Simulación numérica de estructuras biomiméticas para la captación de agua ambiente

Abstract

The shortage of drinking water affects millions of people, with a particular impact on rural areas of Colombia. In view of this situation, passive, low-cost, and low-maintenance solutions are explored that are capable of harnessing ambient humidity as a complementary source of water. In this context, biomimicry offers valuable references: organisms and natural surfaces that favor the formation, transport, and collection of droplets. This work investigates, through simulation in ANSYS Fluent, the behavior of bioinspired geometries—such as capillaries, edges, and perforated surfaces—to evaluate their hydrodynamic performance in condensation processes under different temperatures, relative humidities, and air velocities. This project aims to simulate, using the ANSYS Fluent software, different bioinspired geometries in order to evaluate their hydrodynamic behavior in condensation processes. The methodology was organized in several stages: theoretical review, CAD modeling, numerical simulation, and comparative analysis. First, the factors that govern nucleation, growth, and coalescence of droplets were identified, as well as the most relevant natural structures to replicate. Then, geometric models were built integrating relevant features (for example, scale changes, edges, and perforations), and were implemented in Fluent by activating heat-transfer and species-transport models, with boundary conditions representative of the environment. A parameterization strategy was employed to compare configurations and sensitivities, with mesh refinement in critical zones (orifice edge, recirculation region, and boundary layers). Based on the quantitative indicators employed—mass flow difference and liquid volume fraction—the best-performing configurations were: spine (diameter 3, scenario 9), with mass flow difference = 0.033287 and volume fraction = 0.000063163; tela 2 (scenario 3), with mass flow difference = 0.0073575 and volume fraction = 0.000031907; and capillary (diameter 1, scenario 3), with mass flow difference = 0.083538 and volume fraction = 0.000035246. Taken together, capillary D1–E3 presented the highest mass flow difference, whereas spine D3–E9 achieved the highest local liquid volume fraction; these findings allow prioritizing these geometries for experimental validation and fine adjustments in subsequent stages.