands at a low pressure of 30-40 psi and at a coil temperature
of 10-21 oC. At this temperature range, the water vapour from air Thus, the temperature decreases to 45.8°C, corresponding to the
condenses into liquid to an average of 763 millilitres per hour at saturated vapor pressure of 74 mmHg, as required to condense
an average of 70 % RH. water vapor. That is to say ,a temperature change of 4.2°C is nec-
essary. Similarly, a temperature decrease of 11.5°C is necessary
2.2 Water Treatment System for condensation under the experimental conditions of ș1 = 50°C
The system set-up used an off-the-shelf water purification system. and RH = 60%.
The initial set-up was a built-in water catchment system which
relied on gravity for collection. Water dripped slowly making 3 Computations And Estimations
potable water collection time-inefficient. A motor-driven water
collection system was used where water was pumped into the ce- Amount of water in atmosphere depends on temperature and hu-
ramic filter and to the UV radiation, which made the water collec- midity. For relative humidity 100% the maximum partial pressure
tion and treatment process faster. The collected water is pumped of water vapor is shown in Table 1.

76
 Vapour Compression Refrigeration System Generating Fresh Water From Humidity In The Air

Table 1: Projected volume of water in varied humidity conditions industry name for a hermetic is hermetically sealed compressor,
and temperatures while a semi- is commonly called a semi hermetic compressor.
In hermetic and most semi-hermetic compressors, the compres-
*Tempera- Humidity sor and motor driving the compressor are integrated, and operate
ture (oC) 50% 60% 65% 70% 80% 90% 100% within the pressurized gas envelope of the system. The motor is
15 5.5 5.7 7.2 8.7 9.5 12.4 14.3 designed to operate and be cooled by the gas or vapour being
compressed. The difference between the hermetic and semi-her-
20 7.4 8.4 9.6 11.0 12.4 17.4 23.7
metic, is that the hermetic uses a one-piece welded steel casing
25 9.7 12.4 15.6 18.3 22.0 27.3 33.3 that cannot be opened for repair; if the hermetic fails it is simply
30 12.2 18.0 20.8 25.7 29.2 37.2 47.3 replaced with an entire new unit.
35 15.0 24.4 28.0 32.9 37.2 47.0 57.0 A semi-hermetic uses a large cast metal shell with gasketed covers
that can be opened to replace motor and pump components. The
The amount of water in 1 m3 of air may be computed by equa- primary advantage of a hermetic and semi-hermetic is that there is
tion 1 no route for the gas to leak out of the system. Open compressors
rely on either natural leather or synthetic rubber seals to retain the
Mw = 0.00625[p(t1) – p(t2)]
internal pressure, and these seals require a lubricant such as oil to
The computation of equation (1) is presented in [Link] retain their sealing properties. An advantage of open compressors
relative humidity of atmosphere air is 0.5 - 1. Fig.4 Amount of is that they can be driven by non-electric power sources, such as
water in 1 m3 of air versus air temperature and relative humidity an internal combustion engine or turbine. However, open com-
(rh). t1 = 0 (oC) has been described in the following figure.[4] pressors that drive refrigeration systems are generally not totally
maintenance free throughout the life of the system, since some
Figure 4: Amount of water in 1 m3 of air versus air temperature gas leakage will occur over time.
and relative humidity (rh). t1 = 0 (oC) The hermetically sealed compressors have inbuilt lubrication sys-
tem for the lubrication of the piston and cylinder and crankshaft.
The lubricant also acts the coolant for the piston and cylinder. Ad-
4 Cooling Condensation Process ditionally, the cool suction refrigerant also offers cooling effect.
In a cooling condensation based atmospheric water generator,
a compressor circulates refrigerant through a condenser and an 4.2 Wet Desiccation
evaporator coil which cools the air surrounding it, lowering the One form of wet desiccant water generation involves the use of
air’s dew point and causing water to condense. A controlled-speed salt in a concentrated brine solution to absorb the ambient humid-
fan pushes filtered air over the coil. The resulting water is then ity. These systems then extract the water from the solution and
passed into a holding tank with purification and filtration system purify them for consumption. A version of this technology was
to keep the water pure[1]. The rate at which water can be pro- developed as portable devices which run on generators. Large
duced depends on relative humidity and ambient air temperature versions, mounted on trailers, are said to produce up to 1200 gal-
and size of the compressor. Atmospheric water generators become lons of water per day [8], at a rate of up to 5 gallons of water per
more effective as relative humidity and air temperature increase. gallon of fuel.
As a rule of thumb, Cooling Condensation atmospheric water
generators do not work efficiently when the temperature falls be- 4.3 Dew Point
low 18.3°C (65°F) or the relative humidity drops below 30%[7].
The cost-effectiveness of an atmospheric water generator depends The dew point is the temperature to which a given parcel of hu-
on the capacity of the machine, local humidity and temperature mid air must be cooled, at constant barometric pressure, for water
conditions and the cost to power the unit. vapor to condense into water. The condensed water is called dew.
The dew point is a saturation temperature. The dew point is asso-
4.1 Compressor ciated with relative humidity. A high relative humidity indicates
that the dew point is closer to the current air temperature. Relative
In hermetically sealed compressor, in one side of the enclosed humidity of 100% indicates the dew point is equal to the current
casing the various parts of the compressor like cylinder, piston, temperature and the air is maximally saturated with water. When
connecting rod and the crankshaft are located. If it is a multi-cyl- the dew point remains constant and temperature increases, rela-
inder compressor, there are more than two cylinders inside the tive humidity will decrease and as we have discussed in section
casing. On the other side of the casing is the electric winding in- 2.3.
side which the shaft of the motor rotates. This motor can be single
speed or multi-speed motor. In hermetically sealed compressors 4.4 Relative Humidity
the crankshaft of the reciprocating compressor and the rotating
shaft of the motor are common. The rotating shaft of the motor It is defined as the ratio of the mass of water vapor present in
extends beyond the motor and forms the crankshaft of the her- the unit volume of the air at certain temperature to the maximum
metically sealed reciprocating compressor. mass of the water vapor that can be accommodated in the unit vol-
Compressors are often described as being open, hermetic, or ume of air when it is saturated. We have seen that the partial pres-
semi-hermetic, to describe how the compressor and motor drive sure of the water vapor depends on the mass of the water vapor in
is situated in relation to the gas or vapor being compressed. The the air. Hence we can also define relative humidity as the ratio of

77
 Chennai and [Link] University Second International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Intelligent System

the partial pressure of the water vapor at a given temperature to sprayed over these coils. At the same time the fan draws air from
the partial pressure of water vapor when the air is saturated at the the bottom side of the condenser and discharges it from the top
same temperature. Relative humidity is a term used to describe side of the condenser. The spray water that comes in contact with
the amount of water vapor that exists in a gaseous mixture of air the condenser coil gets evaporated in the air and it absorbs the
and water vapor. heat from the condenser, cools the refrigerant and condenses it.
The relative humidity (ij)of an air-water mixture is defined as the Evaporative condensers have the benefits of water cooled as well
ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor (ew) in the mixture to as air cooled condenser, hence it occupies less space. However,
the saturated vapor pressure of water (e*w) at a prescribed tem- keeping the evaporative condenser clean and free of scale is very
perature. difficult and requires lots of maintenance.
Relative humidity is normally expressed as a percentage and is
calculated by using the following equation: 5.3 Condenser
5.3.1 Air cooled condensers:
5 Comparison Between Various Compres-
Air cooled condensers are used in small units like household re-
sion Systems frigerators, deep freezers, water coolers, window air-conditioners,
split air-conditioners, small packaged air-conditioners etc. These
5.1 Performance Comparison are used in plants where the cooling load is small and the total
quantity of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle is small. Air
The COPs for various microelectronics cooling systems involving cooled condensers are also called coil condensers as they are usu-
classical (mechanical compression), with ejector, with pumpless ally made of copper or aluminium coil. Air cooled condensers oc-
absorption have been evaluated before [9].For the present study, cupy a comparatively larger space than water cooled condensers.
the absorption system with solution pump will be compared only
to the pumpless (with hydrogen as compensatory gas) absorption 5.3.2 Water cooled condensers:
system as well as the most efficient mechanical compression re-
frigeration system. The results are summarized in Table [Link] this Water cooled condensers are used for large refrigerating plants,
table describe the various refrigeration types and its working big packaged air-conditioners, central air-conditioning plants, etc.
comparison. These are used in plants where cooling loads are excessively high
and a large quantity of refrigerant flows through the condenser.
There are three types of water cooled condensers: tube-in-tube or
Table 2: COP Comparison
double pipe type, shell and coil type and shell and tube type. In
Refrigeration Type COP all these condensers the refrigerant flows through one side of the
Mechanical Compression 4.24 piping while the water flows through the other piping, cooling the
Pumpless Absorption 0.5 refrigerant and condensing it.
Solution Pump Absorption 0.73
5.4 Water Quality Results
The largest COP is achieved by the mechanical compression,
Water samples collected from SAWGAP system were submitted for
most efficient of the three refrigeration systems described before.
bacteriological analysis at three stages: pre-treatment, post ceramic
The mechanical system does not require additional input energy,
filtering, and post-UV irradiation. It was found that, prior to treat-
as compression occurs through mechanical means in the mechani-
ment, water generated from air was comparable to tap water quality
cal compressor (~ 25W needed to run the compressor).For the
and conformed to the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Wa-
absorption system, an electrical resistance helps boil the ammo-
ter (PNSDW) with regard to the absence of coli form bacteria[3,4].
nia-water mixture, thus separate the ammonia vapors (entering
the condenser) from the water which returns to the absorber to
participate in the dissolution (absorption) process. The electrical 6 Conclusion
resistance value is fairly high, reaching almost 222W for almost
100W of cooling power. The electrical energy is converted into This paper has discussed water generation system in humid air.
thermal energy further used in the dissolution (associate with An atmospheric water generator (AWG), is a device that extracts
phase change) processing the absorber unit. The absorption sys- water from humid ambient air. Water vapor in the air is condensed
tem with solution pump is more effective than the pumpless sys- by cooling the air below its dew point, exposing the air to des-
tem due to the reduction of the energy input needed for the boiling iccants, or pressurizing the air. The water generator, made from
in the desorber, due to the pre-heating of the rich solution during air-conditioning and dehumidifier parts, generated an amount of
the heat exchange between the rich and weak solution in the heat water enough to supply a regular household’s drinking needs. It
exchanger, ultimately leading to increased system efficiency. addresses the need for safe drinking water in remote areas and re-
sponds to the impending scarcity of potable water in certain areas
5.2 Evaporator due to the effects of global warming and natural disasters. It can
also replace or supplement the currently available water devices
Evaporative condensers are usually used in ice plants. They are a in the market to reach the more remote areas. In order to bring
combination of water cooled and air cooled condensers. In these down the manufacturing cost of this system, it is recommended
condensers the hot refrigerant flows through the coils. Water is that a further study be done on the fabrication of ceramic filter.

78
 Vapour Compression Refrigeration System Generating Fresh Water From Humidity In The Air

Acknowledgement [9] Bolonkin A.A., (2004b), Utilization of Wind Energy at

High Altitude, AIAA-2004-5705, AIAA-2004-5756, In-
The authors would like to thank Dr. R. Kannan Adhiparasakthi ternational Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
Engineering college for his continued interest and thoughtful sug- at Providence., RI, Aug.16-19. 2004. USA. [Link]
gestions. org
[10] Alexander Bolonkin “Extraction of Freshwater and Energy
from Atmosphere” Brooklyn, NY 11229, USA T/F 718-
References 339-4563.
[1] San Luis Obispo, California” System generates drinking [11] M. Elimelech, “The global challenge for adequate and safer
water from moisture in the air”, Membrane Technology Vol- water,” Clarke Prize, 2005, and Aqua – Journal of Water
ume 2009, Issue 11, November 2009, Page 7. Supply: Research and Technology, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 3-10,
[2] S.C. Wang and Y.H. Liu, “High-power-factor electronic Feb. 2006.
ballast with intelligent energy-saving control for ultraviolet [12] P.H. Gleick, “Basic water requirements for human activi-
drinking-water treatment systems,” IEEE Transactions on ties: Meeting basic needs. Water International, vol. 1, pp.
Industrial Electronics, vol. 55, no. 1, January 2008. 83-92, 1996.
[3] Patents; “Draw water from air, measure how much water [13] Chiriac, V. and Chiriac, F – “An Alternative Method for the
you drink and be kind to the fish you catch”. New York Cooling of Power Microelectronics Using Classical Refrig-
Times. July 2, 2001 eration”, Journal of Electronics Packaging, Volume130, Is-
[4] “Drinking Water From Air Humidity” Science Daily (June sue 4, December 2008.
8, 2009) [14] W. Lang, et al.; Humidity measurement by dynamic dew-
[5] C.D. Harvell, K. Kim, J.M. Burkholder, R.R. Colwell, P.R. point detection; The 12th International Conference on Solid
Epstein, J. Grimes, E.E. Hofmann, E. Lipp, A.D.M.E. Os- State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, Boston, June 8-
terhaus, R. Overstreet R, et al. Emerging marine diseases: 12, 2003, Vol. 2 PP 1864-1866.
climate links and anthropogenic factors. Science 285:1505- [15] Handbook of ASHRAE Fundamentals, 1997, pg.4–7.
1510 (1999). Cited in R.B. Levin, [Link],. (2002). “U.S. [16] Rohsenow, W., Hartnett, J., Cho, Y., “Handbook of Heat
drinking water challenges in the twenty-first century,” En- Transfer, Third Edition’, McGraw Hill.
vironmental Health Perspectives Supplements, vol. 110, no. [17] Minea, V., and Chiriac, F, “Hybrid Absorption Heat Pump
S1, Feb. 2002. with Ammonia/Water Mixture – some design guidelines and
[6] T. Yoshimitsu, H. Mitsui, K. Hishida, and H. Yoshida “Wa- district heating application”, 2006, International Journal of
ter Treeing Phenomena In Humid Air” IEEE Transaction on Refrigeration, 29, pg. 1080 – 1091, ELSEVIER.
Electrical insulation [Link]-18 No.4. August. [18] W.F. Stoeker. Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. New
[7] Water Extracted from the Air for Disaster Relief. National York: McGraw-Hill, 1958, p 336.
Public Radio; by Nell Greenfield boyce; October 19, 2006. [19] M. Elimelech, “The global challenge for adequate and safer
[8] Chiriac, V. and Chiriac, F–“Miniaturized Refrigeration System water,” Clarke Prize, 2005, and Aqua – Journal of Water
with Absorption Application to Microelectronics Cooling”, Pro- Supply: Research and Technology, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 3-10,
ceedings of ASME InterPACK’07, Vancouver, Canada, 2007. Feb. 2006.

79

View publication stats