Effect of an evaporator pipe length on the water production of a small air-water harvester.

In the dry season in Indonesia, water drought problems are encountered every year especially in East Java, Central Lombok, and NTT. The problems may be solved with a simple machine. One simple machine that can be used to provide clean water for households is an air-water harvester. Therefore, an experimental study to investigate the effect of an evaporator pipe length on water production was conducted at unconditioned room temperatures. The lengths of the pipe examined were 2084 mm, 3968 mm, and 5852 mm. The machine used low and high pressures of 40 and 180 psi, andthe working fluid used was R134a. The power applied to the machine in this study was 160 watts. The results indicate that increasing the length of the pipe increases water production, however, the increase in water production is not linear with the increase in the pipe length. The highest amount of water production was 0.759 kg per 7 hours. The highest water production was attained using the machine with a pipe length of 5852 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]