Use of compound desiccant to develop high performance desiccant cooling system

The paper is aimed to develop a high performance rotary solid desiccant cooling system using a novel compound desiccant wheel (DW). The unique feature of the desiccant wheel is that it can work well under a lower regeneration temperature and have a higher dehumidification capacity due to the contribution of the new compound desiccant materials. Experimental results indicate that the novel desiccant wheel under practical operation can remove more moisture from the process air by about 20–40% over the desiccant wheel employing regular silica gel. A mathematical model that is used to predict the system performance has been validated with the test results. By integrating the desiccant wheel with evaporative cooling, heat recovery and heating for regeneration sections, a solid desiccant cooling system can be formed. Simulation results show that because of the use of the new compound desiccant, the desiccant cooling system can work under much lower regeneration temperature and have a relative high COP, thus low grade thermal energy resources, such as solar energy, waste heat, etc., can be efficiently utilized to drive such a cooling cycle.     

一种新型前置预冷转轮除湿复合空调系统

提出了一种新型前置预冷转轮除湿复合空调系统,除湿转轮采用第Ⅲ类吸湿剂。对利用该系统用于独立新风系统的可行性进行了性能分析。结果表明,在华南地区夏季两种典型工况下,该转轮除湿采用再生温度为45℃就可以满足室内湿度的要求;对于相对湿度为90％且温度低于36.7℃的高温高湿工况,该转轮除湿采用再生温度为60℃仍可以满足室内湿度的要求;但与除湿转轮采用第Ⅰ类或第Ⅱ类吸湿剂相比,不能达到更低的送风露点温度。因此,该系统方案所需再生温度较低,较适用于高品质/舒适性空调方面。     

Assessment of adsorption-desorption characteristics of adsorbents for adsorptive desiccant cooling system

The performance of various dehumidification materials was assessed in terms of effective adsorption amount of water vapor based on the adsorption isotherms to find a suitable dehumidification element for an economical adsorptive desiccant cooling system being developed. The effective adsorption amount is an important factor for regeneration at lower temperatures. Three types of silica gels, S(a), S(b), and S(c), with different pore volumes and pore size distributions, and zeolite with various molar ratios of Si/Al, 5.6, 29, 47, 91, and 220, prepared from a Y-type zeolite treated with hydrochloric acid, an activated carbon with silica gel added to improve the hydrophobic surface, and MCM-41 were examined. Silica gels having effective adsorption amounts of 0.25 g/g, and activated carbon with silica gel added were assessed to be candidate desiccant materials.     

Design and performance of an internal heat exchange desiccant wheel

A fundamental limitation in the dehumidification performance of adiabatic desiccant wheels occurs due to heating of the air stream to be dried. This results from both the carry-over of heat stored in the wheel and the release of the adsorption heat. Previous authors have identified an isothermal dehumidification process as theoretically superior, though the practicalities of constructing such a wheel have meant that demonstrating the benefit is difficult. Recently experimental data from testing of an internally cooled wheel was published. Here we use this data to calibrate a mathematical heat and mass transfer model of the internally cooled heat exchange desiccant wheel. The model is then used to estimate the performance for selected modifications to the design and materials. The results show that more than a 40% improvement is possible relative to the previously tested cooled wheel. The results have application to the development of desiccant air-conditioners.     

Performance analysis of desiccant dehumidification systems driven by low-grade heat source

If a desiccant dehumidification system can be driven by a heat source whose temperature is below 50 °C, exhaust heat from devices such as fuel cells or air conditioners can be used as its heat source, thereby saving energy. Therefore, in this study, we used a previously validated simulation model to determine the minimum heat source temperature for driving a desiccant dehumidification system. We considered four desiccant dehumidification systems that can be driven by waste heat—conventional desiccant-type systems (wheel type and batch type with only desiccant), a system with a precooler, double-stage-type systems (a type with two desiccant wheels and a four-partition desiccant wheel type), and a batch-type system with an internal heat exchanger. We found that among these systems, the last system can be driven by the lowest heated air temperature—approximately 33 °C—which is considerably lower than that of the conventional system.     

基于硅胶干燥剂的多孔基材性能测试

多孔性基材作为干燥剂的载体,对除湿转轮的性能有重要影响。本文选择了木浆滤纸(WPFP)、陶瓷纤维纸(CFP)和玻璃纤维纸(GFP)3种多孔基材进行研究。采用Hot Disk、扫描电镜、压汞仪及ASAP2460对3种材料的基本物性进行表征,将基材多次浸泡JN-30硅溶胶,并在恒温恒湿箱中高温高湿工况下进行吸附实验,对比3种基材本身及上胶后的吸附及脱附能力。结果表明:上胶次数对3种材料的影响相似,基材上胶后整体的饱和吸附量增大、达到饱和状态的时间变长,但上胶次数过多会导致每次上胶增加量减少,上胶次数不能超过5次。木浆滤纸相比于陶瓷纤维纸和玻璃纤维纸具有更好的亲水性及更高的上胶率,且亲水性相比于孔隙率对上胶率的影响更大,单位面积基材上胶后整体的吸附量最大、达到饱和状态的时间较长,符合LDF模型的模拟结果,且脱附能力较好,适用于除湿转轮的制作。     

离子改性的聚丙烯酸除湿换热器系统性能研究

干燥剂吸附性能对除湿换热器系统的除湿性能有重要影响。本文通过改进的ASAP2020气体吸附仪和恒温恒湿箱,先后对Na^+和K^+改性的聚丙烯酸聚合物的水蒸气平衡吸附性能和吸附动力学特性进行了测试研究,并与硅胶相对比。研究结果表明:平衡吸附测试显示Na^+改性的聚丙烯酸在整个相对压力区间性能优于硅胶,K^+改性的在高相对压力区间(>0.8)逊于硅胶;基于Polanyi吸附势理论对干燥剂吸附特征曲线进行拟合,以用于后续的除湿换热器模拟研究;动态吸附性能表明聚丙烯酸干燥剂的吸附速率均低于硅胶,但Na+改性的聚丙烯酸整个吸附过程的动态吸附量仍多于硅胶;通过模拟除湿换热器除湿性能,在ARI summer、ARI humid和上海夏季这3种典型室外工况下,Na^+改性的聚丙烯酸换热器可以从待处理空气中去除更多的水分,较硅胶换热器提升49%~118%,适用于室外湿度较小的气候工况。     

浅谈术语“气体吸湿剂＂

“固体吸湿剂”、“液体吸湿剂”常作为吸湿剂中的两大类型被提及。固体吸湿剂利用吸附原理,对湿空气进行除湿;液体吸湿剂利用吸收原理,使空气达到除湿的效果。而压缩空气作为一种极为干燥的空气,我们称之为“气体吸湿剂”,此空气通过和湿空气混合,实现对湿空气稀释除湿的目的。同时经过压缩空气气体吸湿剂除湿后的空气可以与蒸发冷却技术相结合应用于空调中,大大提高蒸发冷却降温的效率。另外,在我国西北等干燥地区大气中存在着一种经过大自然除湿后的天然干燥空气一千空气,我们可充分利用这种气体吸湿剂,直接送入建筑物内消除室内的湿负荷,大大降低人工制冷除湿的能耗,同时充分利用“干空气能”,达到尽量采用蒸发冷却天然冷源降温的效果,从而实现建筑低能耗的目的。“气体吸湿剂”是一种新的吸湿剂概念,为此,本文对术语“气体吸湿剂”进行了初步的探讨。     

Performance comparison between enthalpy recovery wheels and dehumidification wheels

A mathematical model of desiccant wheels is established and validated by experimental results. The different effects of substrate, air mixing, and rotation speed on the performance of enthalpy recovery wheels and dehumidification wheels are analyzed. Substrate with high heat capacity and low heat conductivity is recommended for enthalpy recovery wheels, while substrate with low heat capacity and low heat conductivity is suitable for dehumidification wheels. Air mixing should be considered in evaluating recovery wheels' performance but can be ignored for dehumidification wheels. For recovery wheels without considering air mixing, higher the rotation speed, higher the recovery efficiency; when considering air mixing, the optimal rotation speed is lower than the corresponding rotation speed at a 5% air mixing rate. There also exists an optimal rotation speed to obtain better dehumidification performance for dehumidification wheels. Meanwhile, the reasons behind the discrepancies between recovery wheels and dehumidification wheels are discussed.     

Effect of desiccant isotherm on the performance of desiccant wheel

Numerical simulation has been conducted for the desiccant wheel, which is the crucial component of a desiccant cooling system. As the key operating/design parameters, the rotation speed and the area ratio of regeneration to dehumidification have been examined for a range of regeneration temperature from 50 °C to 150 °C. Optimization of these parameters is conducted based on the wheel performance evaluated by means of Moisture Removal Capacity (MRC). Simulations are focused on the effect of desiccant isotherm on the optimal conditions of these operating/design parameters. Also the effects of the outdoor air temperature and humidity on the optimum design parameters are examined.     

Experimental performance analysis and modelling of liquid desiccant cooling systems for air conditioning in residential buildings

The paper presents a new desiccant cooling cycle to be integrated in residential mechanical ventilation systems. The process shifts the air treatment completely to the return air side, so that the supply air can be cooled by a heat exchanger. Purely sensible cooling is an essential requirement for residential buildings with no maintenance guarantee for supply air humidifiers. As the cooling power is generated on the exhaust air side, the dehumidification process needs to be highly efficient to provide low supply air temperatures. Solid rotating desiccant wheels have been experimentally compared with liquid sorption systems using contact matrix absorbers and cross flow heat exchangers. The best dehumidification performance at no temperature increase was obtained in an evaporatively cooled heat exchanger with sprayed lithium chloride solution. Up to 7 g kg⁻¹ dehumidification could be reached in an isothermal process, although the surface wetting of the first prototype was low. The process then provides inlet air conditions below 20 °C for the summer design conditions of 32 °C, 40% relative humidity. With air volume flow rates of 200 m³ h⁻¹ the system can provide 886 W of cooling power.A theoretical model for both the contact absorber and the cross flow system has been developed and validated against experimental data for a wide range of operating conditions. A simulation study identified the optimisation potential of the system, if for example the surface wetting of the liquid desiccant can be improved.     

Experimental study on silica gel-LiCl composite desiccants for desiccant coated heat exchanger

Desiccant coated aluminum-fin is an important part in desiccant coated heat exchanger (DCHE). It will affect the overall performance of this novel solid desiccant component. In the paper, different silica gel-LiCl composite desiccant coated aluminum sheets were fabricated and some key parameters were studied. Nitrogen adsorption suggested that texture properties of composite desiccants were different from silica gel due to impregnated salt and combined action of silica sol and silica gel. The highest thermal conductivity of composite sheets was 5.8 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹, which is twice of silica gel coated one. Sorption kinetics indicated that composite sheets exhibited higher dynamic sorption quantities and faster sorption rates. Sorption isotherms were also obtained and fitted with Dubinin–Astakhov equation. Besides, dehumidification capacity of composite DCHE was tested and compared with silica gel one. Results indicated that enhanced dehumidification capacity can be achieved with use of composite desiccant in the DCHE system.     

Influence of the atmospheric pressure on the mass transfer rate of desiccant wheels

The performance of a desiccant wheel is evaluated by modelling a representative channel. The hypothesis of negligible resistances to heat and mass transfer in the cross-direction is assumed in the thin porous desiccant wall of the channels and the airflow is treated as a bulk flow. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the atmospheric pressure decrease from 101,325 Pa to 60,000 Pa (0-4217 m of altitude) on the mass transfer rate of desiccant wheels considering distinct channel lengths and different inlet airflow rates, a large range of values of the rotation speed, as well as three alternative ways to specify the inlet conditions of the regeneration and of the process airflows. A procedure to derive correlations based on the numerical results is presented for the correction factor of the mass transfer rate when a desiccant wheel is operating at non-standard atmospheric conditions. Four parametric studies were performed, the derived correlations were tested and a good agreement was found between the estimated correction factor and the correction factor calculated after the numerical results.     

Numerical study of a novel cascading adsorption cycle

A novel cascading adsorption cooling cycle for refrigeration purposes is proposed in this paper. This cycle consists of two zeolite adsorbent beds and a silica gel adsorbent bed. The working refrigerant for the three adsorbers is water. The zeolite adsorbent bed is configured as the high temperature stage while the silica gel adsorbent bed acts as the low temperature stage. Both heat and mass recovery are carried out between the two zeolite adsorbent beds. In addition, heat is also exchanged between the zeolite adsorbent and the silica gel adsorbent beds. A lumped model is assumed for this cascading cycle. The COP for the base case is found to be 1.35, which is much higher than the COP of an intermittent cycle (about 0.5) and a two-bed combined heat and mass recovery cycle (about 0.8). However, its specific cooling power (SCP) of 42.7 W/kg is much lower than that of the intermittent cycle. The numerical results indicate that an optimal middle temperature exists for a prescribed driven temperature. The optimal COP increases with an increase in the driven temperature. However, when the driven temperature increases beyond 503 K, there is negligible change in the COP.     

涂覆MIL-101(Cr)干燥剂的翅片管换热器的实验研究

干燥剂涂层换热器(DCHE)是一种新开发的翅片管表面带有干燥剂涂层的换热器,它可以同时处理潜热和显热.为了获得更高的性能,高孔隙度的金属有机框架(MOF)被引入到设计中.本文通过水浴法成功合成MIL-101(Cr)材料,并对材料进行X射线衍射(XRD)、N2吸附-脱附测试、水蒸气吸脱附曲线、电镜扫描等系列物理表征.制作...     

Analytical modeling of a desiccant wheel

A simple integral model is presented for a desiccant wheel. The original governing equations for a desiccant wheel were simplified to a set of linear ordinary differential equations and an analytical solution was obtained. A brief analysis is given about the solution regarding the non-dimensional numbers that decide the behavior of a desiccant wheel. From the solution, algebraic expressions were obtained for time-averaged heat and mass transfer rates and the results were compared with a numerical model and a set of experimental data in the literature. In comparison with the numerical model, relative error was found less than 12% at 120 °C regeneration temperature and 10% standard deviation was observed with the experimental data. The analytical model is considered capable of describing a symmetric desiccant wheel realistically.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on isothermal adsorption and desorption characteristics of a desiccant-coated heat exchanger

Dynamic characteristics of desiccant–coated heat exchangers (DCHEs) were experimentally measured by wind tunnel. The surface of the DCHE was coated with polymer sorbent desiccant. The isothermal adsorption and desorption experiments were conducted under the condition where the temperatures of the air and brine passing through the DCHE were identical.The experimental results were compared to that obtained from theoretical calculations. A diffusion model predicting the distribution of moisture concentration and temperature in the desiccant layer was introduced. The equivalent diffusion coefficient of the water inside the desiccant layer was determined from the experimental results.The adsorption and desorption speeds were at the maximum values at the beginning of the sorption processes, and then they gradually decreased. The equivalent diffusion coefficient was dependent on the temperature. Assuming the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient, the calculated sorption performance correlated well with that obtained from the experimental results.     

Synthesis of zeolite omega. Influence of the temperature and the reagents on the crystallization kinetics

The kinetics of the crystallization of zeolite omega in the system Na₂O, TMA₂O, Al₂O₃, SiO₂, H₂O have been determined as a function of the temperature and the nature of the sources of silicon and aluminium. At 100°C, faujasite appears first and is then dissolved while crystals of zeolite omega develop. Sodalite is also formed but pure zeolite omega can be isolated after 15 days. At 135°C the transient formation of faujasite is not observed. The crystallization kinetics of zeolite omega are not sensitive to the nature of the reagents but those of the secondary products (sodalite, analcite, mordenite, cristobalite) depend on their reactivity. Porous silica gel favours the nucleation of sodalite. Reaction mixtures prepared from kaolinite lead to die-shaped monocrystals which are stable in the medium whereas sodium aluminate produces polycrystalline aggregates which are progressively dissolved. Under these conditions pure zeolite omega was obtained after only one day of reaction using sodium aluminate and a non-porous silica gel as starting materials.     

Corrosion induced fatigue failure of railway wheels

Two AAR class B rolled wheels for locomotives failed after about two years of service. The fracture surfaces of the failed railway wheels were examined. The examination showed that there were corrosion pits on the back plate surface of the failed wheels. All of the fracture originated from corrosion pits at the wheel plate surface and fatigue propagated to a length and then expanded rapidly by cleavage. Fatigue specimens cut from the wheel plate were corroded with different time duration in an artificial corrosion environment to simulate the corrosion states of the wheels. The fatigue properties of the un-corroded specimens and the specimens corroded with different times were tested in air. Finite element method (FEM) and Sines' criterion were used to evaluate the safety of the wheels. The results showed that the wheel plates without corrosion pits exhibited an excellent resistance to failure. The corrosion pits could promote the initiation of fatigue cracks and drastically lower the fatigue limits of corroded specimens. The real root cause of the failure of the subject wheels was due to the corrosion pits at the wheel plate surfaces. A critical depth of the corrosion pit on the wheel plate 300 μm was recommended. Protection of the wheel plate was important to ensure the safety of wheels and the rust prevention oil was recommended to be applied on the wheel plate regularly.     

The analysis of a solar‐assisted desiccant evaporative cooling system and its application

Abstract

The direct application of an evaporative cooling system is impractical in Taiwan due to local hot and humid weather conditions. In this study, a hybrid cooling system utilizing an evaporative cooler coupled with a chemical dehumidifier is investigated. The solid desiccant, or silica gel, which could be regenerated by solar energy, dehumidifies the incoming air while the evaporative cooler effectively cools it down to the indoor comfort condition. An optimal design approach including a sensitivity study was performed during the computer simulation process. A systematic result was obtained providing design information, such as the desiccant consumption rate and solar collector area needed for indoor comfort air‐conditioning.