Thermodynamic analysis and performance enhancement of a solar driven atmospheric water harvesting system integrating absorption energy storage

This work proposed a novel solar driven active air cooling based atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) system integrated with absorption energy storage. An effective control strategy was proposed, which achieved energy regulation of each circuit through the control of valves group and pump for the purposes of improving the water harvesting rate and energy utilization efficiency of AWH. Based on the actual solar radiation intensity as well as temperature and humidity data of the atmosphere, the off-grid dynamic operation characteristics and the potential for energy saving and clean water generation of this system were evaluated. The assessment results considering the climate characteristics of different regions and seasons indicate that the water harvesting rate per unit area can reach as high as 6.01 kg/(m2·day), and can still exceed 2.18 kg/(m2·day) in arid areas. The cooling coefficient of performance can reach 0.77 to 1.06. The water production thermal efficiency is 0.28 to 0.72. The present research results provided a solution for novel sustainable and efficient clean water harvesting technologies to promote efficient and distributed freshwater access, especially in tropical regions such as islands lacking stable freshwater and electricity resources.