http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/n...;et_cid=1274349

Ran across this article just now. A commercial version could come in very handy in deserts and arid regions.

Stay tuned.....

I saw that as well. Could be useful in situations where you do not have to carry it on your back. They apparently are already trying to build them with less expensive materials. Maybe you could buy a sheet (or whatever form factor they have) of the Metal Organic Framework and build your own device. Sounds like a good opportunity to me. Would like to test one.

A Youtuber with the pseudonym "Thunderfoot" did a video on a device for the same purpose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVsqIjAeeXw. The numbers he is running seem plausible but the conclusion is not too promising.

He's pursuing water extraction based on a completely different principle, and he's asking for your $$ to bring his device to market- not the case in the original source cited.

The different principle does not really change the fact that in arid regions huge amounts of thin air need to be passed through the device and rather big amounts of energy need to be dispersed for condensing the vapour.
And no, he is not pursuing the principle or asking for my $$ to bring this device to market. He gives an analysis of the boundary conditions. It is not even his project.

It's an interesting article, but I am a bit skeptical. One of the things that caught my attention was the idea that air movement seems to be required:

"At night the chamber is opened, allowing ambient air to diffuse through the porous MOF and water molecules to stick to its interior surfaces. . ."

Which would seem to indicate on some level, powered movement of air is required. How much power? and over what period?

They've been doing that one Tatooine for years!

As a ball park number you could assume that - in arid areas - 1 m³ of air has less than 10 ml³ of water as vapour. That would be a minimum of 100 m³ (a cube with an edge length of roughly 4.5 m or 15') of air for 1 l of water even if you harvest all of it.
You also need to extract and disipate 2.26 MJ/kg to condense the water (more at temperatures below the boiling point).
So I am a bit skeptical too.

The atmosphere certainly can be dry at times, but it can also be quite humid, without inducing any precipitation. In my experience, primarily in the deserts of the American Southwest, early morning dew is not at all uncommon.

I'll be curious to see how this technology develops. Even if it proves feasible, I would prefer a nice gushing spring. Who wouldn't? But this could be a big help....

He recently did a video about the actual device: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGTRX6pZSns
He also explains what to expect and backs it up with the thermodynamics. Even when we assume that the electricity comes from solar panels, it will very likely be something for a very specialized group of consumers.