Atmospheric water harvesting using sulfonated macroporous and hypercrosslinked polystyrene-divinylbenzene beads in a prototype system

Abstract

Atmospheric water harvesting using synthesized sulfonated macroporous polystyrene divinylbenzene and sulfonated hypercrosslinked polystyrene divinylbenzene beads as adsorbent materials are evaluated particularly at low humidity conditions. Adsorption isotherms of the synthesized adsorbents show acceptable adsorption characteristics in comparison with promising adsorbents. The hypercrosslinked adsorbent shows few folds higher surface area than macroporous sample but in spite of it, the adsorption capacity is slightly lower. A prototype unit is developed to evaluate the adsorbent materials in a more realistic condition. Prototype data on the synthesized adsorbent shows energy consumption of 1195 KWh/m3 to 1415 KWh/m3 at different outdoor experiments. The performance of the prototype is figured out with respect to energy consumption and water uptake.