Speaker: Dr. David Kuo, Founder and Executive VP, Water Harvesting Inc.

Metal Organic Framework — a Novel Sorbent for a Greener World

Water Harvesting (WaHa) is an early-stage company whose metal-organic framework (MOF) based dehumidifiers atmospheric water generators (AWG) efficiently remove humidity without subcooling the air, and create pure water. This dramatically increases HVAC efficiency and reduces opex by 25-90% and HVAC capex by up to 80%.
    Water Harvesting’s technology creates a sustainable, point-of-use water source. This unique process extracts water from air, even in the driest conditions. Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a class of materials characterized by very high porosity, that can be tailored to selectively adsorb and capture a wide variety of chemical compounds. Developed at UC Berkeley, our MOF technology is tailored for harvesting water from the atmosphere in relative humidity levels as low as 15%. In contrast to conventional atmospheric water harvesting systems, our MOF-based technology captures only water molecules, and is capable of rapid adsorption/ desorption cycling. This ensures absolute water purity, with a low energy requirement.

For more information see the MOF FAQ

About the Author

Dr. David Kuo is responsible for Metal Organic Framework based systems development at Waha Inc, which develops novel energy efficient HVAC systems to regulate humidity in vertical farms, fabs, and commercial buildings.

Prior to joining Water Harvesting Inc. in August, 2018, David worked as a Sr. Director for advanced product and technology development at Seagate. His team led the highest areal demonstration and developed the highest areal density mobile product in the market. He has years of experience in advanced material, process and equipment development.

David holds 110 US and world wide patents. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1989 with a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering specialized in thermal science and heat transfer.