Refrigeration – Using electrical or magnetic effect – Thermoelectric; e.g. – peltier effect
Patent
1996-03-22
1998-03-24
Doerrler, William
Refrigeration
Using electrical or magnetic effect
Thermoelectric; e.g., peltier effect
62331, 622351, 62236, 62 93, B01D 500, E03B 328
Patent
active
057299811
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for extracting water from ambient air by condensation of air moisture.
In arid areas of southern Europe, for example, or in other regions of the world, there is the problem that the aridity allows only very limited vegetation and causes the landscape to become a steppe. To obviate this process, methods and apparatus have been suggested to extract water from the ambient air by condensation of air moisture. In conventional water extraction devices, a cooling element is energized to cool condensation surfaces for condensing air moisture, while another surface dissipates into the atmosphere the heat drawn from the cooling surface. Hitherto, however, the heat thus produced and dissipated into the atmosphere has not been used to recover part of the energy required for the cooling operation of the cooling element. On the contrary, a lot of designs have rather consumed additional energy, for instance by means of fans, to dissipate the heat into the atmosphere.
Due to this unexploited dissipation of heat energy, the efficiency of the prior art designs has been reduced, which means that only a small quantity of water has been able to be extracted despite relatively high energy consumption.
Another problem in conventional water-extraction devices has resulted from their failure to ensure a sufficient natural air draft for supplying the fresh air from which the moisture is subsequently to be extracted by condensation.
The object underlying the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for extracting water from the ambient air by condensation of air moisture such as to achieve a high degree of efficiency and to ensure a natural draft for supplying fresh air without any additional expenditure.
According to the method of the invention, this object is achieved by a heat-insulating partition that is cooled on one side and heated on the other side by external supply of energy, creating a natural convective air draft on the heated side of the partition, the convective air draft being channelled substantially like a chimney draft and used to recover part of the energy while water is extracted on the cooled side by condensation of air moisture.
The apparatus according to the invention, for carrying out the method of the invention, is designed such that at least one partition made of a heat-insulating material is provided for separating a cold air space from a warm air space, said partition leading into a chimney and being provided with heating means on one side of the partition and with cooling means on the other side of the partition, said partition being positioned and oriented such that a natural convective air draft is created on the side of the heating means and extends into the chimney thus causing ambient air to be supplied to the apparatus, turbines and generators being arranged in the air draft for producing energy from the air flow.
Thus, with the help of this method and apparatus, the heated side is specifically used to pass fresh air into the apparatus for extracting water. Moreover, the method and apparatus enable the warm air to be discharged in a natural way, i.e., without using additional fans. A further essential advantage resides in that part of the energy released on the warm-air side of the partition is recovered with the help of generators arranged in the natural air draft. In this manner, the efficiency can be increased, i.e., a considerable amount of water can be condensed while providing a relatively low energy supply.
In so doing, natural wind may be advantageously used in addition to the natural convective draft in order to supply ambient air and to produce energy.
Advantageously, solar energy and/or wind energy converted into electrical energy is used for the heating of the one side of the partition and for the cooling of the other side of the partition. It is also possible, however, to provide a connection to the general electricity mains to implement the cooling or heating of the respective partition sides. The solar energy or wind energy may als
REFERENCES:
patent: 2944404 (1960-07-01), Fritts
patent: 3040538 (1962-06-01), Alsing
patent: 3441449 (1969-04-01), Green
Braun Michael
Markus Wolfgang
Doerrler William
Hulseberg Daniel J.
Speer Richard A.
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