[HN Gopher] Research on harvesting electricity from humidity in ...
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Research on harvesting electricity from humidity in the air
Author : wglb
Score : 29 points
Date : 2023-05-29 11:12 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (techxplore.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (techxplore.com)
| tedunangst wrote:
| I'm still waiting for the sound deadening paint that will also
| power my home by absorbing ambient vibrations.
| mikro2nd wrote:
| OK, I'll bite: _How much_ energy can they harvest? While
| realising that this is still highly experimental, early days and
| bleeding edge (and also very exciting!) it would be very
| interesting to get some idea of the actual energy harvest, even
| though this will surely be an area of intense future research. I
| did not see any mention of it in the article, though, and the
| original paper seems to be paywalled.
| dafelst wrote:
| It is in the article:
|
| _Finally, because air humidity diffuses in three-dimensional
| space and the thickness of the Air-gen device is only a
| fraction of the width of a human hair, many thousands of them
| can be stacked on top of each other, efficiently scaling up the
| amount of energy without increasing the footprint of the
| device. Such an Air-gen device would be capable of delivering
| kilowatt-level power for general electrical utility usage._
| ilyt wrote:
| That seems like something that would be insanely easy to clog
| up by just dust in the air
| fbdab103 wrote:
| Maybe it could be pre-filtered air in a closed loop?
| However, this already seems like magic to me, so I am
| unsure if it is possible to filter/recycle the air and
| still come out net energy positive. Alternatively, maybe
| there could be some kind of washing step where the plates
| are washed/air forced through/voltage applied to remove
| debris.
| pengaru wrote:
| Indeed, but at utility-scale you also likely have some
| energy to spare for powering an electrostatic dust filter
| at the intakes...
|
| My parents' house had a Honeywell brand electrostatic air
| filter in front of the air handler that wasn't cost-
| prohibitive to operate, and didn't have a drip pan or
| anything so I don't think it stripped moisture either. We'd
| just toss the large metal filter cartridges in the dish-
| washer periodically, which barely fit. They didn't pose a
| significant air restriction, unlike conventional pleated
| physical filters.
| jaclaz wrote:
| There was a thread from another article on the washington post:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36091615
|
| It is essentially the usual "breakthrough" that won't likey
| have any practical use for many years, the experimental device
| is tiny and produces very little power.
|
| It seems you need one billion of these devices to get 1 kW.
|
| >The device, the size of a fingernail and thinner than a single
| hair, is dotted with tiny holes known as nanopores. The holes
| have a diameter smaller than 100 nanometers, or less than a
| thousandth of the width of a strand of human hair.
|
| >While one prototype only produces a small amount of energy --
| almost enough to power a dot of light on a big screen --
| because of its size, Yao said Air-gens can be stacked on top of
| each other, potentially with spaces of air in between. Storing
| the electricity is a separate issue, he added.
|
| >Yao estimated that roughly 1 billion Air-gens, stacked to be
| roughly the size of a refrigerator, could produce a kilowatt
| and partly power a home in ideal conditions. The team hopes to
| lower both the number of devices needed and the space they take
| up by making the tool more efficient. Doing that could be a
| challenge.
| giarc wrote:
| Some googling and napkin math. 1 fridge = 1 kW
|
| A fridge is 25 cubic feet, so 40 watts per cubic foot. A Dell
| E2422H monitor uses 13 watts while powered on. So a box 0.325
| cubic feet could power a monitor, or a cube of 8.25" edge
| length. Assuming it was 100% efficient and endless supply of
| humid air etc.
| importantbrian wrote:
| > and endless supply of humid air etc.
|
| Floridians are getting really excited right now.
| shrx wrote:
| Wouldn't the water just condense inside the nanopores due to
| surface energy, and render them useless?
| ttul wrote:
| Do these devices have the effect of cooling the air? The energy
| has to come from somewhere... If so, that would potentially serve
| two purposes for the price of one: cooling and power generation.
| Or, is the side effect to make the air less moist. Also a useful
| function, particularly in humid places where drying the air is
| desired.
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(page generated 2023-05-29 23:00 UTC)