{"id":96075,"date":"2020-10-15T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=96075"},"modified":"2020-10-15T18:48:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T22:48:51","slug":"mit-news-solar-powered-system-extracts-drinkable-water-from-dry-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=96075","title":{"rendered":"(MIT News) Solar-powered system extracts drinkable water from \u201cdry\u201d air"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have significantly boosted the output from a system that can extract drinkable water directly from the air even in dry regions, using heat from the sun or another source.<\/p>\n

The system, which builds on a design initially developed<\/a> three years ago at MIT by members of the same team, brings the process closer to something that could become a practical water source for remote regions with limited access to water and electricity. The findings are described today in the journal Joule<\/em>, in a paper<\/a> by Professor Evelyn Wang, who is head of MIT\u2019s Department of Mechanical Engineering; graduate student Alina LaPotin; and six others at MIT and in Korea and Utah.<\/p>\n

The earlier device demonstrated<\/a> by Wang and her co-workers provided a proof of concept for the system, which harnesses a temperature difference within the device to allow an adsorbent material \u2014 which collects liquid on its surface \u2014 to draw in moisture from the air at night and release it the next day. When the material is heated by sunlight, the difference in temperature between the heated top and the shaded underside makes the water release back out of the adsorbent material. The water then gets condensed on a collection plate.<\/p>\n

But that device required the use of specialized materials called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are expensive and limited in supply, and the system\u2019s water output was not sufficient for a practical system. Now, by incorporating a second stage of desorption and condensation, and by using a readily available adsorbent material, the device\u2019s output has been significantly increased, and its scalability as a potentially widespread product is greatly improved, the researchers say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Researchers @MIT<\/a> and elsewhere have significantly boosted the output from a system that can extract drinkable water directly from the air even in dry regions https:\/\/t.co\/xaoVXO9skX<\/a><\/p>\n

— AAU (@AAUniversities) October 14, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n