IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i9p3026-d798404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance Evaluation of Solar-Powered Atmospheric Water Harvesting Using Different Glazing Materials in the Tropical Built Environment: An Experimental Study

Author

Listed:
  • Husam S. Al-Duais

    (Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Muhammad Azzam Ismail

    (Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Zakaria Alcheikh Mahmoud Awad

    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Karam M. Al-Obaidi

    (Department of the Natural and Built Environment, College of Social Sciences and Arts, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK)

Abstract

Water scarcity is a global issue, and its severity is expected to worsen in the near future, prompting further efforts to find new sources of freshwater. Solar-Powered Atmospheric Water Harvesting (SPAWH) is a promising passive approach for atmospheric water generation. This study aims to examine the thermal performance of different glazing materials and water production in SPAWH. The research consists of two phases: a laboratory test of various glazing materials and an experimental study to assess system efficiency in producing water in the tropics. The preliminary results indicated that glass demonstrated better thermal performance than acrylic in the lab, with higher thermal conductivity and less heat loss. The experimental findings showed that the maximum water produced by the proposed SPAWH (60 cm length, 60 cm width and 30 cm height) placed on a 30° tilt angle using glass (3 mm) and acrylic (3 mm) was 0.61 L/m 2 /day and 0.44 L/m 2 /day, respectively. The cost analysis revealed that produced water costs $0.18/kg for glass and $0.40/kg for acrylic, respectively. Atmospheric water could be harvested using SPAWH in the tropics, which would help to provide new opportunities for sustainable water supplies and development in these regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Husam S. Al-Duais & Muhammad Azzam Ismail & Zakaria Alcheikh Mahmoud Awad & Karam M. Al-Obaidi, 2022. "Performance Evaluation of Solar-Powered Atmospheric Water Harvesting Using Different Glazing Materials in the Tropical Built Environment: An Experimental Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:9:p:3026-:d:798404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/9/3026/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/9/3026/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Al-Karaghouli, A. A. & Alnaser, W. E., 2004. "Performances of single and double basin solar-stills," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(3), pages 347-354, July.
    2. Al-Karaghouli, A. A. & Alnaser, W. E., 2004. "Experimental comparative study of the performances of single and double basin solar-stills," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 317-325, March.
    3. Chaitanya, Bathina & Bahadur, Vaibhav & Thakur, Ajay D. & Raj, Rishi, 2018. "Biomass-gasification-based atmospheric water harvesting in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 610-621.
    4. Talaat, M.A. & Awad, M.M. & Zeidan, E.B. & Hamed, A.M., 2018. "Solar-powered portable apparatus for extracting water from air using desiccant solution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 662-674.
    5. Wikramanayake, Enakshi D. & Ozkan, Onur & Bahadur, Vaibhav, 2017. "Landfill gas-powered atmospheric water harvesting for oilfield operations in the United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 647-658.
    6. Shereen K. Sibie & Mohamed F. El-Amin & Shuyu Sun, 2021. "Modeling of Water Generation from Air Using Anhydrous Salts," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Lucia Cattani & Paolo Cattani & Anna Magrini, 2021. "Air to Water Generator Integrated Systems: The Proposal of a Global Evaluation Index—GEI Formulation and Application Examples," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    8. Kaviti, Ajay Kumar & Yadav, Akhilesh & Shukla, Amit, 2016. "Inclined solar still designs: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 429-451.
    9. Kabeel, A.E., 2007. "Water production from air using multi-shelves solar glass pyramid system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 157-172.
    10. Kabeel, A.E. & Hamed, A.M. & El-Agouz, S.A., 2010. "Cost analysis of different solar still configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 2901-2908.
    11. William, G.E. & Mohamed, M.H. & Fatouh, M., 2015. "Desiccant system for water production from humid air using solar energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1707-1720.
    12. Gad, H.E & Hamed, A.M & El-Sharkawy, I.I, 2001. "Application of a solar desiccant/collector system for water recovery from atmospheric air," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 541-556.
    13. Zanganeh, Peyman & Goharrizi, Ataallah Soltani & Ayatollahi, Shahab & Feilizadeh, Mehrzad & Dashti, Hossein, 2020. "Efficiency improvement of solar stills through wettability alteration of the condensation surface: An experimental study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fathy, Mohamed H. & Awad, Mohamed M. & Zeidan, El-Shafei B. & Hamed, Ahmed M., 2020. "Solar powered foldable apparatus for extracting water from atmospheric air," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1462-1489.
    2. Reif, John H. & Alhalabi, Wadee, 2015. "Solar-thermal powered desalination: Its significant challenges and potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 152-165.
    3. Salehi, Ali Akbar & Ghannadi-Maragheh, Mohammad & Torab-Mostaedi, Meisam & Torkaman, Rezvan & Asadollahzadeh, Mehdi, 2020. "A review on the water-energy nexus for drinking water production from humid air," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Tashtoush, Bourhan & Alshoubaki, Anas, 2023. "Atmospheric water harvesting: A review of techniques, performance, renewable energy solutions, and feasibility," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    5. Ismail, Basel I., 2009. "Design and performance of a transportable hemispherical solar still," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 145-150.
    6. Tu, Rang & Hwang, Yunho, 2020. "Reviews of atmospheric water harvesting technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    7. Talaat, M.A. & Awad, M.M. & Zeidan, E.B. & Hamed, A.M., 2018. "Solar-powered portable apparatus for extracting water from air using desiccant solution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 662-674.
    8. El-Ghonemy, A.M.K., 2012. "Fresh water production from/by atmospheric air for arid regions, using solar energy: Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 6384-6422.
    9. William, G.E. & Mohamed, M.H. & Fatouh, M., 2015. "Desiccant system for water production from humid air using solar energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1707-1720.
    10. El-Ghonemy, A.M.K., 2012. "Future sustainable water desalination technologies for the Saudi Arabia: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6566-6597.
    11. Maddah, Hisham A. & Bassyouni, M. & Abdel-Aziz, M.H. & Zoromba, M. Sh & Al-Hossainy, A.F., 2020. "Performance estimation of a mini-passive solar still via machine learning," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 489-503.
    12. Gordeeva, Larisa G. & Solovyeva, Marina V. & Sapienza, Alessio & Aristov, Yuri I., 2020. "Potable water extraction from the atmosphere: Potential of MOFs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 72-80.
    13. Nayi, Kuldeep H. & Modi, Kalpesh V., 2018. "Pyramid solar still: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 136-148.
    14. Xie, Guo & Sun, Licheng & Yan, Tiantong & Tang, Jiguo & Bao, Jingjing & Du, Min, 2018. "Model development and experimental verification for tubular solar still operating under vacuum condition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 115-130.
    15. Karimi Estahbanati, M.R. & Ahsan, Amimul & Feilizadeh, Mehrzad & Jafarpur, Khosrow & Ashrafmansouri, Seyedeh-Saba & Feilizadeh, Mansoor, 2016. "Theoretical and experimental investigation on internal reflectors in a single-slope solar still," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 537-547.
    16. Chen, Yih-Hang & Li, Yu-Wei & Chang, Hsuan, 2012. "Optimal design and control of solar driven air gap membrane distillation desalination systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 193-204.
    17. Ayyagari, Veeresh & Hwang, Yunho & Kim, Jungho, 2021. "Design and development of potassium formate based atmospheric water harvester," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    18. Sathyamurthy, Ravishankar & El-Agouz, S.A. & Nagarajan, P.K. & Subramani, J. & Arunkumar, T. & Mageshbabu, D. & Madhu, B. & Bharathwaaj, R. & Prakash, N., 2017. "A Review of integrating solar collectors to solar still," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1069-1097.
    19. Wang, J.Y. & Wang, R.Z. & Wang, L.W. & Liu, J.Y., 2017. "A high efficient semi-open system for fresh water production from atmosphere," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 542-551.
    20. Feilizadeh, Mansoor & Karimi Estahbanati, M.R. & Jafarpur, Khosrow & Roostaazad, Reza & Feilizadeh, Mehrzad & Taghvaei, Hamed, 2015. "Year-round outdoor experiments on a multi-stage active solar still with different numbers of solar collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 39-46.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:9:p:3026-:d:798404. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.