Liquid Water Production from Atmospheric Sources

Abstract

The purpose of this effort was to assess the feasibility of developing a desiccant system to produce potable water from atmospheric sources that is compatible with military constraints. Goals were: (1) to examine desiccant technology, investigate methods of using available desiccants to collect atmospheric moisture, (2) develop a conceptual model of a desiccant water production system, and (3) develop a mathematical model to simulate the operation of the conceptual model. Results show that a desiccant system can produce large quantities of potable water using relatively small amounts of fuel for heat and fan power. The focus of this project was using a liquid desiccant (such as triethylene glycol) in an absorption-distillation cycle. This report documents the theoretical analysis of a hypothetical liquid desiccant based system for producing liquid water through collection of atmospheric moisture. Estimates are mode of cost, weight and water production rate for the hypothetical system.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1991
Accession Number
ADA235090

Entities

People

  • John D. Matthews
  • Norman P. Clarke

Organizations

  • Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemistry
  • Civil Engineering
  • Desiccants
  • Distillation
  • Drinking Water
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Flow Rate
  • Gases
  • Heat Energy
  • Heat Exchangers
  • Heat Transfer
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Production
  • Production Rate
  • Productivity
  • Water Vapor

Readers

  • Climatology
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Organic Chemistry