Microwave-Sized Harvester Pulls Water from Desert Air
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Researchers from the University of California - Berkeley have developed a new solar-powered water harvester that's the size of a microwave and pulls water out of the air in areas as dry as the Mojave Desert.\\xa0
The harvester blows air over a cartridge filled with metal-organic framework (MOF). The framework pulls water from the air, which is then removed by heating it. Next, the concentrated water vapor blows through a tube to a condenser.\\xa0
The harvester can pull more than five cups of water from low-humidity air per day for each kilogram (2.2 pounds) of water-absorbing material.
The harvester, which runs on solar panels and a battery, recently went through three days of field tests in the Mojave Desert. The device produced about three cups of water (0.7 liters) per kilogram of absorber per day.
On the driest day, with a relative humidity of 7% and temperatures over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the harvester still produced six ounces (0.2 liters) of water per kilogram per day.
A new startup, Water Harvester Inc., plans to market a version of the device that can supply 7 to 10 liters of water per day: enough drinking and cooking water for two to three adults.
A larger version of the harvester, about the size of a mini-fridge, will provide 200 to 250 liters of water per day, enough for a household to drink, cook and shower. In two years, the company hopes to have a harvester that will produce 20,000 liters per day, enough to provide water for a village, all running off the grid.
The research is published in the new issue of in ACS Central Science.
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