Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

 Drinking Water From Air Humidity

  Source : ScienceDaily (June 8, 2009)

• Not a plant to be seen, the desert ground is too dry. But the air contains water, and research scientists have found a way of obtaining drinking water from air humidity. The system is based completely on renewable energy and is therefore autonomous.

• Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart working in conjunction with their colleagues from the company Logos Innovationen have found a way of converting this air humidity autonomously and decentrally into drinkable water.

• The principle of the process is as follows : hygroscopic brine - saline solution which absorbs moisture - runs down a tower-shaped unit and absorbs water from the air. It is then sucked into a tank a few meters off the ground in which a vacuum prevails. Energy from solar collectors heats up the brine, which is diluted by the water it has absorbed.

• "The concept is suitable for various sizes of installation. Single-person units and plants supplying water to entire hotels are conceivable," says Egner. Prototypes have been built for both system components - air moisture absorption and vacuum evaporation - and the research scientists have already tested their interplay on a laboratory scale. In a further step the researchers intend to develop a demonstration facility.

 Pour en savoir plus sur le site ScienceDaily