Airdrop – Using wind and solar energy to extract water from the air

An Australian university student is the recipient of this year’s James Dyson award for his Airdrop creation – a solar and wind power assisted device that extracts moisture from the air for irrigation purposes.

Even in the driest regions of Australia, water is present in the form of moisture in the air. The challenge has been finding a robust, low-tech and cost-effective way to extract it.

Edward Linnacre, a student at Victoria’s Swinburne University, may have the solution with his Airdrop device.

The Airdrop’s turbine intake drives air underground through a series of copper pipes that rapidly cools the air to the temperature of the soil where it reaches the point of condensation. The water is stored in an underground tank and delivered directly to the roots of plants through drip irrigation hosing below the soil surface.

In suitable wind conditions, the turbine can operate of its own accord. In calm conditions, a battery charged by a small solar panel supplies the power to spin the turbine as well as driving the low pressure irrigation pump.

The Airdrop system also includes an LCD screen that displays tank water levels, pressure strength, solar battery life and system health.

A very small scale prototype of Airdrop developed by Edward  was able to extract around a litre of water a day.

According to various reports, Edward’s inspiration came from the Namib beetle, which collects droplets of water on its wings during early-morning fog. Another driving force was the hidden crisis in Australian rural communities – farmers driven to despair through drought and taking their own lives.

Edward plans to spend his prize money on further testing and development of the Airdrop. He may not have to rely just on that money – according to Swinburne University, some of the world’s top designers and commercial developers in the US, Asia and the Middle East are already knocking on his door.

The James Dyson Award is an international student design award running in 18 countries. Its brief is quite simple : “Design something that solves a problem”