Desalination, Vol.237, No.1-3, 330-345, 2009
Potential use of evaporator coils for water extraction in hot and humid areas
Limits of water production from atmospheric water vapor are investigated for cases where fresh hot humid air is cooled over evaporator coils of refrigeration machines and then directed to open localized areas. This application may be considered as a source of limited amounts of potable water at a free cost since the water is a by-product of the climate conditioning process. For high air velocities, water yield was found to diminish due to insufficient evaporator capacity. On the other hand frosting effect was found to bind the vapor condensation process due to coolant starvation. A working chart was developed for quick prediction of water yield for any combination of atmospheric air temperature in the range (25 < T-a < 40 degrees C) and relative humidity in the range 30%