I-Corps: Radiative cooling technology for commercial applications of irrigation water recycling

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种超高效的温室系统，通过循环利用蒸腾产生的水来提供被动水净化和加速冷凝水技术。农业灌溉是淡水的最大消费者，约占全球淡水消费量的87%。特别是，温室损失了大约90%的输入水，因为蒸汽通过通风系统逸出。理论上，所有流失的水都可以循环利用，从而实现巨大的节约。然而，回收蒸发的水在实践中是困难的，因为它需要使用被动技术来回收室温蒸汽，特别是在白天。由于太阳能加热引起的温度升高，需要采用新技术来实现冷凝水，以便在白天运行时收集水。提出的技术解决方案可以在减少能源需求的情况下实现这种条件下的水回收。这种技术可以在水是不可再生的稀缺资源的地区进行粮食生产，从而支持更可持续的粮食供应。提高农业用水效率是一项很有前途的技术，可以实现城市用水，对干旱地区可能产生深远的影响。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一个温室系统，利用亚环境冷却和水收集技术回收灌溉用水。关键的水循环机制是通过辐射结露，这是一种不消耗电力或燃料的被动技术。目前已知的辐射结露技术效率较低。它们只在夜间的几个小时内有效，当太阳升起时，收集的水很快就会蒸发。采用拟议的无电辐射冷却技术，目的是通过允许在白天运行，大大提高结露的效率。这可能提供一种廉价和可持续的解决方案，通过回收温室中以前损失的蒸腾水蒸气，更有效地提供淡水。此外，该技术还可以开发一种超高效的温室系统，该系统使用辐射冷却加速冷凝水技术来回收蒸腾产生的水。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a super-efficient greenhouse system providing passive water purification and accelerated water condensation technologies by recycling water from transpiration. Irrigation for agriculture is the largest consumer of fresh water representing approximately 87% of global fresh water consumption. In particular, greenhouses lose roughly 90% of input water as vapor escaping through ventilation systems. In theory, all lost water could be recycled to realize great savings. However, recycling evaporated water is difficult in practice because it requires the use of a passive technology to recycle ambient-temperature vapor, particularly during the daytime. New technologies are required to achieve moisture condensation for water harvesting during daytime operation due to elevated temperatures from solar heating. The proposed technology solution may enable water recovery under such conditions with reduced energy requirements. Such a technology may support a more sustainable supply of food by allowing for food production in regions where water is a non-renewable, scare resource. Enhancement in agricultural water use efficiency is a promising technology in order to enable urban consumption of water, with potential far-reaching impact in arid areas.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a greenhouse system to recycle irrigation water using sub-ambient cooling and water harvesting technologies. The key water recycling mechanism is through radiative dew condensation, which is a passive technique that does not consume electricity or fuel. Today’s known radiative dew condensation techniques are low in efficiency. They are only effective during a few hours in the night and the water collected quickly evaporates when the sun rises. Using the proposed electricity-free radiative cooling technology, the aim is to substantially boost the efficiency of dew condensation by permitting operation during daytime. This may provide an inexpensive and sustainable solution for providing fresh water more efficiently and effectively by recycling formerly lost transpired water vapor in greenhouses. In addition, the technology may allow the development of a super-efficient greenhouse system using passive water purification using radiative cooling-accelerated water condensation technologies to recycle water from transpiration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.