Thermo-Economic Analysis of Thermoelectric-Based Atmospheric Water Harvesters: Flow Configuration Impacts

Abstract

In recent years, thermoelectric cooling has seen significant growth, driven by advancements in nanoscience and manufacturing. Concurrently, the increasing water crisis in various regions has led to a surge in research on Atmospheric Water Harvesters (AWHs) for decentralized water harvesting. This study presents a comprehensive thermodynamic and economic analysis of Thermoelectric-based Atmospheric Water Harvesters (TAWHs) with different Heat Exchanger (HX) configurations with different flow configurations. Our research identifies five types of HXs, each characterized by its own optimal geometrical and controlling parameters. These HXs are evaluated based on economy, eco-friendliness, productivity, air cooling efficiency, and compactness. We provide new insights into the hidden potential and performance of Thermoelectric Coolers (TECs) in desalination, particularly highlighting the effect of increasing the ratio of surfaces mounted with TECs to the total surface area of the channels. Our results indicate that among the HX configurations, the counter flow HX is the most economical option, capable of water harvesting at a cost of $0.230 USD per liter from an 80% humidity level. The parallel flow HX demonstrates higher efficiency according to the second law of thermodynamics and environmental friendliness, while the crossflow HX exhibits lower overall efficiency. We found that the optimum cold channel incoming air flow rate varies with humidity in a detailed analysis of a counter flow HX with 2 columns and 15 rows. Interestingly, we found that humidity and incoming air mass flow rate have a negligible effect on power consumption. This work can be used as a guideline for future engineering problems involving the design and optimization of TAWHs.