Solar-Driven Hybrid Atmospheric Water Generator with Energy Storage and Supplemental Lighting for Greenhouse Climate Control

随着气候变化、人为污染物进入水系统以及现有含水层的过度开采，淡水正在成为一种稀缺商品，给淡水供应带来巨大压力。根据联合国的报告，到2025年，超过48个国家将面临严重的水资源短缺，2015年世界经济论坛将全球水危机确定为影响最大的风险。据估计，大气中有12,800万亿升可再生水，大气水发电将是解决未来水危机的可靠技术之一。 拟议中的设备基于混合大气水发电(HAWGen)技术，该技术最近由西蒙·弗雷泽大学(Simon Fraser University)巴赫拉米博士的替代能源转换实验室(LAEC)发明并获得专利，将允许一系列尖端研究项目调查和推进集水和气候控制技术。拟议的设备将用于开发一个利用太阳能从空气中提取湿度并提供饮用水的设施，此外还将为温室在任何气候条件下的可持续粮食生产提供气候控制。事实证明，与传统系统相比，HAWGen技术在水收集率方面提高了300%以上，能耗降低了高达68%。拟议的设备涉及各种新的研究学科，并为研究可持续综合的“水--食品--能源--气候控制”关系提供了一个平台。该设备将在LAEC设计和建造，包括：光伏和热太阳能系统、蒸汽压缩制冷系统、水过滤、基于吸附的湿度收集器、石墨热交换器、可编程控制器和数据采集系统。它基本上将用于申请者和联合申请者在SFU和维多利亚大学(UVic)的实验室中正在进行的和未来的项目，重点是数学模型验证、实验调查、材料表征和性能优化。 萨里市将提供进入他们的BioPod温室的通道，以便对这种新型的水收集和气候控制系统进行现场测试。清洁技术和农业创新是该市目前的优先事项之一，因为食品生产在该市的经济中发挥着重要作用。最后，申请人已经与一些工业伙伴建立了成功的研究合作关系，所有这些合作伙伴都将从使用拟议设备的调查中受益匪浅。

Freshwater is becoming a scarce commodity as climate change, man-made pollutants entering the water system, and over-withdrawal of existing aquifers are placing enormous strain on freshwater supplies. Based on the United Nation reports, more than 48 countries will face serious water scarcity by 2025 and the global water crisis was identified as the highest risk in terms of impact at the 2015 World Economic Forum. With an estimated 12,800 trillion liters of renewable water held in the atmosphere, atmospheric water generation will be one of the reliable technologies to address future water crises. The proposed equipment is based on the Hybrid Atmospheric Water Generation (HAWGen) technology, recently invented and patented at Dr. Bahrami’s Laboratory for Alternative Energy Conversion (LAEC) at Simon Fraser University (SFU), and will allow an array of cutting-edge research projects to investigate and advance water harvesting and climate control technologies. The proposed equipment will be used to develop a facility utilizing solar energy to extract humidity from air and provide potable water in addition to climate control for sustainable food production in greenhouses under any climatic conditions. The HAWGen technology has proven more than 300% improvement in the water harvesting rate and up to 68% reduction in the energy consumption compared with conventional systems. The proposed equipment involves a variety of novel research disciplines and provides a platform for investigation into sustainable integrated “water-food-energy-climate control” nexus. The equipment will be designed and built at LAEC and includes: photovoltaic and thermal solar systems, vapor compression refrigeration system, water filtration, sorption-based humidity collector, graphite heat exchangers, programmable controller, and data acquisition system. It will essentially be used for ongoing and future projects in the applicant’s and co-applicants’ labs at SFU and University of Victoria (UVic), with focus on mathematical model validation, experimental investigation, material characterization, and performance optimization. The City of Surrey will provide access to their BioPod greenhouse for on-site testing of this novel water harvesting and climate control system. The clean-tech and agri-innovation are among the City’s current priorities, as food production plays a significant role in the City’s economy. Finally, the applicant has established successful research collaborations with a number of industrial partners, all of which will be significantly benefited by the investigations using the proposed equipment.