Evaluation of water vapor condensation using the thermoelectric cooling technique by experimental and theoretical observations

Abstract

The water vapor present in the atmosphere may be one of the sources of fresh and clean water. It is well known that 70% of the earth is covered with water. However, only less than 1% of fresh water is of direct use for humankind on earth. Several techniques have been devised to mitigate the availability of fresh water for humans. In this paper, a novel approach has been discussed to study the mass transfer from water vapor on a flat surface, and a moisture harvesting technique has been developed as a non-conventional source using the Peltier module to produce water condensate. The characterization of the flat surfaces has been done for the thermal homogeneity and the temperature gradient. The droplet nucleation process and the mass flux of water vapor from the air on the vertical surface at different temperatures have been devised. The results have been discussed for the mathematical calculation of the Reynolds number, Schmidt number, and Sherwood number using the experimental data. The comparison of experimental and theoretical mass fluxes was presented with an airflow velocity of less than 1.0 ms−1. The airflow on the condensing surface was a mixed type, and the coefficient of proportionality of the fluid flow was calculated as 0.23 for the proposed blunt-faced structure. The outcome was theoretically validated for the rate of condensation of water vapor from humid air and the mass flux produced. The technique developed may have several applications ranging from mass transfer in biotechnology to the nonconventional source of water production.