Abstract: Water scarcity is a particularly severe challenge in many areas with arid and desert climates. Meanwhile, the Earth’s atmosphere is a huge reservoir of moisture. Adsorptive portable Water Extraction from the Atmosphere (AWEA) could significantly alleviate the problem of water shortage in arid regions. The method includes a) sorption of water vapor in an adsorber in the night-time when the air relative humidity is comparatively high, and b) desorption of the stored water and its subsequent collection in a condenser in the day-time. The efficiency of the AWEA largely depends on the agreement between the adsorbent properties and the climatic conditions of the region where the process is realized. This paper addresses the feasibility analysis of the AWEA employing Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as the adsorbents. Firstly, a general scheme of this process is described and thermodynamic analysis of the process efficiency is performed. Then, based on the climatic data of water scarcity regions, we discuss which adsorbent is needed for AWEA. In other words, the thermodynamic requirements for the adsorbent properties being optimal for the AWEA are discussed. Finally, MOFs whose properties match the formulated requirements are selected and their potential for AWE is preliminary evaluated based on the data on water adsorption equilibrium.

Cite: Gordeeva L.G. , Solovʹeva M.V. , Aristov Y.I.
Fresh Water Extraction from the Atmosphere Employing MOFs as the Adsorbents.
5th International Conference on Polygeneration 15-17 May 2019