100% renewable water-from-air solutions for the beverage industry
Uravu Labs offers a desiccant-based atmospheric water generation technology that produces clean, renewable drinking water from humidity in the air. Powered entirely by renewable energy, the modular systems serve beverage manufacturing and other water-intensive industries, reducing dependence on groundwater and municipal supplies.
Overview
Uravu Labs has developed a proprietary technology that extracts potable water directly from atmospheric humidity using liquid salt-based desiccants. The atmosphere holds vast amounts of moisture that is continuously renewed through the natural hydrological cycle, making it an essentially inexhaustible water source. By absorbing humidity with desiccants such as calcium chloride and lithium chloride, then heating and condensing the released moisture using renewable energy, the system produces clean drinking water without drawing on groundwater, rivers, or municipal supplies.
This approach addresses growing concerns around water scarcity and groundwater depletion while supporting carbon-neutral operations. The technology is designed for industries with high water demands, including beverage manufacturing, hospitality, pharmaceuticals, and industrial processing, offering a decentralized and climate-positive alternative to conventional water sourcing.
Technical specifications
Core process:
- Air is passed over liquid desiccant solutions (calcium chloride or lithium chloride), which absorb moisture from the atmosphere through natural affinity
- The moisture-laden desiccant is heated using renewable energy sources such as solar, biomass, or waste heat to release the absorbed water vapor
- The vapor is passively condensed and optionally mineralized to produce clean drinking water
Key features:
- Operates efficiently across a wide humidity range, from 30% to 100% relative humidity
- Significantly lower energy consumption than traditional cooling-based atmospheric water generation methods
- Modular and scalable design suitable for capacities ranging from small office units to industrial-scale production
- Planned integration of heat regeneration systems that recover latent heat, reducing heat input by approximately 30%
- Future Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) integration targeting energy usage as low as 80–100 Wh per liter
- Compatibility with biomass fuel for cost-effective heat supply
Current capacity range:
- 5 liters per day pilot unit demonstrated
- 20 LPD units in development
- 100 LPD units in development
- 2000 LPD units planned for pilot orders
Technology readiness level
A 5-liter-per-day pilot unit has been successfully deployed and operated at the AB InBev office in Bangalore, demonstrating the technology's viability in a real-world commercial environment. Multiple prototypes have been tested with both solid desiccants (silica gel) and liquid desiccant solutions under varied humidity and temperature conditions to optimize system performance.
The technology is advancing toward higher-capacity commercial units, with a 20 LPD unit expected within three months, a 100 LPD unit within six months, and a 2000 LPD unit within eighteen months. Additional efficiency improvements through heat regeneration and biomass integration are targeted for completion by the end of 2022, with the MVR system expected within two years.
About Uravu Labs
Uravu Labs is a Bengaluru-based water-tech company that specializes in producing high-quality, potable water extracted directly from atmospheric air. Their proprietary technology utilizes liquid salt-based desiccant materials to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. This absorbed moisture is then heated using renewable energy sources—such as solar, biomass, or waste heat—to release and condense pure water. By leveraging desiccant-based processes, the company’s systems operate efficiently across a wide range of humidity levels and consume significantly less energy than traditional, cooling-intensive atmospheric water generation methods. Their modular and scalable infrastructure is designed for diverse applications, including industrial manufacturing, data center cooling, and sustainable packaged beverage production.
This technology provides a critical solution to global water scarcity and the depletion of traditional groundwater resources. By offering a decentralized, climate-positive, and carbon-neutral water source, Uravu Labs enables customers in sectors such as hospitality, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing to reduce their dependence on unreliable utility water and depleted ecosystems. The company has successfully demonstrated the viability of its solutions through pilot projects and commercial deployments, aiming to re-imagine water infrastructure by making it an abundant and renewable resource. Their approach has been recognized for its environmental impact, contributing to groundwater conservation and the reduction of single-use plastics.
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