Project description
Technology for clean drinking water from the air
Harnessing the 140 quadrillion litres of water in the atmosphere could address the current scarcity of drinking water. Recent advanced technological developments allow an economically viable technology for harvesting this water. The ThinAir start-up has developed a material optimised for capturing atmospheric water and rigorously proven this technology at Imperial College London. The ThinAirWater surface technology is currently at a TRL 6 and takes inspiration from the African fogstand beetle. The EU-funded ThinAirWater project will launch the technology as a material component in existing air to water generators, improving their efficiency to address a wider range of markets and climates, increase their yield of water production, and reduce their cost per litre.
Objective
Drinking water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. Of all the options for future drinkable water, harnessing the 140 quadrillion litres of water in the atmosphere represents one of very probable and abundant sources. Clouds and fog in the atmosphere contain more than enough fresh water to sustain every person on earth. With recent cutting-edge developments, an economically viable technology for harvesting this water is becoming available.
ThinAir, a start-up has created a material optimised for capturing atmospheric water by enhancing the ability of water condensation through the surface structure optimisation. The technology has been rigorously proven at Imperial College London and is >94% more efficient at condensing and harnessing water vapour than the best currently available alternatives.
Our founding team consists of Jonathan Risley (CEO) with a background in biotechnology and management. Samuel Bruggen (CTO) is specialized in biochemistry and with a business innovation masters. Ben Kirk (CSO) holds an MBA from the Imperial Business School and is in charge of the business strategy to commercialisation. We are supported by advisors who give us business guidance and connections in the industry.
The ThinAirWater surface technology is currently at a TRL 6 and takes inspiration from the African fogstand beetle. The team have mimicked the beetle to produce a scalable, sustainable and deployable material, which can be implemented within a range of markets to enhance water generation from the atmosphere. The first application is an integration into dehumidifiers to improve on their energy efficiency at water condensation, we later plan to implement this technology to help drive the progression of the atmospheric water generation market for clean drinking water production from the air.
To start commercialization, we will launch our technology as a material component in existing Air-to-Water generators, providing an increase in efficiency that enables them to address a wider array of markets and climates, but most importantly increase their yield of water production, whilst bringing down their cost per litre.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistry
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processesdrinking water treatment processes
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetary geology
- natural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicstopology
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
W120BZ LONDON
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.