Thermal analysis and optimization of a system for water harvesting from humid air using thermoelectric coolers

Condensation of water vapor available in atmospheric air can be considered as a solution for water scarcity problem. In this paper, a comprehensive thermodynamic analysis of water production from humid air using thermoelectric coolers (TECs) is presented. The system consists of a number of thermoelectric coolers, a fan to supply the required air flow circulation, two cold and hot air channels, heat sinks and solar cells for powering the thermoelectric coolers and fan. Effects of various design parameters are investigated and discussed. The proposed design is optimized to get the maximum effectiveness which is defined as the amount of produced water per unit of energy consumption. Sensitivity analysis is used to find the optimum number of TECs, length of the channels and performance of the system at different temperatures. The resulting system is capable of producing 26 ml of water within 1 h from the air with 75% relative humidity and the temperature of 318 K by consuming only 20 W of electrical power. In addition, the annual performance and optimization of this device in three southern cities of Iran are presented based on hourly meteorological data. Finally, comparison of the present system with other air water generators indicates that the proposed design is the most energy efficient system among similar devices especially in high relative humidity.