Analysis on a hybrid desiccant air-conditioning system

Hybrid desiccant-assisted preconditioner and split cooling coil system, which combines the merits of moisture removal by desiccant and cooling coil for sensible heat removal, is a potential alternative to conventional vapor compression cooling systems. In this paper, experiments on a hybrid desiccant air-conditioning system, which is actually an integration of a rotary solid desiccant dehumidification and a vapor compression air-conditioning unit, had been carried out. It is found that, compared with the conventional VC (vapor compression) system, the hybrid desiccant cooling system economizes 37.5% electricity powers when the process air temperature and relative humidity are maintained at 30 °C, and 55% respectively. The reason why the hybrid desiccant cooling system features better performance relative to the VC system lies in the improvement brought about in the performance of the evaporator in VC unit due to desiccant dehumidification. A thermodynamic model of the hybrid desiccant system with R-22 as the refrigerant has been developed and the impact of operating parameters on the sensible heat ratio of the evaporator and the electric power saving rate has been analyzed. It is found that a majority of evaporators can operate in the dry condition even if the regeneration temperature is lower (i.e. 80 °C).     

Artificial neural network analysis of liquid desiccant dehumidification system

The dehumidification process involves simultaneous heat and mass transfer and reliable transfer coefficients are required in order to analyze the system. This has been proved to be difficult and many assumptions are made to simplify the analysis. The present research proposes the use of ANN based model in order to simulate the relationship between inlet and outlet parameters of the dehumidifier. For the analysis, randomly packed dehumidifier with lithium chloride as the liquid desiccant is chosen. A multilayer ANN is used to investigate the performance of dehumidifier. For training ANN models, data is obtained from analytical equations. Eight parameters are used as inputs to the ANN, namely: air and desiccant flow rates, air and desiccant inlet temperatures, air inlet humidity, desiccant inlet concentration, dimensionless temperature ratio, and inlet temperature of the cooling water. The outputs of the ANN are the water condensation rate and the outlet desiccant concentration as well as its temperature. ANN predictions for these parameters are validated well with experimental values available in the literature with R² value in the range of 0.9251-0.9660. This study shows that liquid desiccant dehumidification system can be alternatively modeled using ANN with a reasonable degree of accuracy.     

Photovoltaic–electrodialysis regeneration method for liquid desiccant cooling system

Liquid desiccant cooling system (LDCS) is an (a novel) air-conditioning system with good energy saving potential. Regenerator is the power centre for LDCS. Currently, the regeneration process is always fuelled by thermal energy. Nevertheless, this regeneration pattern has some disadvantages in that its performance will become poor when the surrounding atmosphere is of high humidity, and the heat provided for regeneration will be unfavourable to the following dehumidification process. To ameliorate that, a new regeneration method is proposed in this paper: a membrane regenerator is employed to regenerate the liquid desiccant in an electrodialysis way; while solar photovoltaic generator is adopted to supply electric power for this process. Analysis has been made about this new regeneration method and the result reveals: this new manner achieves good stability with the immunity against the adverse impact from the outside high humidity; its performance is much higher than that of the thermal regeneration manner while putting aside the low efficiency of the photovoltaic system. Besides, purified water can be obtained in company with the regeneration process.     

Experimental investigation of a liquid desiccant system for solar cooling and dehumidification

Growing demand for air conditioning in recent years has caused a significant increase in demand for primary energy resources. Solar-powered cooling is one of the environmentally-friendly techniques which may help alleviate the problem. A promising solar cooling method is through the use of a liquid desiccant system, where humidity is absorbed directly from the process air by direct contact with the desiccant. The desiccant is then regenerated, again in direct contact with an external air stream, by solar heat at relatively low temperatures. The liquid desiccant system has many potential advantages over other solar air conditioning systems and can provide a promising alternative to absorption or to solid desiccant systems.Earlier work by the authors included theoretical simulations and preliminary experiments on the key components of the liquid desiccant system. The objective of the present study has been to construct a prototype system based on the knowledge gained, to monitor its performance, identify problems and carry out preliminary design optimization. A 16 kWt system was installed at the Energy Engineering Center at the Technion, in the Mediterranean city of Haifa. The system comprises a dehumidifier and a regenerator with their associated components operating together to dehumidify the fresh (ambient) air supply to a group of offices on the top floor of the building. LiCl-water is employed as the working fluid. The system is coupled to a solar collector field and employs two methods of storage – hot water and desiccant solution in the regenerated state. The performance of the system was monitored for five summer months under varying operating conditions. The paper describes the operation of the experimental system and presents the measured data and the calculated performance parameters.     

Single-stage and double-stage photovoltaic driven regeneration for liquid desiccant cooling system

Liquid desiccant cooling system (LDCS) is a novel air-conditioning system with good energy saving potential. However, the present LDCS has a poor performance, mainly because the conventional thermal regeneration method wastes too much energy during the regeneration process. To improve that, photovoltaic-electrodialysis (PV-ED) regeneration method is introduced: it has a higher performance by using solar photovoltaic panels to drive an electrodialysis regeneration process. To further explore the PV-ED method, both single-stage and double-stage photovoltaic-electrodialysis regeneration systems are presented in this paper. Analysis is made on these two systems and some influential factors are investigated. It reveals that the concentration difference between the desiccant solution before and after regeneration has a strong impact on system performance. Moreover, comparison is conducted between the single-stage and the double-stage systems, the results show that the double-stage system is more energy-efficient and it can save more than 50% energy under optimized working conditions.     

Performance of a solar liquid desiccant air conditioner – An experimental and theoretical approach

In this paper the results of testing a solar liquid desiccant air conditioner (LDAC) in the tropical climate of Queensland, Australia have been presented. The system uses polymer plate heat exchanger (PPHE) for dehumidification/indirect evaporative cooling, and a cooling pad as the direct evaporative cooler for the dry air leaving the PPHE. Lithium chloride, which is an effective desiccant in air dehumidification, was used in the experiments and a scavenger air regenerator concentrates the dilute solution from the dehumidifier using hot water from flat plate solar collectors. The data obtained from performance monitoring of the solar LDAC operating on a commercial site in Brisbane was compared with a previously developed model for the PPHE. The comparison reveals that good agreement exists between the experiments and model predictions. The inaccuracies are well within the measuring errors of the temperature, humidity and the air and solution flow rates. The above tests further indicate a satisfactory performance of the unit by independently controlling the air temperature and humidity inside the conditioned space.

In order to prevent carryover of the solution particles into the environment, eliminators are used at outlet of the absorber unit and the regenerator. An alternative method in preventing the carryover is the use of indirect cooling, in which the supply air does not contact the solution. The method can be used to produce potable water from the atmospheric air in remote areas.

The liquid desiccant system can be used in the HVAC industry, either as a packaged roof-top air conditioner, or as an air handler unit for commercial applications. The system could also be used for space heating in winter due to the property of desiccants to provide heat when wetted.     

Control performance of a dedicated outdoor air system adopting liquid desiccant dehumidification

Liquid desiccant is energy efficient for dehumidification in air-conditioning systems. In this study, a novel dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) adopting lithium chloride solution as liquid desiccant is proposed to process supply air. The DOAS mainly consists of a membrane-based total heat exchanger, a liquid dehumidifier, a regenerator and a dry cooling coil. It can realize independent temperature and humidity controls for supply air. Control strategies for the supply air dehumidification and cooling process as well as the desiccant solution regeneration process in the DOAS are developed and verified. The control performances of the proposed dedicated outdoor air system are investigated at different operation conditions by simulation tests. The results show that the DOAS is more suitable for hot and humid climates. The effects of the total heat exchanger on the performance of the DOAS are also evaluated. It can improve the system energy performance by 19.9–34.8%.     

An experimental study of a solar-regenerated liquid desiccant ventilation pre-conditioning system

A solar-regenerated liquid desiccant ventilation pre-conditioning system has been installed and experiments were carried out for a period of nine months covering rainy, cold, and hot seasons in a hot and humid climate (Thailand). A heat exchanger was used to cool the dehumidified air instead of typical evaporative cooling to maintain the dryness of the air. The use of solar energy at the regeneration process and cooling water from a cooling tower makes the system more passive. The evaporation rate at the regeneration process was always greater than the moisture removal rate at the dehumidification process indicating that the concentration of the desiccant in the system would not decrease and so the performance would not drop during continuous operation. The system could reduce the temperature of the delivered air by about 1.2 °C while the humidity ratio was reduced by 0.0042 kg_w/kg_da equivalent to 11.1% relative humidity reduction. The experimental results were also compared with models in literature.     

The effect of absorber packing height on the performance of a hybrid liquid desiccant system

A hybrid system consisting of vapour compression unit, a liquid desiccant system, and a flat solar hot water collector were designed, fabricated and tested. This combination allowed for a separate control of humidity and temperature without energy penalty. Various packing heights of the absorber component were tested to determine the optimal performance of the combined unit. A 1000 mm packing height with cross-sectional area of 600×600 mm, proved to be the best height that gives promising improvements in the coefficient of performance of the vapour compression unit.     

Parametric studies on a desiccant assisted air-conditioner

The desiccant assisted air-conditioners yield lower humidities in the conditioned space compared to the conventional systems. In this paper, the effects of design variables of the air-conditioner, namely supply airflow rate, compressor pumping capacity (compressor speed) and desiccant wheel speed on its performance are studied. It is found that an optimum wheel speed of about 17.5 rph exists at which both moisture removal capacity and COP are maximum.     

太阳能液体除湿空调性能的实验研究

在对液体除湿机理研究的基础上，建立了太阳能液体除湿空调系统实验台，采用氯化钙溶液作为除湿剂，对系统的除湿性能进行了实验研究，对影响除湿的各主要因素进行了分析。     

Optimized solar-powered liquid desiccant system to supply building fresh water and cooling needs

This paper studies the feasibility of using a solar-powered liquid desiccant system to meet both building cooling and fresh water needs in Beirut humid climate using parabolic solar concentrators as a heat source for regenerating the liquid desiccant. The water condensate is captured from the air leaving the regenerator. An integrated model of solar-powered calcium chloride liquid desiccant system for air dehumidification/humidification is developed. The LDS model predicted the amount of condensate obtained from the humid air leaving the regenerator bed when directed through a coil submerged in cold sea water. An optimization problem is formulated for selection and operation of a LDS to meet fresh water requirement and air conditioning load at minimal energy cost for a typical residential space in the Lebanon coastal climate with conditioned area of 80 m² with the objective of producing 15 l of fresh drinking water a day and meet air conditioning need of residence at minimum energy cost. The optimal regeneration temperature increases with decreased heat sink temperature with values of 50.5 °C and 52 °C corresponding to sink temperatures of 19 °C and 16 °C.     

Computer simulation of ground-coupled liquid desiccant air conditioner for sub-tropical regions

Computer model for a novel ground-coupled liquid desiccant air conditioner (GCLDAC) was developed in which a liquid desiccant cycle selectively operated in parallel with a conventional ground-source heat pump cycle by employing just a single compressor. Reverse cycle operation was incorporated to provide heating in winter. Dynamic simulation was carried out for a single-zone sample building at two occupancy levels based on the weather data for Hong Kong and compared with those obtained using a conventional ground-source heat pump system (GSHP). It was found that the borehole length for GCLDAC was reduced by 10.1% on average under different groundwater velocities at a low occupancy level corresponding to a fresh air ratio of 0.066. A larger average reduction of 14.3% could be reached for a higher occupancy level corresponding to a fresh air ratio of 0.122. The energy consumptions for both systems were very close even when the additional parasitic energy consumption for GCLDAC was accounted for. A simple economic analysis indicated that if the borehole installation cost exceeded USD35.0/m, cost saving could be found for the new system at both occupancy levels. Should GCLDAC be manufactured in a low-cost region like China, the economic benefit could be furthered enhanced.     

An analytical solution for air dehumidification by liquid desiccant in a packed column

This paper presents a new analytical solution of heat and mass transfer processes in a packed bed liquid desiccant dehumidifier based on the equilibrium humidity on the interface is assumed to be constant. In order to maintain the partial pressure difference on the interface, a high liquid desiccant flow rate is often applied in the practical absorber. Therefore, for a narrow range of operating conditions for practical dehumidification process, we can assume that the equilibrium humidity ratio on the interface is constant. The assumption of constant humidity ratio is applied in this paper for derivation of the analytical solution. The model and the analytical solution predictions were compared against a reliable set of experimental data available in the literature, with very good agreement. According to the Lewis definition in this present study, the Lewis number obtains 0.9. The effects of variables such as air and liquid desiccant flow rate, air temperature and humidity, desiccant temperature and concentration have been investigated on the condensation rate. The results present that design variables such as desiccant concentration, desiccant temperature, air flow rate, and air humidity ratio have the greatest impact on the performance of the dehumidifier. The liquid flow rate and the air temperature have not a significant effect. Furthermore, the effects of air and liquid desiccant flow rate have been reported on the humidity effectiveness of the column.     

Multi absorber stand alone liquid desiccant air-conditioning systems for higher performance

Achieving comfortable environment with the use of renewable energy or waste heat without creating the hazardous effects over the earth atmosphere are major challenges in the field of air-conditioning. Liquid desiccant technology is a promising option. For the past few decades research is going on worldwide to commercialize such systems. Hybrid liquid desiccant systems (combination of vapor compression (V-C) and liquid desiccant system) have got more attention probably due to higher COPs and lower regeneration temperature for such systems.In the present communication the steady-state performance of stand alone liquid desiccant systems has been simulated and analyzed. Falling film designs of absorber and regenerator have been selected for the study due to their lower pressure drops. The simulation of these components has been carried out by solving the basic mass and energy balance equations. These are nonlinear coupled first order differential equations, which have been solved by using fourth order finite difference Runge-Kutta method. The overall system has been simulated using Warner’s technique. Two new stand alone liquid desiccant cycles utilizing the potential of desiccant fully through multiple absorbers have been proposed. The proposed new cycles improve the COP of stand alone systems significantly. A parametric study has also been carried out on these liquid desiccant cycles to identify the key design parameters affecting the performance of the system.     

Dehumidification of air with a newly suggested liquid desiccant

Calcium chloride solution is a cheap desiccant. It is unstable at certain solution concentrations and dehumidified air temperatures. The aim of this research is to stabilize it by mixing with calcium nitrate in different weight combinations. The physical properties of a proposed liquid desiccant such as density, viscosity, and vapor pressure were obtained. Heat and mass transfer analysis between a thin liquid layer of the proposed desiccant and the air flowing through rectangular channel has been studied. The different factors affecting the dehumidification process of air were studied.     

Performance study on a structured packed liquid desiccant regenerator

The solution carryover in traditional desiccant regeneration towers is of serious concern in real applications especially when using triethylene glycol (TEG) as a desiccant. In this study, the cellulose rigid media pads are used as the structured packing. The packing arrangements have provided minimum carryover of TEG. A performance study of the simultaneous heat and mass transfer between air and desiccant in a structured packed-stripping tower is conducted. Through the study of the regenerator, important design variables are defined and the regenerator performance is compared with the previous studies. The effects of air and liquid flow rates, air humidity, desiccant temperature and desiccant concentration have been reported on the evaporation rate and humidity effectiveness of the column. It is found that high liquid flow rates do not have a significant effect on the performance variables.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation on the application of solar water heater coupled with air humidifier for regeneration of liquid desiccant

Theoretical and experimental investigation on the application of flat plate solar water heater coupled with air humidifier for regeneration of liquid desiccant has been presented in this work. The heated water from the storage tank of the solar heating system is circulated in a finned tube air heater. Hot air from the air heater is blown through a packing of a honeycomb type for the purpose of regeneration of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solution. An experimental system has been designed and installed for this purpose. The system comprises a solar water heater with a storage tank connected to an air/water heat exchanger. Hot air from the heat exchanger is blown to the air humidifier, which functions in this study as a regenerator. Calcium chloride solution is applied as the working desiccant in this study. Solution concentration is determined at the end of regeneration process and the mass of evaporated water is evaluated. It is observed that the heating temperature varies, at day time, in a range of about 5 °C. This limited variation in hot water temperature demonstrates the importance of the storage tank to attain a nearly steady state operation of the system. Experimental results show that solution with 30% concentration can be regenerated up to 50% using solar energy. In the theoretical part of this study, a multiple-layer artificial neural network (ANN) model has been applied to study the performance of a solar liquid-desiccant dehumidification/regeneration system when calcium chloride solution is applied as the working desiccant. The experimental results of the present study are used to construct and test the ANN model. Then the model has been utilized to describe and analyze the effect of the inlet conditions of air on the regeneration process. Good agreement between the outputs from the ANN model and the corresponding results from the experimental data has been found. The proposed model can work well as a predictive tool to complement the experiments.     

空调系统溶液除湿基本问题的研究进展

分析溶液除湿的研究现状,总结溶液除湿的相关基本问题,其中包括除湿/再生原理、蓄能机理、对空气品质的影响和除湿剂及除湿器的选择。提出了溶液除湿的存在问题和发展前景。     

Experimental investigation on possibility of electro-osmotic regeneration for solid desiccant

This paper aims to investigate the possibility and performance of a novel electro-osmotic regeneration method for the solid desiccant system, which could adsorb water from the moist air and be regenerated by the electro-osmotic force at the same time, by detailed experimental validation. The zeolite powder with both electro-osmotic and adsorptive characteristics was selected to make the solid desiccant. The quantity of the removed water was measured in the condition with and without an applied electric field to validate the possibility of the electro-osmotic regeneration. The test data show that there was an obvious electro-osmotic regeneration effect in the experiments. The whole electro-osmosis process was divided into three phases because of the Joule heating effect and electrode corrosion, which limited the performance of the experimental system. In particular, a filter cloth under the cathode made a superior electro-osmotic regeneration effect than without the cloth. The experimental results illustrate that the system has the potential of energy-saving and low regeneration temperature. So the electro-osmotic regeneration method is a potential regeneration method for the solid desiccant system.