Experimental Evaluation of One,Two, and Three Stage Evaporative Cooling Systems

The thermal performance of four different arrangements of evaporative air coolers have been evaluated experimentally during the hot summer of Kuwait. The systems include one-stage direct evaporative cooling (DEC), one-stage indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) linked to an external cooling tower, two-stage indirect/direct evaporative coolers (IEC/DEC), and three-stage system of evaporative cooling and mechanical vapor compression (IEC/DEC-MVC). Two variables are used to evaluate the system thermal performance, the thermal effectiveness and the energy efficiency ratio (EER). The data show that the IEC/DEC has the highest EER, followed by the DEC, IEC/DEC-MVC, and IEC. The DEC has the lowest effectiveness, succeeded by the DEC/IEC, IEC, and IEC/DEC-MVC. Coupling MVC with IEC/DEC extends the cooling range and can cool the ambient air dry bulb temperature over a range of 40°C to 15°C at any value of ambient air wet bulb temperature. Two experimental correlations have been developed for each one of the tested systems. The first one relates the effectiveness to water to air mass flow ratio (L/G) or Reynolds number (Re), while the second correlation relates the EER with effectiveness and L/G and/or Re. These relationships are very important in designing and optimizing the studied evaporative cooling units.     

Going below the wet-bulb temperature by indirect evaporative cooling: Analysis using a modified ε-NTU method

The objective of this paper is to study a method to achieve sub-wet bulb temperature by indirect evaporative cooling of air (without using a vapor compression machine). For this purpose, an analytical model is developed based on the effectiveness-NTU method (ε-NTU). The main idea for achieving a sub-wet bulb temperature by indirect evaporative cooling of air is by indirectly pre-cooling the working air before it enters the wet passage. It is shown that a modified analytical model for indirect evaporative coolers could be based on the ε-NTU method for sensible heat exchangers when proper adjustments are made by redefining the potential gradients, transfer coefficient, heat capacity rate parameters and assuming a linear saturation temperature-enthalpy relation of air. This modified model is used to find the performance of a regenerative indirect evaporative cooler. The model results show very good agreement with results from experimental measurements and a numerical model.     

The impact of fouling on performance evaluation of evaporative coolers and condensers

Fouling of evaporative cooler and condenser tubes is one of the most important factors affecting their thermal performance, which reduces effectiveness and heat transfer capability with time. In this paper, the experimental data on fouling reported in the literature are used to develop a fouling model for this class of heat exchangers. The model predicts the decrease in heat transfer rate with the growth of fouling. A detailed model of evaporative coolers and condensers, in conjunction with the fouling model, is used to study the effect of fouling on the thermal performance of these heat exchangers at different air inlet wet bulb temperatures. The results demonstrate that fouling of tubes reduces gains in performance resulting from decreasing values of air inlet wet bulb temperature. It is found that the maximum decrease in effectiveness due to fouling is about 55 and 78% for the evaporative coolers and condensers, respectively, investigated in this study. For the evaporative cooler, the value of process fluid outlet temperature T_p,out varies by 0.66% only at the clean condition for the ambient wet bulb temperatures considered. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

板式间接蒸发冷却器热工特性的实验研究

对自行研制设计的间接蒸发冷却换热试件开展了实验，研究了影响换热器换热性能的因素。结果表明：板式间接蒸发冷却器换热效率随二次空气入口的速度升高、一次空气入口的温度、二次空气入口的湿球温度升高而变大，随一次空气入口的速度变大而变小。实验结果对于深入认识间接蒸发冷却器的换热机理及开展换热器的优化设计有着很大的指导意义。     

Modelling of a direct evaporative air cooler using artificial neural network

This paper proposes the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict various performance parameters of a direct evaporative air cooler. For this aim, an experimental evaporative cooler was operated at steady‐state conditions, while varying the dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the entering air along with the flow rates of air and water streams. Using some of the experimental data for training, a three‐layer feed‐forward ANN model based on back propagation algorithm was developed. This model was used for predicting various performance parameters of the cooler, namely the dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the leaving air, mass flow rate of the water evaporated into the air stream, sensible cooling rate, and effectiveness of the cooler. Then, the performance of the ANN predictions was tested by applying a set of new experimental data. The predictions usually agreed well with the experimental values with correlation coefficients in the range of 0.969–0.993, mean relative errors in the range of 0.66–4.04%, and very low root mean square errors. This study reveals that, as an alternative to classical modelling techniques, the ANN approach can be used successfully for predicting the performance of direct evaporative air coolers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of water droplet carryover phenomena in industrial evaporative air-conditioning systems

Water droplet carryover phenomena and pressure drop characteristics in drip-type direct evaporative coolers have been experimentally investigated. Ten different evaporative cooling pads were tested for different air frontal velocities, and the onset of carryover has been determined. The onset of water carryover has been found to be at air velocities between 3.5 and 4.2 m/s. Also, the effect of flute height and pad thickness on pressure drop characteristics of cooling pads has been examined. In addition, it has been determined that for the steady-state operation of drip-type direct evaporative coolers, water temperature in the reservoir approaches the wet bulb temperature and can be taken as constant for long term steady-state operations in practice.     

An indirect evaporative chiller

A novel indirect evaporative chiller driven by outdoor dry air to produce cold water as the cooling source for air conditioning systems is introduced, and the principle and the structure of the chiller is presented. The cold water can be produced almost reversibly under ideal working conditions, with its temperature infinitely close to the dew point temperature of the inlet air. The key components of the chiller are an air cooler and a padding tower. To improve the heat transfer performance inside the chiller, a quasi-countercurrent air cooler was designed; a subsection linear method was used for the mathematical model of the padding tower. The first indirect evaporative chiller, designed and developed in 2005, has been in use in Kairui Building, a big hotel in Shihezi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The tested temperature of the water produced is below the wet bulb temperature of outdoor air and reached the average value of the dew point temperature and the wet bulb temperature of outdoor air. As the running components are only pumps and fans, the COP (cooling energy for room divided by power cost) of this chiller is high, and the drier the outdoor air, the higher COP the chiller obtained. Since no CFCs are used in this chiller, it would not cause any pollution to the aerosphere. Finally, the application prospect of the indirect evaporative chiller in the world is presented.     

Performance enhancement of gas turbines by inlet air‐cooling in hot and humid climates

In this paper, a model to study the effect of inlet air‐cooling on gas turbines power and efficiency is developed for two different cooling techniques, direct mechanical refrigeration and an evaporative water spray cooler. Energy analysis is used to present the performance improvement in terms of power gain ratio and thermal efficiency change factors. Relationships are derived for an open gas turbine cycle with irreversible compression and expansion processes coupled to air‐cooling systems. The obtained results show that the power and efficiency improvements are functions of the ambient conditions and the gas turbine pressure ratio. The performance improvement is calculated for, ambient temperatures from 30 to 50°C, the whole range of humidity ratio (10–100%) and pressure ratio from 8 to 12. For direct mechanical refrigeration air‐cooling, the power improvement is associated with appreciable drop in the thermal efficiency. The maximum power gain can be obtained if the air temperature is reduced to its lowest limit that is the refrigerant evaporation temperature plus the evaporator design temperature difference. Water spray cooling process is sensitive to the ambient relative humidity and is suitable for dry air conditions. The power gain and efficiency enhancement are limited by the wet bulb temperature. The performance of spray evaporative cooler is presented in a dimensionless working graph. The daily performance of the cooling methods is examined for an ABB‐11D5 gas turbine operating under the hot humid conditions of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that the direct mechanical refrigeration increased the daily power output by 6.77% versus 2.57% for the spray air‐cooling. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical and testing performance of an innovative indirect evaporative chiller

An indirect evaporative chiller is a device used to produce chilled water at a temperature between the wet bulb temperature and dew point of the outdoor air, which can be used in building HVAC systems. This article presents a theoretical analysis and practical performance of an innovative indirect evaporative chiller. First, the process of the indirect evaporative chiller is introduced; then, the matching characteristics of the process are presented and analyzed. It can be shown that the process that produces cold water by using dry air is a nearly-reversible process, so the ideal produced chilled water temperature of the indirect evaporative chiller can be set close to the dew point temperature of the chiller’s inlet air. After the indirect evaporative chiller was designed, simulations were done to analyze the output water temperature, the cooling efficiency relative to the inlet dew point temperature, and the COP that the chiller can performance. The first installation of the indirect evaporative chiller of this kind has been run for 5 years in a building in the city of Shihezi. The tested output water temperature of the chiller is around 14–20 °C, which is just in between of the outdoor wet bulb temperature and dew point. The tested COP_r,s of the developed indirect evaporative chiller reaches 9.1. Compared with ordinary air conditioning systems, the indirect evaporative chiller can save more than 40% in energy consumption due to the fact that the only energy consumed is from pumps and fans. An added bonus is that the indirect evaporative chiller uses no CFCs that pollute to the aerosphere. The tested internal parameters, such as the water–air flow rate ratio and heat transfer area for each heat transfer process inside the chiller, were analyzed and compared with designed values. The tested indoor air conditions, with a room temperature of 23–27 °C and relative humidity of 50–70%, proved that the developed practical indirect evaporative chiller successfully satisfy the indoor air conditioning load for the demo building. The indirect evaporative chiller has a potentially wide application in dry regions, especially for large scale commercial buildings. Finally, this paper presented the geographic regions suitable for the technology worldwide.     

An experimental study of a cross-flow type plate heat exchanger for dehumidification/cooling

The thermal and dehumidification behaviour of a standard cross-flow type plate heat exchanger, intended for use as a dehumidifier/cooler, has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. Three sets of experiments have been carried out where air is blown into the primary and secondary sides of the exchanger, while water and liquid desiccant were being sprayed in a counter flow arrangement. The first set represents the indirect evaporative cooling of the primary stream by the secondary air stream. The second set is with liquid desiccant only and no indirect evaporative cooling. In the third set of experiments the primary air stream is indirectly evaporatively cooled by the secondary air stream and dehumidified by the liquid desiccant sprayed into the primary side of the exchanger. The above experiments indicate that the heat exchanger performs well when used with liquid desiccant. Furthermore, for an exchanger angle of 45°, there is an optimum value of air mass flow rate at which the effectiveness and dehumidification efficiency of the plate heat exchanger are maxima. To investigate the effect of the ambient air conditions on the PHE performance, further experiments were carried out using a heater element and a humidifier. The results show that under laboratory conditions the exchanger effectiveness and dehumidification efficiency increase with increasing primary air inlet temperature and humidity ratio. The experimental results were used to validate a computer model developed for the cross-flow type plate heat exchanger/dehumidifier. Comparison indicates that the numerical results are in good agreement with the experiments.     

板式间接蒸发冷却换热器的层流特性研究

间接蒸发冷却换热器与传统空调相比具有环保与节能的优点。由于蒸发冷却过程的传热传质机理复杂,本文针对板式间接蒸发冷却换热器,建立了三维稳态传热传质数学模型,并确定了合适的边界条件。通过数值模拟得到了压力场、温度场和浓度场的分布,并讨论了通道间距、速度、温度以及相对湿度等因素对换热效果的影响,为间接蒸发冷却换热器的设计提供了理论指导。     

Theoretical analysis on heat and mass transfer in a direct evaporative cooler

The heat and mass transfer between air and water film in the direct evaporative cooler is theoretically analyzed in present paper. A simplified cooling efficiency correlation is proposed based on the energy balance analysis of air. The correlation may be applied to the water-drip cross-flow direct evaporative cooler, in which the wet special durable papers with different wave angles form the air channel. The Influences of the air frontal velocity and the thickness of pad module on the cooling efficiency of a direct evaporative cooler are discussed. An optimum frontal velocity of 2.5 m/s is recommended to decide the frontal area of pad module in the given air flow. The simplified correlation of cooling efficiency is validated by the test results of a direct evaporative cooler.     

Performance evaluation and comparison of multistage indirect evaporative cooling systems in two operation modes

The evaporative cooling technique is an efficient approach for cooling application. This study aims to establish a performance evaluation method to advance the appropriate design for multistage indirect evaporative cooling systems. A mathematical formulation has been developed for the indirect evaporative cooler (IEC). After the validation, the mathematical model was used to analyze the evaluation criteria by considering the simultaneous influence of the cooling effectiveness, the pressure drop, and the cooling capacity of the multistage IEC operating in two modes. The Mode-1 IEC is a conventional counterflow unit, while the Mode-2 IEC employs a regenerative M-cycle arrangement. The IECs are operated in a tandem arrangement. The multistage system is capable of improving the cooling performance and reducing the outlet air temperature. In addition, the multistage system displays a higher pressure drop resulting in a lager consumption of fan power. The analysis of performance evaluation criteria indicates that the appropriate maximum stage is suggested to be three-stage and two-stage for the Mode-1 and the Mode-2 IEC, respectively.     

Novel design and modelling of an evaporative cooling system for buildings

Passive evaporative cooling has great potential as an alternative to conventional air‐conditioning in arid hot climates because of its low cost and zero pollution. This paper describes a novel evaporative cooling system with an automatic wind‐tracking device to improve its operating efficiency. The design and operating principles are discussed. A mathematical model is simplified by the assumption of convective heat and mass transfer of staggered streamlets of water. A computer program has been developed to calculate the deflection and length of spray water streamlets, as well as evaporative water mass, minimum cooled water temperature and required cooling time. A typical example illustrates that approximately 20 kg water are evaporated and around 26 min are required for 980 kg of water to be cooled from 28°C to the wet bulb temperature of 19.2°C of ambient air in a typical arid hot climate (relative humidity = 0.30, dry bulb temperature = 32°C and wind velocity = 4 m s^?1). The application of adsorbents, would allow the evaporative cooling system to be applied in hot, humid climates, in addition to hot climates with low humidity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

单元式露点蒸发冷却装置的实验研究

本研究设计了一台由干、湿通道相结合的单元式露点蒸发冷却装置,通过实验研究了蒸发冷却装置在空气经过一级冷却的模式1和经过二级冷却的模式2两种运行模式下,不同空气入口参数时的换热效果。实验结果表明,空气的入口温度越高,换热效果越好;低湿度时空气的进出口温差比高湿度时大,但其湿球效率和露点效率反而较低,这说明2种效率并不适用于不同湿度间的冷却效果对比;模式2运行时的换热效果比模式1好。与已有研究成果对比表明,该单元式露点蒸发冷却装置的湿球效率和露点效率分别可以达到120%和88%,为露点蒸发冷却装置的优化设计提供理论依据和优化方向。     

Maisotsenko循环在燃气轮机进气冷却中的应用研究

采用基于Maisotsenko循环的露点间接蒸发式冷却作为进气冷却的手段,研究了不同环境条件下其对燃气轮机性能的提升效果。建立了针对某9E级燃气轮机的热力循环过程的计算模型,并利用该热力模型分析了进气温度变化对燃机出力的影响。基于Maisotsenko循环的原理,以温降为指标对露点间接蒸发冷却器的性能进行了分析。以功率和效率作为指标,对燃气轮机性能随环境条件的变化情况做了数值模拟,对露点蒸发式冷却与无进气冷却、直接喷雾式冷却对燃机性能的影响进行了计算分析。结果表明,在高温低湿度的条件下,露点间接蒸发式冷却能有效提升燃机性能。     

Modelling and performance analysis of a cross-flow type plate heat exchanger for dehumidification/cooling

This paper describes the performance analysis of a cross-flow type plate heat exchanger for use as a liquid desiccant absorber (dehumidifier) and indirect evaporative cooler. The proposed absorber can be described as a direct contact, cross-flow, heat and mass exchanger, with the flow passages separated from each other by thin plastic plates. One air stream (primary air) is sprayed by liquid desiccant solution, while the other stream (secondary air) is evaporatively cooled by a water spray. Each thin plate, besides separating the water/air passage from the solution/air passage, also provides the contact area for heat and mass transfer between the fluids flowing in each passage. A parametric study for the primary air stream at 33°C, 0.0171 kg/kg humidity ratio and secondary air stream at 27°C and 0.010 kg/kg humidity ratio using calcium chloride solution was performed in this study. The results showed a strong dependence on the heat and mass transfer area, solution concentration and ratio of secondary to primary air mass flow rates. However, negligible differences were found between the performance of a counter flow and a parallel flow arrangement. The results demonstrate that the proposed absorber will not offset both the latent and sensible load of the primary air and, therefore, an auxiliary cooler or more dehumidification/indirect evaporative cooling stages will generally be required to meet the sensible and latent load in a typical comfort application.     

包覆吸水膜的管式蒸发散热器性能的实验研究

应用间接蒸发散热的原理,在空调冷凝器表面包覆吸水膜,利用水蒸发带走热量.这样蒸发面积达到了最大值,并且能够通过毛细力自动补充蒸发的水分.空调冷凝器中热工质的温度和热容比间接散热器中的一次空气大,能够提高蒸发表面温度,提高蒸发量,进而提高散热效率.通过对通有热水的表面覆盖吸水纸膜的单铜管的实验研究,得出了该方式的传热系数以及水膜的,导热系数,证明了该散热方式较空调冷凝器空气强制对流和其它蒸发散热方式的优势.     

Numerical model of evaporative cooling processes in a new type of cooling tower

A numerical model for studying the evaporative cooling processes that take place in a new type of cooling tower has been developed. In contrast to conventional cooling towers, this new device called Hydrosolar Roof presents lower droplet fall and uses renewable energy instead of fans to generate the air mass flow within the tower. The numerical model developed to analyse its performance is based on computational flow dynamics for the two-phase flow of humid air and water droplets. The Eulerian approach is used for the gas flow phase and the Lagrangian approach for the water droplet flow phase, with two-way coupling between both phases. Experimental results from a full-scale prototype in real conditions have been used for validation. The main results of this study show the strong influence of the average water drop size on efficiency of the system and reveal the effect of other variables like wet bulb temperature, water mass flow to air mass flow ratio and temperature gap between water inlet temperature and wet bulb temperature. Nondimensional numerical correlation of efficiency as a function of these significant parameters has been calculated.     

Second-law-based performance evaluation of cooling towers and evaporative heat exchangers

In this paper, we present thermodynamic analysis of counter flow wet cooling towers and evaporative heat exchangers using both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. A parametric study is carried out to determine the variation of second-law efficiency as well as exergy destruction as a function of various input parameters such as inlet wet bulb temperature. Irreversible losses are determined by applying an exergy balance on each of the systems investigated. In this regard, an engineering equation solver (EES) program, with built-in functions for most thermodynamic and transport properties, is used. The concept of total exergy as the sum of thermomechanical and chemical parts is employed in calculating the flow exergies for air and water vapor mixtures. For the different input variables investigated, efficiencies were, almost always, seen to increase or decrease monotonically. We notice that an increase in the inlet wet bulb temperature invariably increases the second-law efficiency of all the heat exchangers. Also, it is shown that Bejan's definition of second-law efficiency is not limited in evaluating performance. Furthermore, it is understood that the variation in the dead state does not significantly affect the overall efficiency of the system.