An Experimental Study of the Application of Cooling Water in Taking Heat from a Thermoelectric Cooler Used in Extracting Water from Humid Air

Humid air is one of the rich sources of water, especially in desert areas. One of the ways to extract water from humid air is to cool it down to a dew point in order to condense and collect water. This research applied a thermoelectric cooler for harvesting water from humid air. Cooling water was used to reject heat from the hot side of the thermoelectric. The effect of some parameters, such as the temperature, velocity, and humidity of the inlet air as well as the cooling water temperature, was investigated experimentally. The results showed that increasing the inlet air humidity and temperature increases the water collected. At a relative humidity of 20% and an air temperature of 35 oC, the maximum amount of water at an inlet air velocity of 1 m/s was equal to about 43 mL. Of course, the amount of water obtained increases with increased air humidity. For example, in 100% relative humidity, about 200 mL/h of water can be collected. In general, the research results showed that thermoelectric coolers could be used to extract water from humid air, even in low humidity, with relatively good efficiency.