Caracterización experimental de un sistema de captación de agua atmosférica.
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Date
2024
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Universidad de Concepción
Abstract
En esta Memoria de Título se aborda la problemática de la escasez de agua en Chile, destacando la concentración de esta escasez en las regiones del centro-norte del país. Se menciona la variabilidad geográfica y climática de Chile, que presenta desafíos para la gestión de los recursos hídricos, incluyendo problemas como tuberías envejecidas y altas tasas de pérdida de agua en zonas urbanas. Se destaca que existen diferentes competidores por este recurso, como el sector industrial, agrícola y municipal, siendo el sector agrícola el mayor consumidor de agua en el país. Los principales afectados por esta escasez son las personas ubicadas en zonas rurales, las que reciben este recurso a través de camiones aljibes. Como alternativa a esta solución, en esta memoria de título se evalúa un sistema de captación de agua atmosférica, para evaluar su potencial como medio de suministro de agua para localidades rurales.
El objetivo general del proyecto es caracterizar experimentalmente un sistema comercial de captación de agua atmosférica en un ambiente controlado, para evaluar su implementación en lugares con escasez de agua potable en Chile. El sistema está diseñado para producir 15 litros de agua por día bajo una condición de 30ºC y 80% de humedad relativa.
Para lo anterior, se realiza un montaje experimental compuesto de una cámara en donde se controla la temperatura y la humedad relativa y de instrumentación que permite evaluar la producción de agua y el consumo energético del equipo caracterizado. La metodología experimental contempla el detalle de los pasos y procedimientos seguidos para llevar a cabo la caracterización experimental del sistema comercial de captación de agua atmosférica.
De la caracterización experimental se obtiene que el equipo mostró tendencias similares a las de otros sistemas de refrigeración por compresión de vapor, especialmente en relación con la producción de agua y el consumo eléctrico en función de la humedad relativa del aire.
En general, este sistema presenta un buen potencial, pero queda aún por mejorar el valor del Consumo Específico de Energía (SEC de sus siglas en ingles) de estos, dado que, al ser dependientes de la energía eléctrica, estos presentan un costo elevado para para la producción de un litro de agua, lo cual se podría resolver incorporando un sistema fotovoltaico o mejorando la eficacia del evaporador cambiando su geometría o el material con cual se construyen para permitir una mejor transferencia de calor.
This dissertation addresses the problem of water scarcity in Chile, highlighting the concentration of this scarcity in the central-northern regions of the country. It mentions the geographic and climatic variability of Chile, which presents challenges for the management of water resources, including problems such as aging pipelines and high rates of water loss in urban areas. It is highlighted that there are different competitors for this resource, such as the industrial, agricultural and municipal sectors, being the agricultural sector the largest consumer of water in the country. The main people affected by this scarcity are those located in rural areas, who receive this resource through water trucks. As an alternative to this solution, this dissertation evaluates an atmospheric water harvesting system to assess its potential as a means of water supply for rural localities. The overall objective of the project is to experimentally characterize a commercial atmospheric water harvesting system in a controlled environment, in order to evaluate its implementation in places with a shortage of drinking water in Chile. The system is designed to produce 15 liters of water per day under a condition of 30ºC and 80% relative humidity. For this purpose, an experimental setup is made up of a chamber where temperature and relative humidity are controlled and instrumentation that allows evaluating the water production and energy consumption of the characterized equipment. The experimental methodology contemplates the detail of the steps and procedures followed to carry out the experimental characterization of the commercial atmospheric water harvesting system. From the experimental characterization it is obtained that the equipment showed trends similar to those of other vapor compression refrigeration systems, especially in relation to water production and power consumption as a function of relative air humidity. In general, this system presents a good potential, but the Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) value of these systems still needs to be improved, since, being dependent on electric energy, they present a high cost for the production of one liter of water, which could be solved by incorporating a photovoltaic system or improving the efficiency of the evaporator by changing its geometry or the material with which they are built to allow a better heat transfer.
This dissertation addresses the problem of water scarcity in Chile, highlighting the concentration of this scarcity in the central-northern regions of the country. It mentions the geographic and climatic variability of Chile, which presents challenges for the management of water resources, including problems such as aging pipelines and high rates of water loss in urban areas. It is highlighted that there are different competitors for this resource, such as the industrial, agricultural and municipal sectors, being the agricultural sector the largest consumer of water in the country. The main people affected by this scarcity are those located in rural areas, who receive this resource through water trucks. As an alternative to this solution, this dissertation evaluates an atmospheric water harvesting system to assess its potential as a means of water supply for rural localities. The overall objective of the project is to experimentally characterize a commercial atmospheric water harvesting system in a controlled environment, in order to evaluate its implementation in places with a shortage of drinking water in Chile. The system is designed to produce 15 liters of water per day under a condition of 30ºC and 80% relative humidity. For this purpose, an experimental setup is made up of a chamber where temperature and relative humidity are controlled and instrumentation that allows evaluating the water production and energy consumption of the characterized equipment. The experimental methodology contemplates the detail of the steps and procedures followed to carry out the experimental characterization of the commercial atmospheric water harvesting system. From the experimental characterization it is obtained that the equipment showed trends similar to those of other vapor compression refrigeration systems, especially in relation to water production and power consumption as a function of relative air humidity. In general, this system presents a good potential, but the Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) value of these systems still needs to be improved, since, being dependent on electric energy, they present a high cost for the production of one liter of water, which could be solved by incorporating a photovoltaic system or improving the efficiency of the evaporator by changing its geometry or the material with which they are built to allow a better heat transfer.
Description
Tesis presentada para optar al título profesional de Ingeniero Civil Mecánica
Keywords
Recolección de aguas, Desarrollo de recursos hidrológicos, Abastecimiento de agua