The Development of a Predictive Model for a Prototype Atmospheric Water Generator

The paper models an atmospheric water generating device (AWG) that uses the temperature difference between the atmosphere and six feet underground to condense drinking water. The study focuses on developing an analytical simulation model using Engineering Equation Solver (EES) that will enable users to assess the feasibility of implementing the AWG system prototype to estimate the hourly rate of atmospheric water collection in their respective locations by inputting air temperature, relative humidity, and mean underground temperature. The simulation model was calibrated using one year of experimental test data from a prototype AWG in Puntarenas, Costa Rica at various times of the day. Once calibrated, the model was fed average monthly air temperature, relative humidity, and underground temperature data from other cities in different climatic zones. Five test locations in Houston, Texas; Cape Town, South Africa; Basrah, Iraq; Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and Valletta, Malta were evaluated in the analytical simulation program. The predicted peak summer monthly water collection rates for the five cities were 1.21 liters/hour, 0.32 liters/hour, 5.31 liters/hour, 2.543 liters/hour, and 1.42 liters/hour, respectively, and the hourly rate of water collection for Cape Town South Africa and Basrah, Iraq were 0.6 liters/hour and 1.4 liters/hour.