Radiative- and artificial-cooling enhanced dew collection in a coastal area of South Australia

Abstract

Dew yield can be increased by artificial cooling at a cost of energy consumption. To examine how much enhancement in dew yield can be achieved by artificial cooling, and how this enhancement varies with meteorological conditions and collector materials, a dew collection experiment was performed over a month (April–May) in a coastal area of South Australia. Four collectors made of two different materials (aluminium and Teflon) were tested. Evaluated over the whole dew collection period, without artificial cooling, the Teflon collector is on average 120% more efficient than the aluminium collector. With artificial cooling, the Teflon collector is about 20% more efficient than the aluminium collector. The artificial cooling enhances dew formation close to 45% for the Teflon collectors, while the enhancement is over 150% for the aluminium collectors. The enhancement magnitude is dependent on meteorological conditions.