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The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

fastcompany.com

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Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#51

Post by kazinator »

corodra wrote: post #25

It’s an overpriced dehumidifier. Pulling humidity out of the air. It’s not magic. It’s not new. There is water vapor in the air, every middle schooler knows this. They are in Hawaii. An outdoor dehumidifier will work great in a water abundant area. How well do you think a dehumidifier will work in a low humidity area? The places that need water the most. It’s not making water, it’s pulling out the humidity. This is s…

> They are in Hawaii. An outdoor dehumidifier will work great in a water abundant area.

In fact, isn't there a big, natural dehumidifier in the center of Maui?

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#52

Post by zodPod »

corodra wrote: post #25

It’s an overpriced dehumidifier. Pulling humidity out of the air. It’s not magic. It’s not new. There is water vapor in the air, every middle schooler knows this. They are in Hawaii. An outdoor dehumidifier will work great in a water abundant area. How well do you think a dehumidifier will work in a low humidity area? The places that need water the most. It’s not making water, it’s pulling out the humidity. This is s…

I was going to say, I have a dehumidifier in my basement that I empty a gallon of water out of/day during the summer in Pennsylvania. I can't believe this kind of shit wins the xprize.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#53

Post by kazinator »

stephengillie wrote: post #32
corodra wrote: post #25

It’s an overpriced dehumidifier. Pulling humidity out of the air. It’s not magic. It’s not new. There is water vapor in the air, every middle schooler knows this. They are in Hawaii. An outdoor dehumidifier will work great in a water abundant area. How well do you think a dehumidifier will work in a low humidity area? The places that need water the most. It’s not making water, it’s pulling out the humidity. This is s…

This reminds me of desert water collectors. There are so many that it's hard to find any specific one. Here are a few examples. http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Architecture/wind.htm https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/sophistic... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/this-tower-pulls-d... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_well_(condenser) http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Moisture_vaporator http://ww…

Better check those last two again; one is about fictional tech from Star Wars, the other likewise about something from Dune.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#54

Post by kazinator »

stephengillie wrote: post #37
explorigin wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the approach is a bit more novel than normal dehumidifiers. Instead of just collecting water dripping of the condenser coils, they use the cooler air to make a "rain chamber". The website talks about "maintaining a dew point within a condensation chamber".

This sounds like Persian Wind Catchers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher There's a similar type of building which uses temperature difference to generate condensation within a building, creating a pool of water. The name escapes me at the moment.

> The name escapes me at the moment.

Vancouver Condo

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#55

Post by polynomial »

ed_balls wrote: post #24
travisoneill1 wrote: post #17

2 cents a liter is not close to feasible for any sort of agricultural or industrial use and is an order of magnitude more expensive than residential tap water. Seems like cool tech, but I can't see how this is a solution to any type of water shortage.

Another problem is that the water doesn't taste great.

Source?

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#56

Post by salawat »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #39
reason-mr wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand it, it is basically the skysource water extraction device hooked to an all-power labs gassifier, which produces electricity from gassifying organic material. Allpower's product uses the gassifier output in a conventional engine, in turn using that to power a generator. The great part here is - uses locally generated biomass, and produces a waste stream of biochar, which can be used for argiculture, es…

Yup, that's what I got from it. But also the engine is producing CO2 and Water from the biomass. Which can in turn be fed into the water extractor. I think that is the novel step.

And yet pre-supposes the availability of biomass to gassify.

Even if that were part of the implementation, it'd likely be missing the point.

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#57

Post by cellularmitosis »

explorigin wrote: post #34
corodra wrote: post #25

It’s an overpriced dehumidifier. Pulling humidity out of the air. It’s not magic. It’s not new. There is water vapor in the air, every middle schooler knows this. They are in Hawaii. An outdoor dehumidifier will work great in a water abundant area. How well do you think a dehumidifier will work in a low humidity area? The places that need water the most. It’s not making water, it’s pulling out the humidity. This is s…

I think the approach is a bit more novel than normal dehumidifiers. Instead of just collecting water dripping of the condenser coils, they use the cooler air to make a "rain chamber". The website talks about "maintaining a dew point within a condensation chamber".

Was this the mechanism at work in the movie "Prometheus"?

Re: The Water Abundance XPrize winner makes water from air

#60

Post by stephengillie »

kazinator wrote: post #53
stephengillie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of desert water collectors. There are so many that it's hard to find any specific one. Here are a few examples. http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Architecture/wind.htm https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/sophistic... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/this-tower-pulls-d... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_well_(condenser) http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Moisture_vaporator http://ww…

Better check those last two again; one is about fictional tech from Star Wars , the other likewise about something from Dune .

The problem has been solved for so long that it's used by multiple authors in our culture's fiction.
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