Experimental study of atmospheric water collection powered by solar energy using the Peltier effect

Abstract

A small-scale prototype with one thermoelectric module was constructed to collect water from the atmosphere, and studied experimentally. It was driven by a solar panel module and operated by reducing the cold side temperature to less than the dew point temperature of ambient air. The system was designed and assembled depending on the capacity of the Peltier device, of dimension (4×4 cm^2), and energy needed. The system consisted of a heat sink, extended cold surface, Peltier device and fan, which were housed in a vertical rectangular section duct and used with different air temperatures, airflow rates, and humidity levels. A numerical model was used to study the temperature distribution on the cold side, which was applied to size the cooler to estimate the water production rate. The results suggest that the water production rate increased with the increasing of the moisture level in the air. The tests also showed that increasing the amount of air flowing on the heat sink increased the amount of water collected and enhanced the transfer of heat on the hot side. The achieved results show that the collection of water is reasonable with the proposed thermoelectric method using solar energy.

Increasing the efficiency of a Peltier device by assessing the thermal performance of liquid-cooled microchannel heat sinks

“…Trends indicate higher relative humidity and higher airflow rate leads to an increase in water production [5,9]. This leads to the explanation that the cold side temperature of the Peltier device, Tc, is lower with increasing airflow, which is demonstrated by the works of Shourideh et al, Kadhim et al and Eslami et al [5,9,10].…”

“…In the case of cooling condensation, a compressor circulates coolant through a system, which reduces the temperature at a capture surface where water can condense onto [5]. Modern investigations explore the cooling condensation method, however, rather than a refrigerant circulating, the system utilises the Peltier effect to more efficiently cool the water capture surface [4,5,10].…”

“…A TEC typically features a p-n semiconductor array (junction) encased in ceramic plates on both the top and the bottom frames for the hot and cold sides of a Peltier device, illustrated in Figure 1. The flow of direct current through the device will produce a temperature gradient between the two plates which in turn, generates a thermal flux, transferring heat from one side to another [10,14]. To prevent overheating, a heatsink must be attached to the hot side to dissipate the heat produced by the module and the Joule heat produced consequence of the electricity supply [13,14].…”

“…When the cold side of the device reaches the ambient dew point, the contacting water vapour condenses into water droplets [10,15]. Figure 2 illustrates a simplified schematic of an AWG based on a TEC module, showing the main components and the direction of air flow.…”

Design, simulation, and optimization of portable atmospheric water generator using vapor compression refrigeration system

“…Therefore, the AWG device can be applied in certain conditions where the saline water is limited or even unavailable. Generally, the AWG consists of a cooling system that uses vapor compression or thermoelectric system [2]- [5]. In this study, the conceptual design and optimization of portable AWG that uses a vapor compression refrigeration system is investigated.…”