QuarterSwede This is super interesting. It’s kind of like a heat pump in that where we think there is no moisture or heat left, there is. We just need to figure out how to move it from one place to another. Brilliant work here. Reply
sygreenblum This would be great but there are a few vague details here. Like cost of unit and at what humidity this 20' device achieves 1,000 liters per day. Just stating it can work at under 20 percent humidity, almost certainly doesn't mean it can achieve 1,000 liters per day at low humidity. There are already devices like this for off grid use but they are pretty expensive. Not trying to be a hater but I get really annoyed with Interesting Engineering click bait titles that are overhyped at best and complete and utter nonsense at the worst. Not that this is one of them, but they have a very long history of clickbait BS. Reply
bit_user sygreenblum said: Not trying to be a hater but I get really annoyed with Interesting Engineering click bait titles that are overhyped at best Agreed. There's usually a catch, somewhere. He did win a Nobel prize in chemistry, for his work on the same kind of Metal Organic Frameworks this uses, so I assume the science is sound. However, I have to wonder about stuff like its susceptibility to clogging with dust, which seems to be an issue in highly arid regions. If the amount of surface area is such a key to the device's operation, wouldn't dust prove to be a fatal flaw? Yes, you can add dust filters, but can you filter enough of the really small particles without restricting airflow too much, and then what of the practical issues surrounding either cleaning or replacement of those dust filters? Another thought I have is about the energy inputs needed to manufacture the material. Maybe it can operate on solar energy, once fully assembled, but the manufacturing inputs might be fairly large and you might need to change the active material somewhat regularly. Even if it has a couple of drawbacks, that's not to say it's worthless. Just, maybe not quite such a miracle machine as the article makes it sound like. Reply
rob1960 Indeed, and if it takes a shipping container sized unit to extract 1000 litres then presumably the little unit in the photo is unlikely to be able to extract even the necessary 3 litres or so per day for a single human to survive at 40 degrees C. Reply
bill001g In some ways a better article than most click bait. They at least have direct links to the research papers this is based on. Not that a normal person not in the field can even think to read it. What is interesting is the paper came out 4 years ago. This means companies that are in this type of industry and can understand this document must have some reason to not be trying to make money on it. There is actually a massive market for this type of device and if it was viable there would be some company advertising their solution even it was years away. It is likely there is some technical limitation that is well known to people in the field that the authors of the paper just pretend does not exist. Reply
drea.drechsler Based on a little research, a water plant would need at least 500 metric tons of MOF material to produce 1000 liters of water from 20% desert air daily under optimistic conditions, but conservatively 4000 metric tons would be needed. The device shown in the picture is simply not capable of that level of production, although it might be adequate for personal survival. I'd like to know it's actual daily output instead of the crazy claims being made. Reply
USAFRet drea.drechsler said: Based on a little research, a water plant would need at least 500 metric tons of MOF material to produce 1000 liters of water from 20% desert air daily under optimistic conditions, but conservatively 4000 metric tons would be needed. The device shown in the picture is simply not capable of that level of production, although it might be adequate for personal survival. I'd like to know it's actual daily output instead of the crazy claims being made. "The 1,000 liters a day machine is far bigger than the social media prototype machine image we see alongside the Professor in the desert, at around 20ft in length, or the size of a shipping container." Reply
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/device-that-can-extract-1-000-liters-of-clean-water-a-day-from-desert-air-revealed-by-2025-nobel-prize-winner-claimed-to-work-in-desert-air-with-20-percent-humidity-or-lower-delivering-off-grid-personalized-water#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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