A STUDY OF FEASIBILITY OF

ATMOSPHERIC WATER GENERATOR

To meet the agricultural water requirements of the farmers in India
A Minor Project Report
Submitted To
Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical
University, Bhilai (INDIA)
For Partial Fulfillment Of The Award Of Degree

Bachelor of Technology
in
Mechanical Engineering
By

Shreyansh Chandrakar Roll No. 301403716101

Shriya Vaishnaw Roll No. 301403716102
Shubham Sahu Roll No. 301403716103
Siddhart Sharma Roll No. 301403716104

Under The Guidance Of

Prof. Shashank S. Mishra

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty Of Engineering and Technology
Shri Shankaracharya Group Of Institutions,
Shri Shankaracharya Technical Campus
Junwani-490 020, INDIA
 DECLARATION
We, the undersigned, solemnly declare that this report of the project work entitled "A study
of feasibility of atmospheric water generator : To meet the agricultural water requirements of
the farmers in India" is based on the work carried out during the course of our study under
the supervision of Prof. Shashank S. Mishra.
We assure that the statements made and the conclusions drawn are an outcome of the project
work. To the best of my knowledge, the matter embodied in the thesis has not been submitted
to any other University/Institute for the award of any Degree or Diploma.

Shreyansh Chandrakar (301403716101)

Shriya Vaishnaw (301403716102)
Shubham Sahu (301403716103)
Siddhart Sharma (301403716104)
 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
The project work entitled "A study of feasibility of atmospheric water generator : To

meet the agricultural water requirements of the farmers in India" carried out by

Shreyansh Chandrakar, Shriya Vaishnaw, Shubham Sahu and Siddhart Sharma under

the supervision of Prof. Shashank S. Mishra for the partial fulfilment of the requirement of

the degree of Bachelor of Technology, is hereby approved and being recommended and

forwarded to Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai (C.G.), India for

examination and evaluation.

Shashank S. Mishra Dr.Jeetendra Tiwari

Professor Head, Mechanical Engg. Deptt.
Project Guide
 CERTIFICATE BY THE EXAMINERS
This is to certify that the project work entitled "A study of feasibility of atmospheric water

generator : To meet the agricultural water requirements of the farmers in India" carried

out by Shreyansh Chandrakar(301403716101), Shriya Vaishnaw(301403716102),

Shubham Sahu(301403716103) and Siddhart Sharma(301403716104) the students of

Shri Shankaracharya Technical Campus_SSGI, Bhilai, (C.G.) has been examined and

hereby approved by the undersigned after proper evaluation.

It is understood that by this approval, the undersigned do not necessarily endorse or

approve any statements made, opinion expressed or conclusion therein, but approve the report

for the purpose which it is submitted.

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Name: ………………………………..…..
Name: ………………………………..…..
Designation: ……………………………..
Designation: ……………………………..
Institution: ……………………………….
Institution: ……………………………….
Date : ……./……./2019
Date : ……./……./2019
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Prof. Shashank S. Mishra,

for his invaluable guidance, constructive criticism and encouragement during
the course of this project.

We are also thankful to Dr. Jitendra Kumar Tiwari, Head of department,

Mechanical Engineering for assisting me and guiding me throughout the project. I
also extend my thanks to the supportive staff of Mechanical department for
providing me all the necessary facilities to accomplish this project.

Last but not the least, I express my profound gratitude to the Almighty and my
parents for their blessings and support without which this task could have never
been accomplished.

Shreyansh Chandrakar Roll No. 301403716101

Shriya Vaishnaw Roll No. 301403716102
Shubham Sahu Roll No. 301403716103
Siddhart Sharma Roll No. 301403716104
 Table of contents

Abstract .....................................................................................................................................1

Nomenclature..........................................................................................................................................2

List of figures .......................................................................................................................... 3

List of tables...........................................................................................................................4

Chapter-1: Introduction .............................................................................................................5

1. Dehumidification techniques .......................................................................................5

1.1 Dehumidification by refrigeration ...........................................................................5

1.2 Dehumidification by compressing atmospheric air so as to increase its dew point

temperature.....................................................................................................................10

1.3 Dehumidification by liquid desiccant method.......................................................11

Chapter-2: Literature review.............................................................................................13-15

Chapter-3: Methodology...................................................................................................16-19

Chapter 4: Work done and Calculations....................................................................................20-29

Chapter-5: Conclusion: Discussion of calculations and results......................................... 30

Proposed Future Extension of Work...................................................................................31

Bibliography.....................................................................................................................32-33
 Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the burning issues of today’s world. Though water covers more than
two third (about 70%) of the Earth’s surface but still fresh water which can be used for
drinking and carrying out everyday chores remains scarce (only about 2.5%).

India is a country having 65% population as farmers and they are mostly dependent on the

rain water for their crops, but due to change in weather conditions, increase in Global

Warming, the monsoon pattern, rain fall etc have changed a lot and due to this the farmers are

facing a lot of trouble and loss. India needs to work forward in this direction in order to

address this issue.

The purpose of this project is to ease the difficulty of our farmers and to provide them the

best water resource in the lowest possible cost. Atmospheric Water Generator is an appliance

that employs dehumidification/condensing technology, that extracts water present in the air in

the form of vapour by applying Peltier effect of Thermo-Electric Cooling. This project

presents the method to develop a prototype of an AWG based on Thermo-electric cooler

(TEC) that used 12 Volt DC, hence its suitability for using renewable energy resource.

Keywords: Atmospheric Water Generator, Desalination, Relative humidity, Dehumidifier unit

1
 Nomenclature

Atmospheric Water Generator: AWG

Dew-point temperature : Tdp.

Dry-bulb temperature : DBT

Relative humidity : RH

Metal Organic Farming : MOF

2
 List of figures

Figure Description Page

number Number
1 Dehumidification by Refrigeration cycle 2
2 Vapour Compression Refrigeration cycle 3
3 T-S plot of vapour compression refrigeration cycle 4
4 Peltier device 6
5 Dehumidification by pressurisation 7
6 Dehumidification by desiccation 8
CAD drawings
7 Fan Assembly 12
8 Peltier with heat sink 12
9 Casing and wiper 13
10 Final Assembly 13

3
 List of tables

Table Description Page

number Number
1 Dew point temperature calculations at 300C and different relative 16
humidity conditions

2 Dew point temperature calculations at 350C and different relative 17

humidity conditions

3 Dew point temperature calculations at 400C and different relative 17

humidity conditions

4 Dew point temperature calculations at 450C and different relative 18

humidity conditions

5 Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 20

35% relative humidity for various temperatures

6 Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 21

40% relative humidity for various temperatures

7 Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 22

45% relative humidity for various temperatures

8 Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 23

50% relative humidity for various temperatures

9 Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 24

55% relative humidity for various temperatures

4
 Chapter-1
Introduction

The aim of the project is to create a portable device that can be used to meet the water
requirements of an irrigation field. The device will first condense water present in the
atmosphere and then supply it to the farm for irrigation.

While designing the atmospheric water generator it was identified that three requirements were
necessary to ensure that the final project would effectively fulfill its intended purpose. They are-

 Potability of Water.

 Simplicity of Use - Design must be operable by persons of limited technical experience.

 Safety - Design must not pose a hazard to users at any point during its normal

operation. 

We developed several goals that the design should be able to meet. They are-

 Flexibility in Power Source - The design should be able to utilize a variety of power
sources, including (but not limited to) solar, wind, and the traditional power grid. .

 Maximize Efficiency - The design should maximize the water produced per unit energy.

 Minimize Cost - The design should minimize the cost per unit water production for both
capital cost and production cost.

1. Dehumidification techniques
When approaching the problem of atmospheric water generation the first step is to analyse different
methods of dehumidification. In this application we seek to harness this water from the atmosphere
and utilize it for drinking. Three common psychometric methods of dehumidification stood out
during preliminary research; a temperature drop below the dew point (refrigeration condensing),
pressure condensing, or a combination of the two. Along with this wet desiccation technique can also
be used for the above purpose. Each of these techniques are discussed below:

1.1 Dehumidification by refrigeration

Traditional refrigeration cycle dehumidification remains the most prevalent method for generating
water from atmospheric humidity. This method circulates air over cooling coils connected in a
5
refrigeration cycle to bring the water in the air below its dew point. The dew point of the water is
dependent on the vapour pressure and humidity and tends to be a relatively low temperature
compared to the ambient conditions. To reach the dew point the air running through the unit will
have to be cooled a considerable amount. This approach is expressed in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Dehumidification by Refrigeration cycle

Refrigeration can be achieved by many methods. Some of these are discussed below:

A. Vapour Compression Method

Vapour-compression refrigeration is the most widely used method for air-conditioning in

today’s world.

The vapour-compression consists of a circulating liquid refrigerant as the medium which absorbs
and removes heat from the space to be cooled and subsequently rejects that heat to the
atmosphere. Figure 2 depicts a single-stage vapour-compression system. Basically the system
has four components: a compressor, a condenser, a thermal expansion valve and an evaporator.
Circulating refrigerant enters the compressor as saturated vapour and is compressed [1]. This
results in high pressure which in turn is responsible for higher temperature. The compressed
vapour then comes out as superheated vapour and attains a temperature and pressure at which
condensation can take place with the help of cooling water or cooling air. That hot vapour is
passed through a condenser where it is cooled and condensed. This is where the circulating
refrigerant rejects heat from the system.

6
The condensed liquid refrigerant known as saturated liquid is next passed through an expansion
valve where there is a sudden drop in pressure. This results in the adiabatic flash evaporation of
the liquid refrigerant. The Joule-Thomson effect [2] as it is called lowers the temperature of the
liquid and vapour refrigerant mixture which makes it colder than the temperature to be achieved
(temperature of the enclosed space).

The cold mixture is passed through the coils in the evaporator. A fan circulates the warm air in
the enclosed space across the coils carrying the cold refrigerant liquid and vapour mixture. That
warm air evaporates the liquid part of the cold refrigerant and at the same time, the circulating
air is cooled and as a result it lowers the temperature of the enclosed space to the temperature to
be achieved. The circulating refrigerant absorbs and removes heat from the evaporator which is
then rejected in the condenser and transferred by the water or air used in the condenser.

For the completion of the refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant vapour coming out of the
evaporator which is again a saturated vapour is returned back into the compressor.

Figure 2: Vapour Compression Refrigeration cycle

1) Thermodynamic analysis of the system

The thermodynamics of the vapour compression cycle can be studied with the help of a
temperature versus entropy diagram as shown in Figure 3. At point 1 as shown in the figure 3,
the circulating refrigerant enters the compressor as a saturated vapour. From point 1 to point 2,
there is compression of the circulating refrigerant at constant entropy and it comes out of the
compressor as superheated vapour.

Between point 2 and point 3, the vapour travels through the condenser where there is removal of
the superheat by cooling the vapour. From point 3 to point 4, the vapour travels through the rest
7
of the condenser and thereby resulting in a saturated liquid. This process occurs at constant
pressure.

From point 4 to 5, the saturated liquid refrigerant is routed through the expansion valve resulting
in a sudden drop of pressure. That process is responsible for adiabatic flash evaporation and
auto-refrigeration of a portion of the liquid which is known as Joule Thomson effect. The
adiabatic flash evaporation process occurs at constant enthalpy.

From point 5 to 1, the cold refrigerant which is in a partially vaporised state is routed through
the coils present in the evaporator which is responsible for its complete vaporisation by the
warm air that is circulated by a fan present in the evaporator. The evaporator works at constant
pressure (isobaric) and boils of all available liquid thereby superheating the liquid and vapour
mixture of refrigerant. The resulting refrigerant vapour then flows back to the compressor inlet
at point 1 thereby completing the thermodynamic cycle.

It should be noted that the above representation of the thermodynamic cycle does not take into
account real world irreversibility like frictional pressure drop, slight internal irreversibility
during the compression of the refrigerant vapour and non-ideal gas behaviour. Hence, the above
idea simply represents an ideal vapour compression refrigeration cycle.

Figure 3: T-S plot of vapour compression refrigeration cycle

2) Refrigerant

After the introduction of the Montreal Protocol in the year 1987 all the parties agreed to phase out
the dangerous ozone depleting refrigerants like CFCs which is one of the most crucial item of a

8
vapour compression refrigeration system. Thus there is a gradual shift from the CFCs to the
HCFCs with the motive of saving our ozone layer.

Now a days a lot of research is being carried out to explore environment friendly refrigerants,
supercritical carbon dioxide known as R-744 [3] being one of them, which have same
efficiencies as compared to existing CFC and HFC based refrigerants, and have many orders of
magnitude lower global warming potential.

3) Types of gas compressors

The various types of compressors used are reciprocating, rotary screw, centrifugal, and scroll
compressors. Each of these types have their respective application based on their size, noise, and
efficiency and pressure ratings. Generally compressors are of three types. They are - open,
hermetic, or semi-hermetic, depending on the position of the compressor and/or motor in
relation to the refrigerant being compressed. The following configurations maybe achieved:

 Hermetic motor + hermetic compressor


 Hermetic motor + semi-hermetic compressor

 Open motor (belt driven or close coupled) + hermetic compressor

 Open motor (belt driven or close coupled) + semi-hermetic compressor

In most of the hermetic, and semi-hermetic compressors, the compressor and motor driving the
compressor are integrated. The refrigerant being compressed during operation itself cools the
hermetic motor. The obvious disadvantage being the motor is integral with that of compressor
and in case of any failure in the motor it cannot be removed and repaired. Further the burnt out
windings may contaminate the whole refrigeration system requiring the system to be entirely
pumped down and replacement of the refrigerant [4].

An open compressor consists of a motor drive which is placed outside of the refrigeration
system, and an input shaft is used to provide drive to the compressor which are sealed with the
help of gland seals. Generally the open compressor motors are air-cooled and can be fairly easily
exchanged or repaired without degassing of the refrigeration system. The disadvantage of this
type of compressor is loss of refrigerant due to failure of gland seals.

Easy cooling and simple design makes the open motor compressors more reliable in case of high
pressure applications where compressed gas temperatures can be very high. However the use of
liquid injection for additional cooling can generally overcome this issue in most hermetic motor
compressors.

9
 B. Peltier cooling

This method is exactly same as that of Vapour Compression Refrigeration method but here we
use a Peltier device to achieve the required dew point temperature. Peltier device is compact, has
less moving parts, is energy efficient and has a very long life span which requires very less
maintenance.

1) Principle of Peltier Device

Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the junctions of two
different types of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state
active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption
of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current. Such an instrument is also called
a Peltier device, Peltier heat pump, solid state refrigerator, or thermoelectric cooler (TEC) [5].

Figure 4: Peltier device

1.2 Dehumidification by compressing atmospheric air so as to increase its

dew point temperature
It is possible to compress humid air so much that it will condense at the ambient temperature. As
pressure increases the dew point rises; thus, enough compression will force the dew point above the
ambient temperature resulting in spontaneous condensation; heat will transfer from the pressurized
humid air to the ambient air. Compressing air to extract water could potentially require pressures up
to five times the ambient pressure. This will require a very sturdy tank that can handle high amounts
of stress in its walls. This method has great potential for low energy demands, especially if one was
able to recapture some of the energy in the compressed air using a turbine or
10
piston. The energy efficiency of this design option has great promise but it is heavily dependent
on compressor and de-compressor efficiency and humidity. Figure 5 below is a representation of
this approach. The primary advantage of pressure dehumidification is the low energy
requirement; the only unavoidable loss is the pressure applied to the water vapour. However, any
inefficiency in the compression/decompression cycle is amplified by the large volume of air
processed per unit water produced. Additionally, the rate of production when driven by natural
convection cooling to the atmosphere is too slow for significant production; some mechanism to
speed up this heat transfer needs to be implemented, increasing the energy cost. No existing
atmospheric water generators utilize this approach.

Figure 5: Dehumidification by pressurisation

1.3 Dehumidification by liquid desiccant method

A desiccant is a hygroscopic substance that induces or sustains a state of dryness (desiccation) in
its vicinity. Commonly encountered pre-packaged desiccants are solids that absorb water.

Wet desiccation is a process where a brine solution is exposed to humid air in order to absorb
water vapour from that air. The solution is then sent into a regenerator where the water vapour is
extracted from the solution 2. This method has grown in popularity because of its efficiency and
the ease with which it can be adapted to renewable energy, particularly solar. Figure 6 below is a
basic representation of this approach.

A primary advantage to this approach is that the desiccant accomplishes the most difficult part
of dehumidification, extracting the water from the air, without a direct expenditure of energy.
The problem is thus recast into terms of regenerating the desiccant and capturing the resultant
water. The main disadvantage of wet desiccation is the complexity that is introduced, both in
terms of system and materials.
11
Figure 6: Dehumidification by desiccation

12
 Chapter-2
Literature review

Vapour compression refrigeration system, can be utilised to generate fresh drinking water by
extracting water from humid ambient air by using Cooling Condensation process. In a cooling
condensation based atmospheric water generator, a compressor circulates refrigerant through a
condenser and an evaporator coil which cools the air surrounding it, lowering the air’s
temperature to that of dew point and causing water to condense. A controlled-speed fan pushes
filtered air over the coil. The resulting water is then passed into a holding tank with purification
and filtration system to keep the water pure. Atmospheric water generating technology offers
99.9% pure water 365 days a year. The atmospheric water generator is an environmentally safe
source of sustainable water.

A senior design project was aimed at designing and creating a prototype of an atmospheric water
generator (Niewenhuis et.al. 2012). They have tried to incorporate Liquid Desiccant method to
extract humidity from air and convert it into drinking water. Wet desiccation is a process where
a brine solution is exposed to humid air in order to absorb water vapour from that air. The
solution is then sent into a regenerator where the water vapour is extracted from the solution.
This method has grown in popularity because of its efficiency and the ease with which it can be
adapted to renewable energy, particularly solar.

In their product (Mimir by immerseglobal and in paper Niewenhuis et.al. 2012) and others have
also described a novel and unique method to extract water from air. They have said that it is
possible to compress humid air so much that it will start condensing at the ambient temperature
itself. As pressure increases the dew point rises; thus, enough compression will force the dew
point above the ambient temperature resulting in spontaneous condensation.

13
But compressing air to extract water could potentially require pressures up to five times the ambient
pressure. This will require a very sturdy tank that can handle high amounts of stress in its walls. This
method has great potential for low energy demands, especially if one was able to recapture some of
the energy in the compressed air using a turbine or piston. The energy efficiency of this design
option has great promise but it is heavily dependent on compressor and decompressor efficiency and
humidity. The primary advantage of pressure dehumidification is the low energy requirement; the
only unavoidable loss is the pressure applied to the water vapour. However, any inefficiency in the
compression/decompression cycle is amplified by the large volume of air processed per unit water
produced. Additionally, the rate of production when driven by natural convection cooling to the
atmosphere is too slow for significant production; some mechanism to speed up this heat transfer
needs to be implemented, increasing the energy cost.

(Kabeela et.al. 2014) In his paper “Solar-based atmospheric water generator utilisation of a
fresh water recovery: A numerical study” has done thermodynamic analysis for a Peltier device
which is used to develop a device that uses the principle of latent heat to convert molecules of
water vapour into water droplets called the Atmospheric Water Generator. It has been introduced
a bit before, though it is not very common in India and some other countries. It has a great
application standing on such age of technology where we all are running behind renewable
sources. Here, the goal is to obtain that specific temperature, called the dew point temperature,
practically or experimentally to condense water from atmospheric humid air with the help of
thermoelectric Peltier (TEC) couple.

Critical observations from published papers and available AWGs.

 From the paper “Vapour Compression Refrigeration System Generating Fresh Water
from Humidity in the Air” (Anbarasu and Pavithra 2011), we infer that even though
dehumidifying unit using vapour compression refrigeration system is more effective than
the Peltier system but it lacks in the sense that it is not portable and it generates a lot of
sound. And also this system is more costly.
 From the product paper “Water generator water from air using liquid desiccant method”
(Mimir by immerseglobal and Niewenhuis et.al. 2012), we observed that even though
dehumidification by liquid desiccant method is new and possess a lot of potential
theoretically but when the researchers made a prototype and tested it the results were not
satisfactory. The device could produce only 72.1 mL of water per kW-hr.
 After studying the paper “Solar-based atmospheric water generator utilisation of a fresh
water recovery: A numerical study” (Kabeela et.al. 2014), we can in no way refuse to
14
 accept the fact that dehumidification unit using Peltier device is very portable and
environment friendly. It has simple design and has high endurance capability. So, this
type of Atmospheric Water Generator 10is the device which can be implemented in
extreme situations like during floods or in desert and rural areas. It has great
advantages as it works like a renewable source of atmosphere water and doesn’t need
a heavy power source. Applying this system in a highly humid region almost 1 Litre
of condensed water can be produced per hour during the day light, which is a very
promising result.
 Moisture Farming With Metal Organic Framework: This novel device utilizes a
metal-organic framework (MOF) as the active water sorbent, which, because of its
superb water-uptake profile, enables water harvesting in dry climates with a relatively
low energy requirement. MOFs are designer sorbents by virtue of their modular
composition, allowing for tuning of the water uptake step by varying factors such as pore
size and hydrophilicity. Additionally, their large and uniform internal voids allow for
record capacity and stepwise uptake of water vapor.In device, Kim et al. employed the
wellstudied MOF-801, a porous material consisting of Zr6 oxo nodes and fumarate
linkers, as the active sorbent.8,9 This MOF has a water-vapor uptake step at
approximately 20% RH, as well as regeneration at temperatures as low as 65_C.

 Dewdrop : Dewdrop is based on a revolutionary tech whose premise of technology is

based on Thompson’s Effect in association with Peltier Effect, but the application of this
law in this particular method of producing water from, quite factually, thin air, has been
first of its kind. Thin air in this context is being correlated condensed moisture which is
sucked in the module through suction via a fan, which passes through chilled aluminium
coils, thereby triggering sweating. One breakthrough alteration to the coils meant to
improve its performance and efficiency was to coat it with an atom’s layer of graphene.
This incredible innovation can wholly be subscribed to Dewdrop.
 Fontus: The solar-powered device is contoured by a condenser to carry out this process.
A small cooler, called Peltier Element is also installed in the center of the device. The
cooler is divided into two parts that are isolated and separated from each other. When the
condenser is powered by solar electricity, the upper side gets cooled down and increases
the temperature of the bottom side. The bottom side on cooling down helps the upper
side to cool down even further. This is done by dissipating heat into the surroundings.

15
 Chapter-3
Methodology

Using CAD software a model was first created. The various components of the model are as
follows:

1. Fan assembly

Figure 7: Fan Assembly

2. Peltier assembly

Figure 8: Peltier with heat sink

16
3. Casing and wiper

Figure 9: Casing and wiper

4. Final Product

Figure 10: Final Assembly

17
 The Problem With Existing Models
 In fact there are many products that are available in the market which use this
technology. But on prior research and going through the product development page of
various companies we found that the devices which use this technology are very bulky
and heavy. They are not portable and since they use a compressor they have heavy
electricity demand and are not eco-friendly. Also these devices produce a lot of noise and
require periodic maintenance. Since we wanted to make a portable device hence we
thought of using some other method to achieve our goal.

 In their design report “Water generator water from air using liquid desiccant method”
designers have tried to incorporate liquid desiccant method for dehumidification. After
they created a prototype and put it into testing they found that water output from the
device was very dismal. Hence we decided not to use this method of dehumidification
for our prototype.

 After going through all the available options we finally concluded that we would use a
Peltier device to create the Atmospheric Water Generator. In the paper “Solar-based
atmospheric water generator utilisation of a fresh water recovery: A numerical study”
Kabeela and others had already done a numerical study of the efficacy of a Peltier
device..
 Most of the device present focus on the drinking water models and not on the
agricultural ones.
 Even if there are agricultural AWGs then also the cost is too high for the rural farmers.
 here is also a lack of awareness among the farmers that these kind of devices exist, so
the work does not stop just by building a model of the Krishi Amrit, it has to be
accessible, available, and knowledgible to the farmers.
 The biggest problem is the cost of the devices as the farmers may not be able to buy such
luxury devices so to control the cost must be our first priority.
 The system starts condensing water but due to the collection of water droplets it tends to
slow down i.e. the efficiency is lost.


18
Components used
Sl. no. Component name Quantity Specification
1. Draft fan 1 DC 12V 0.16 Amp
2. Peltier 1 TEC 12706
3. Heat sink 1 Heat sink of Pentium 4
motherboard
4. Casing Acrylic
5. 400W PSU 1 Zebronics
6. Wiper 1

Description
As can be seen from the CAD model the casing consists of three parts.

The upper part consists of draft fan. The draft fan draws air from atmosphere into the device.

The casing is further divided into two chambers. The inlet air is passed through the middle
chamber where it comes in contact with the cold surface of the Peltier device. The inlet
atmospheric air thus loses heat and its temperature falls to that of the dew point temperature and
thus water starts condensing. The dehumidified air is then expelled from the device by the heat
sink.

The lower part acts as a water collecting unit. Condensed water from the middle part is collected
in this lower part by dripping action as water droplets are pulled down by gravitational force.

The wiper is added in the fan so as to wipe out the condensed water otherwise it tends to
decrease the efficiency.

19
 Chapter 4
Work done And Calculations
Dew point temperature calculation
Definitions:

Dew-point temperature (Tdp) is the temperature at which humidity in the air starts condensing
at the same rate at which it is evaporating at a given constant barometric pressure.

Dry-bulb temperature (DBT) is the temperature of air measured by a thermometer freely

exposed to the air but shielded from radiation and moisture. DBT is the temperature that is
usually thought of as air temperature, and it is the true thermodynamic temperature.

Relative humidity (RH) is the ratio of the vapour pressure vapour to the equilibrium vapour
pressure of water at the same temperature.

The dew point is the saturation temperature for water in air. The dew point is associated with
relative humidity. A high relative humidity implies that the dew point is closer to the current air
temperature. Relative humidity of 100% indicates the dew point is equal to the current
temperature and that the air is maximally saturated with water. When the moisture content
remains constant and temperature increases, relative humidity decreases. [9]

This calculation forms an important part of this project as this helps us to determine at
temperature the Peltier device must be maintained in order to condense the humidity present in
air at the given atmospheric condition.

A well-known approximation used to calculate the dew point, Tdp, given just the actual ("dry
bulb") air temperature, T and relative humidity [in percent], RH, is the Magnus formula:

T,RHln RH + bT
100 c+T

Tdp = c, RH

b, RH

(Where, b = 17.67 & c = 243.50C and T is in 0C)

The above formulas is used to calculate the dew point temperature for different atmospheric
conditions at which the device may be subjected to operate. With the help of Microsoft excel the
operating parameters are calculated and tabulated.
20
Sample Calculations:
(for DBT=300c and RH=45%)
30,45ln(0.45) + 17.67 x 20
243.5 + 30
=1.139

Tdp = 243.5 x 1.139

17.67-1.139

=16.77735769

The table for the dew point temperature calculation for different atmospheric conditions is
as follows:

Table 1: Dew point temperature calculations at 300C and different relative humidity
conditions

Dry Bulb Relative Humidity Required Dew

Temp. (in C) (%) point Temp. (in C)
30 45 16.77735769
30 50 18.46356201
30 55 19.99121587
30 60 21.40183613
30 65 22.71309952
30 70 23.93889215
30 75 25.09032956
30 80 26.17645367
30 85 27.20472258
30 90 28.18136311
30 95 29.11163002
30 100 30

21
Table 2: Dew point temperature calculations at 350C and different relative
humidity conditions
Dry Bulb Temp. Relative Humidity Required Dew
(in C) (%) point Temp. (in C)
35 45 21.36839262
35 50 23.0900802
35 55 24.66719049
35 60 26.12347831
35 65 27.47719267
35 70 28.74266924
35 75 29.9313834
35 80 31.0526698
35 85 32.11422798
35 90 33.12248638
35 95 34.08286984
35 100 35

Table 3: Dew point temperature calculations at 400C and different relative

humidity conditions
Dry Bulb Required Dew point
Temp. (in C) Relative Humidity (%) Temp. (in C)
40 45 25.94092061
40 50 27.71659839
40 55 29.3431651
40 60 30.84512049
40 65 32.24128582
40 70 33.54644632
40 75 34.77243723
40 80 35.92888592
40 85 37.02373339
40 90 38.06360964
40 95 39.05410966
40 100 40

22
 Table 4: Dew point temperature calculations at 450C and different relative humidity
conditions
Dry Bulb Required Dew point
Temp. (in C) Relative Humidity (%) Temp. (in C)
45 45 30.5134486
45 50 32.34311659
45 55 34.01913972
45 60 35.56676266
45 65 37.00537897
45 70 38.3502234
45 75 39.61349107
45 80 40.80510205
45 85 41.9332388
45 90 43.00473291
45 95 44.02534948
45 100 45

Amount of water (in L) present in 1m3 of air for different humidity and
temperature conditions
Definitions:

Saturation Pressure (Ps) is the pressure of a vapour which is in equilibrium with its liquid
(as steam with water) i.e. the maximum pressure possible by water vapour at a given
temperature. The saturation pressure of water at different atmospheric temperature is obtained
from the commercially available steam tables.

Air is a mixture of both air molecules and water molecules. Vapour pressure (Pw) is the
pressure of water vapour present in a mixture of air and water vapour. [10]

Relative Humidity (RH) is the ratio of vapour pressure (Pw) to that of saturation pressure (Ps)
i.e.
RH = PW x 100
PS

23
Vapour pressure (Pw) can be obtained as
PW = RH x Ps
100
Humidity Ratio gives the volume of water (in m3) present in 1m3 of air.

Humidity ratio can also be expressed in terms of vapour pressure (Pw) as

Humidity Ratio = 0.622 x Pw

Pa - Pw

(Where Pa is the atmospheric pressure i.e. Pa=1.01325 bar)

Humidity ratio is the amount of water (in m3) present in 1m3 of air.
Thus if 1m3 = 1000L, therefore humidity ratio multiplied by 1000 gives amount of water.

Sample Calculations:
(For atmospheric temperature 250C and relative humidity 35%)

Saturation Pressure of water vapour (Pw) at 250C is obtained from steam table as
0.03167bar.

Thus Vapour pressure,

PW = RH x Ps
100
= .35 x 0.03167 = 0.0110845 bar

Humidity Ratio = 0.622 x Pw

Pa - Pw
= 0.006879661

Therefore amount of water (in litres) present in 1m3 of atmospheric air

= Humidity Ratio x 1000 = 0.006879661 x 1000 = 6.879661 litres

The amount of water present in 1m3 of air consisting of the above mentioned calculations
for different atmospheric conditions are tabulated below:

24
Table 5: Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 35% relative humidity for
various temperatures

Temp. Saturation Relative Partial Humidity Amount of

Pressure-Ps (in bar) Humidity Pressure of Ratio (Amount water (in l)
from psychometric (in %) water-Pw (in of water in
chart bar) 1m3 of air)

25 0.03167 35 0.0110845 0.006879661 6.879661094

26 0.03361 35 0.0117635 0.007306037 7.306036577
27 0.03565 35 0.0124775 0.007755014 7.755014251
28 0.03779 35 0.0132265 0.00822669 8.226689673
29 0.04005 35 0.0140175 0.008725582 8.725581884
30 0.04241 35 0.0148435 0.009247393 9.24739272
31 0.04492 35 0.015722 0.009803318 9.803317802
32 0.04755 35 0.0166425 0.010386872 10.38687246
33 0.05031 35 0.0176085 0.011000432 11.00043238
34 0.0532 35 0.01862 0.011644169 11.64416919
35 0.05624 35 0.019684 0.012322732 12.32273246
36 0.05942 35 0.020797 0.013034102 13.03410237
37 0.06276 35 0.021966 0.013782984 13.78298449
38 0.06626 35 0.023191 0.014569639 14.56963878
39 0.06992 35 0.024472 0.015394339 15.39433928
40 0.07376 35 0.025816 0.016261899 16.26189902
41 0.07779 35 0.0272265 0.017174928 17.17492839
42 0.08201 35 0.0287035 0.018133808 18.1338078
43 0.08642 35 0.030247 0.019138939 19.13893854
44 0.09103 35 0.0318605 0.020193033 20.19303345
45 0.09585 35 0.0335475 0.021298859 21.29885858

25
Table 6: Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 40% relative humidity
for various temperatures

Temp. Saturation Relative Partial Humidity Ratio Amount of

Pressure-Ps (in Humidity Pressure of (Amount of water (in l)
bar) from (in %) water-Pw water in 1m3
psychometric (in bar) of air)
chart
25 0.03167 40 0.012668 0.007874913 7.874912801
26 0.03361 40 0.013444 0.008363791 8.363790575
27 0.03565 40 0.01426 0.008878687 8.878687474
28 0.03779 40 0.015116 0.009419729 9.419729215
29 0.04005 40 0.01602 0.009992118 9.992118167
30 0.04241 40 0.016964 0.010590943 10.59094276
31 0.04492 40 0.017968 0.011229075 11.22907477
32 0.04755 40 0.01902 0.011899098 11.89909779
33 0.05031 40 0.020124 0.012603766 12.60376629
34 0.0532 40 0.02128 0.013343307 13.34330675
35 0.05624 40 0.022496 0.014123094 14.12309413
36 0.05942 40 0.023768 0.014940844 14.9408438
37 0.06276 40 0.025104 0.015802005 15.80200497
38 0.06626 40 0.026504 0.016706922 16.70692154
39 0.06992 40 0.027968 0.017655956 17.65595637
40 0.07376 40 0.029504 0.018654702 18.65470152
41 0.07779 40 0.031116 0.019706223 19.70622339
42 0.08201 40 0.032804 0.020811027 20.81102682
43 0.08642 40 0.034568 0.021969645 21.96964489
44 0.09103 40 0.036412 0.023185281 23.18528149
45 0.09585 40 0.03834 0.024461212 24.4612118

26
Table 7: Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 45% relative humidity for
various temperatures

Temp. Saturation Relative Partial Humidity Ratio Amount of

Pressure-Ps (in Humidity Pressure of (Amount of water (in l)
bar) from (in %) water-Pw water in 1m3
psychometric (in bar) of air)
chart
25 0.03167 45 0.0142515 0.00887332 8.87331963
26 0.03361 45 0.0151245 0.009425106 9.425106362
27 0.03565 45 0.0160425 0.010006378 10.00637781
28 0.03779 45 0.0170055 0.010617294 10.61729425
29 0.04005 45 0.0180225 0.011263751 11.26375125
30 0.04241 45 0.0190845 0.011940224 11.94022424
31 0.04492 45 0.020214 0.012661281 12.66128116
32 0.04755 45 0.0213975 0.013418573 13.41857282
33 0.05031 45 0.0226395 0.014215243 14.21524302
34 0.0532 45 0.02394 0.015051581 15.05158141
35 0.05624 45 0.025308 0.015933705 15.93370461
36 0.05942 45 0.026739 0.01685907 16.85907
37 0.06276 45 0.028242 0.01783389 17.83388967
38 0.06626 45 0.029817 0.018858605 18.8586045
39 0.06992 45 0.031464 0.01993368 19.93368005
40 0.07376 45 0.033192 0.021065512 21.06551245
41 0.07779 45 0.0350055 0.022257647 22.25764724
42 0.08201 45 0.0369045 0.023510734 23.51073365
43 0.08642 45 0.038889 0.024825458 24.82545792
44 0.09103 45 0.0409635 0.026205544 26.20554435
45 0.09585 45 0.0431325 0.02765481 27.65480986

27
Table 8: Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 50% relative humidity for
various temperatures

Temp. Saturation Relative Partial Humidity Ratio Amount of

Pressure-Ps (in Humidity Pressure of (Amount of water (in l)
bar) from (in %) water-Pw water in 1m3
psychometric (in bar) of air)
chart
25 0.03167 50 0.015835 0.009874897 9.874896608
26 0.03361 50 0.016805 0.010490002 10.49000196
27 0.03565 50 0.017825 0.011138107 11.13810684
28 0.03779 50 0.018895 0.011819411 11.81941057
29 0.04005 50 0.020025 0.012540512 12.54051197
30 0.04241 50 0.021205 0.013295274 13.2952739
31 0.04492 50 0.02246 0.014099981 14.09998082
32 0.04755 50 0.023775 0.01494535 14.94534981
33 0.05031 50 0.025155 0.015834925 15.83492478
34 0.0532 50 0.0266 0.016769067 16.76906705
35 0.05624 50 0.02812 0.017754652 17.75465167
36 0.05942 50 0.02971 0.018788885 18.78888505
37 0.06276 50 0.03138 0.019878762 19.87876195
38 0.06626 50 0.03313 0.021024834 21.02483369
39 0.06992 50 0.03496 0.022227683 22.227683
40 0.07376 50 0.03688 0.023494536 23.49453588
41 0.07779 50 0.038895 0.024829441 24.82944101
42 0.08201 50 0.041005 0.026233213 26.23321282
43 0.08642 50 0.04321 0.027706713 27.70671313
44 0.09103 50 0.045515 0.029254217 29.25421732
45 0.09585 50 0.047925 0.030880118 30.88011809

28
Table 9: Amount of water which can be obtained in 1m3 of air at 55% relative humidity for
various temperatures

Temp. Saturation Relative Partial Humidity Ratio Amount of

Pressure-Ps (in Humidity Pressure of (Amount of water (in l)
bar) from (in %) water-Pw water in 1m3
psychometric (in bar) of air)
chart
25 0.03167 55 0.0174185 0.010879659 10.87965886
26 0.03361 55 0.0184855 0.011558496 11.5584955
27 0.03565 55 0.0196075 0.012273896 12.2738963
28 0.03779 55 0.0207845 0.013026104 13.02610418
29 0.04005 55 0.0220275 0.013822431 13.82243139
30 0.04241 55 0.0233255 0.014656129 14.65612883
31 0.04492 55 0.024706 0.015545218 15.54521802
32 0.04755 55 0.0261525 0.016479482 16.47948151
33 0.05031 55 0.0276705 0.017462874 17.46287438
34 0.0532 55 0.02926 0.018495838 18.49583837
35 0.05624 55 0.030932 0.019586024 19.58602408
36 0.05942 55 0.032681 0.020730394 20.73039429
37 0.06276 55 0.034518 0.021936747 21.93674673
38 0.06626 55 0.036443 0.023205757 23.20575713
39 0.06992 55 0.038456 0.02453814 24.53814037
40 0.07376 55 0.040568 0.025941979 25.94197898
41 0.07779 55 0.0427845 0.02742185 27.42184962
42 0.08201 55 0.0451055 0.028978754 28.97875369
43 0.08642 55 0.047531 0.030613752 30.61375203
44 0.09103 55 0.0500665 0.032331703 32.33170315
45 0.09585 55 0.0527175 0.034137611 34.13761117

29
 Chapter-5
Conclusion : Discussion of calculations and results
After carrying out various calculations the results obtained are tallied and analysed. Earlier
we had calculated the dew point temperatures required for different atmospheric conditions.
Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 shows the results obtained. The conclusions are:

1. Table 1 shows that for temperature 300C the dew point temperature is greater than
200C for relative humidity 60% or higher. Thus it is clear that if atmospheric
temperature is 300C and relative humidity is greater than 60% then the device will
start condensing water.
2. Table 2 shows that for temperature 350C the dew point temperature is greater than
22.50C for relative humidity 50% or higher. Thus it is clear that if atmospheric
temperature is 350C and relative humidity is greater than 50% then the device will
start condensing water.
3. Table 3 shows that for temperature 400C the dew point temperature is greater than
250C for relative humidity 45% or higher. Thus it is clear that if atmospheric
temperature is 400C and relative humidity is greater than 45% then the device will
start condensing water.
4. Table 4 shows that for temperature 450C the dew point temperature is greater than
27.50C for relative humidity 45% or higher. Thus it is clear that if atmospheric
temperature is 450C and relative humidity is greater than 45% then the device will
start condensing water.

From all the above inferences we can finally conclude that if ambient temperature is 350C or
higher and if relative humidity is greater than 50% then the device will function well and it
will start condensing water.

30
 Proposed Future Extension Of Work
In this part of the project, a detailed thesis of the AWG: Krishi Amrit is presented and we
conclude that it is a possibility to challenge the biggest problems for the farmers around india
by just opening up our minds and a little bit of precious knowledge that we gained from our
mentors. Some of the possible future extensions are:-

 By using a peltier device, the AWG becomes useful with many other energy options
such as solar, wind as well as bio energy if worked on it.
 During the major project, a prototype of the proposed model is to be designed.
 Hygroscopic Materials may also be added to increase the efficiency of the AWG.
 The usage of Peltier device may also vary according to the purpose and size of the
AWG.
 For a drinking water module, a carbon filter and a UV light case may be added to
modify the design for household purpose.

31
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[3] Siegfried Haaf, Helmut Henrici. "Refrigeration Technology" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia

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[5] “Thermoelectric Coolers Basics". TEC Microsystems. 2013

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33