Experiences with a gas driven,desiccant assisted air conditioning system with geothermal energy for an office building

Thermal driven desiccant assisted air conditioning systems make use of waste heat to dehumidify humid outside air in a desiccant wheel. Within the scope of a research project, an investigation of a desiccant assisted air conditioning system was carried out, and a demonstration plant was built in an office building in Hamburg, Germany. The HVAC system consists of a small CHP-plant, a desiccant assisted ventilation system and an earth energy system (borehole heat exchangers) for cooling instead of an electric driven compression chiller. The radiant floor heating system of the building is used for cooling. In this paper, measurement results and investigations of performance, energy demand and operating costs will be presented. It was found that considerable primary energy savings can be achieved (70%) using desiccant air conditioning with borehole heat exchangers. But even if electric chiller is used, savings of 30% in primary energy can be accomplished. Starting costs for the demonstration plant were not higher than for a conventional system, but running costs could be reduced drastically.     

Modeling and simulation of desiccant wheel for air conditioning

This paper presents the modeling of a desiccant wheel used for dehumidifying the ventilation air of an air-conditioning system. The simulation of the combined heat and mass transfer processes that occur in a solid desiccant wheel is carried out with MATLAB Simulink. Using the numerical method, the performance of an adiabatic rotary dehumidifier is parametrically studied, and the optimal rotational speed is determined by examining the outlet adsorption-side humidity profiles. The solutions of the simulation at different conditions used in air dehumidifier have been investigated according to the previous published studies. The model is validated through comparison the simulated results with the published actual values of an experimental work. This method is useful to study and modelling of solid desiccant dehumidification and cooling system. The modeling solutions are used to develop simple correlations for the outlet air conditions of humidity and temperature of air through the wheel as a function of the physically measurable input variables. These correlations will be used to simulate the desiccant cooling cycle in an HVAC system in order to define the year round efficiency.     

TRNSYS simulation for solar-assisted liquid desiccant evaporative cooling

ABSTRACT

Recently, desiccant cooling systems are well thought of as a competent method for controlling the water content in the air. A solar flat-plate collector has been used as it decreases the dependency on non-renewable resources. Solar-aided liquid desiccant systems have been used to reduce the dependency of air-conditioning systems on non-renewable sources of energy. Manipal’s humid and searing climate provides certain benefits in setting up such a system. The suggested system has reliability and equipment life and also takes complete advantage of the available solar energy for the renewal of the liquid desiccant. TRNSYS simulation is used to predict the efficiency and feasibility of the system. The temperature and energy-load variations were successfully obtained. An effective simulation was developed whereby the solar air conditioning of a room was indicated.     

Performance analysis of liquid desiccant based air-conditioning system under variable fresh air ratios

In conventional air-conditioning system, fresh air volume is always restricted to save energy, which sacrifices indoor air quality (IAQ) to some extent. However, removing the latent load of air by liquid desiccant rather than by cooling is an alternative way of reducing energy consumption. Therefore, IAQ can be improved by increasing the volume of fresh air introduced into an air-conditioning system. In this paper, a liquid desiccant based air-conditioning system is studied, with the system performance under various fresh air ratios analyzed using simulation tests. In addition, the proposed system and a conventional system are compared. In the proposed system, with the increase in fresh air ratio, the heating load for solution regeneration rises, the dehumidification efficiency increases and the regeneration efficiency drops. The coefficient of performance (COP) of the liquid desiccant based system decreases sharply when the fresh air ratio exceeds 60%. The results also show that the proposed system can save power notably. The maximum power saving ratio is 58.9% when the fresh air ratio is 20%; however, the ratio drops when the fresh air ratio increases. These findings will be beneficial in the selection of fresh air ventilation strategies for liquid desiccant based air-conditioning systems.     

Overall cooling efficiency of a solar desiccant plant powered by direct-flow vacuum-tube collectors: simulation and experimental results

Using solar thermal energy is an interesting option for heat-driven air conditioning, e.g. desiccant cooling. In this article, the autonomous operations of a solar desiccant cooling plant powered by direct-flow vacuum-tube collectors are investigated. A model of the solar installation and the desiccant air handling unit is presented and implemented in the SPARK simulation environment and then it is validated experimentally. The overall cooling efficiency of the system is evaluated using simulation for humid and moderately humid climates and the effect of increasing the regeneration temperature on the cooling capacity, the overall cooling efficiency is studied and finally the overall efficiency of the collectors is calculated for the studied cases.     

Simulation and experimental analysis of a fresh air-handling unit with liquid desiccant sensible and latent heat recovery

This article introduces a liquid desiccant fresh air processor. Its driving force is low-grade heat (heat obtained from 65 – 75°C hot water). Inside the processor, the air is dehumidified by the evaporative cooling energy of the indoor exhaust air. A four-stage structure is used to increase the efficiency of the combined sensible and latent heat recovery from the exhaust air. A mathematical model of the fresh air processor was set up using Simulink®. A liquid desiccant fresh air processor was constructed and tested for outside air conditions of 29.1 – 33.6°C, 13.7 – 16.7g/kg humidity ratio, and supply air conditions of 23.6 – 24.2°C, 7.4 – 8.6g/kg humidity ratio. The average measured COP _f was 1.6 (cold production divided by latent heat removed) for the range of conditions tested. The corresponding average COP _sys of the system including the regenerator was 1.3 (cold production divided by heat input). The detailed operating parameters of each part of the test unit were also measured. The test data was compared with the simulated performance. The characteristic coefficients (such as the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of the air-water evaporative cooling module, etc.) in the mathematical model were modified to calibrate the model output to the measured data. The calibrated simulation model was used to investigate the control strategy of the fresh air processor. The flow rate of the strong solution into the unit and the number of operation stages may be controlled separately or together to meet different indoor air requirements at different outdoor conditions. The hot water driven liquid desiccant air conditioning system was compared with a typical vapor compression system with an average COP of 4.5; the pump and fan power of the proposed system was 40% of the combined chiller, pump, and fan consumption. We achieved savings of over 30% of the power consumption compared with the traditional system under the designed outdoor air conditions.     

Advancement of solar desiccant cooling system for building use in subtropical Hong Kong

The solar desiccant cooling system (SDCS) had a saving potential of the year-round primary energy consumption as compared to the conventional air-conditioning system for full fresh air application in the subtropical Hong Kong. In order to further enhance its energy efficiency, advancement of the basic SDCS was carried out through a strategy of hybrid design. Six hybrid system alternatives of SDCS were therefore proposed, three for full fresh air design while another three for return air design for the building zone. Year-round performance evaluation of each solar hybrid desiccant cooling system was conducted for typical office application under different climatic and loading conditions. All the six hybrid system alternatives were found technically feasible, with up to 35.2% saving of year-round primary energy consumption against the conventional air-conditioning systems. Among the hybrid alternatives, recommendations were made on the SDCS hybridized with vapour compression refrigeration for full fresh air design; and the SDCS hybridized with vapour absorption refrigeration for return air design, since they had the saving potentials of both primary energy and initial cost. These two hybrid system alternatives used evacuated tubes, a more economical type of solar collectors compared to the PV or PVT panels.     

溶液调湿技术在昆明南站的应用

分析了昆明南站的溶液调湿通风系统,通过通风满足室内温度要求,通过溶液调湿系统满足室内湿度要求,并对溶液调湿通风系统进行数值模拟和运行工况分析。     

Proposal for a new hybrid control strategy of a solar desiccant evaporative cooling air handling unit

Correctly controlled solar desiccant evaporative cooling is an interesting option for achieving savings in building air-conditioning consumption. The operation of this system (open loop cooling cycle) is strongly influenced by indoor and outdoor air conditions. This influence is characterized using numerical simulations. First the air conditioned room and the cooling system are simulated using a validated model of the desiccant wheel. Then the influence of each parameter of the desiccant air handling unit is evaluated. The third step is to assess the system cooling power for each operating mode with fluctuating outdoor and indoor air conditions. This allows for making relevant choices for a new control strategy taking into account both indoor and outdoor air conditions. This control strategy is tested for a whole cooling season and compared to a reference compression system with promising results, allowing for energy savings of about 40% for French climate.     

Evaporative air cooler coupled with variable frequency drive for dehumidification of indoor air

This study deals about the investigation of a solar-powered desiccant dehumidification system coupled with variable frequency drive (VFD). The proposed design of the system consists of two evaporative air coolers. One cooler performs as an absorber and the other one as desiccant regenerator coupled with a solar water heater. The VFD is connected with the first evaporative air cooler. In this work, using solar energy, a zeolite is regenerated as part of the investigation. Regeneration cycle for hot water absorption is explained and analysed. A simple expression for the cycle is proposed. System efficiency is derived with consideration of flow of work and heat to and from the system. The operating concentration of desiccant used greatly affected regeneration temperature limits and mass of strong solution for unit mass of vapour produced.     

Experimental investigation of solar heating and humidification system based on desiccant bed heat exchanger

In this article, an experimental investigation has been made on a solar heating and humidification system. In this system, an evacuated tube solar water heater is connected to the desiccant bed heat exchanger (DBHE) by connecting pipes. The evacuated tube solar water heater supplies required heat to the DBHE for the regeneration of desiccant material. Various types of solid and composite desiccant materials have been used in the DBHE to investigate their effect on the system performance. It has been found that the system obtained its best performance with silica gel with average humidification rate of 0.63?kg/h. The maximum temperature difference of process air has been found as 16°C at the flow rate of 295.2?kg/h.     

Numerical study of a novel dew point evaporative cooling system

Dew point evaporative cooling system is an alternative to vapor compression air conditioning system for sensible cooling of ventilation air. This paper presents the theoretical performance of a novel dew point evaporative cooling system operating under various inlet air conditions (covering dry, moderate and humid climate) and influence of major operating parameters (namely, velocity, system dimension and the ratio of working air to intake air). A model of the dew point evaporative cooling system has been developed to simulate the heat and mass transfer processes. The outlet air conditions and system effectiveness predicted by the model using numerical method for known inlet parameters have been validated with experimental findings and with recent literature. The model was used to optimize the system parameters and to investigate the system effectiveness operating under various inlet air conditions.     

Application of desiccant systems for improving the performance of an evaporative cooling-assisted 100% outdoor air system in hot and humid climates

The purpose of this study was to enhance the energy-saving potential of an indirect and direct evaporative cooling-assisted 100% outdoor air system (IDECOAS) by integrating it with either a solid or liquid desiccant system. The desiccant system can be installed either at the scavenger air side of the indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) to enhance its effectiveness or at the primary air side of the IEC to reduce the latent load of outdoor air. The operating energy consumption affected by the location and type of the desiccant unit integrated with IDECOAS was simulated under three different hot and humid climates using TRNSYS 17 integrated with commercial equation solver programme. And then, the most energy-conservative configuration was selected for each climate zone as the proposed system. The simulation results showed that configurations with the desiccant dehumidification unit located upstream of the IDECOAS consume 76–85% less cooling coil energy than those with the desiccant unit located downstream of the IDECOAS. It was also found that the liquid desiccant system saves 21–50% more primary energy than the solid one, when it is integrated with IDECOAS.     

Low cost passive cooling system for social housing in dry hot climate

The low energy approach should be the key concept in any long-term strategy aiming to build sustainability. For Madrid climate, action should be taken to reduce energy demand for heating and cooling in residential buildings.The performance of a passive cooling system was developed as a part of design work for the project of a low cost residential building. The passive cooling systems incorporate a solar chimney and precool the air by using the sanitary area of the building. The natural ventilation is enhanced with the help of the solar chimney and fresh air is cooled down by circulation within the sanitary area. The application of this system to the living rooms of a low cost residential building was evaluated and implemented. This cooling system incorporated to a residential building is the third prototype developed since 1991 by the designers. A model was developed to allow to predict the temperature of the air in the living room. The performance of the passive cooling system was evaluated based on the energy balance for a typical summer day.To reduce the energy demand in winter, a new design and window orientation has been developed and evaluated using DOE-2 simulation tool. The building has been constructed and monitored during 2006-2007.     

Performance of combined displacement ventilation and cooled ceiling liquid desiccant membrane system in Beirut climate

The performance of the chilled ceiling (CC) displacement ventilation (DV) systems is constrained by latent load removal capacity and cost of supply air dehumidification to prevent condensation on the ceiling. In this study, a liquid desiccant dehumidification membrane cycle (LDMC) is mathematically modelled to replace the CC and remove directly latent and sensible load from indoor space through the membrane. The desiccant system is coupled with the DV system. An optimized operational strategy is adopted while allowing ceiling temperature to drop to lower values than conventional CC/DV. The optimized LDMC-C/DV system was implemented in an office space in Beirut climate. It was found that decreasing the membrane liquid desiccant temperature resulted in a significant decrease in the total cooling energy of the system, while increasing the solar heating energy of the desiccant regeneration. At optimal set points, a decrease of 49% in energy consumption was observed compared to the conventional CC/DV system.     

Thermal performance of a cool-pool system for passive cooling of a non-conditioned building

The thermal performance of a cool-pool system for passive cooling of a non-conditioned building is presented. The system consists of a water pond over the roof which is shaded in such a way that incident solar radiation does not reach the roof surface and the pond loses heat by convection and evaporation to its surroundings. Using periodic analysis, explicit expressions have been obtained for various performance parameters, namely room air temperature and water temperature and the amount of water evaporated from the system. Numerical calculations carried out for a typical day at New Delhi (28.6°N) show that the cool-pool system is more effective than the conventional evaporative cooling techniques such as water film and roof pond; the system also consumes less water in comparison with other evaporative cooling techniques.     

Performance analysis on a hybrid air-conditioning system of a green building

This paper presents the performance analysis on a hybrid air-conditioning system according to the hybrid building energy system of the green building demonstration project in Shanghai, in which a 150 m² solar collector is used to power two 10 kW adsorption chillers, a vapor compression heat pump is used to cool air in the evaporating end while the condensing heating at about 80 °C is fully used to regenerate a liquid desiccant dehumidification system. In the hybrid system, the sensible cooling to the air is treated mainly by solar adsorption cooling and vapor compression cooling, whereas the latent heat is treated by the liquid desiccant dehumidification system with regeneration from the condensing heat of the heat pump. The results show that the performance of this system is 44.5% higher than conventional vapor compression system at a latent load of 30% and this improving can be achieved by 73.8% at a 42% latent load. The optimal ratio of adsorption refrigerating power to total cooling load for this kind of hybrid systems is also studied in this paper.     

Study on a novel thermally driven air conditioning system with desiccant dehumidification and regenerative evaporative cooling

Existing desiccant cooling systems reduce the temperature of process air either by adopting evaporative coolers or incorporating vapor compression systems. While the former is restricted by inaccurate control, the latter still consumes certain quantity of electric power. To solve this problem, a thermally driven air conditioning system, which combines the technologies of rotary desiccant dehumidification and regenerative evaporative cooling, has been proposed and investigated. In addition to dehumidification, the system is capable of producing chilled water, thereby realizing separate temperature and humidity control without increasing electrical load. To find out the characteristics of produced chilled water and evaluate the feasibility and energy saving potential of this novel system, a mathematical model has been developed. Case studies have been conducted under Air conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) summer, ARI humid and Shanghai summer conditions. It is found that the system can achieve a thermal COP higher than 1.0 and an electric COP about 8.0. The temperature of chilled water produced by the system is around 14–20 °C. This chilled water can be used with capillary tube mats for radiant cooling. It is suggested that the system can also be designed as a standalone chilled water plant. As a desiccant dehumidification-based chilled water producing technology, this would expand desiccant cooling to a boarder niche application. The effects of chilled water flow rate, air distribution ratio, inlet air conditions and regeneration temperature have been analyzed in detail. Reachable handling regions, which will be helpful to system design and optimization, have been obtained.     

太阳能地板辐射供暖制冷系统模型仿真

近年来,我国北方地区新建住宅的采暖系统多数采用地板辐射供暖技术,而制冷系统仍采用传统的空调制冷技术,有必要对地板辐射制冷技术的应用进行研究,为此,针对一套实验用太阳房,搭建了太阳能地板辐射供暖制冷系统.通过计算确定了集热器面积、蓄热水箱体积、吸收式制冷机组的制冷量.利用TRNSYS仿真平台建立了系统仿真模型,并对控制策略进行了验证.仿真结果表明,该系统能有效地利用太阳能保持冬季室温18℃左右、夏季26℃左右的舒适温度.     

使用天然气的除湿供冷系统

文章阐述了除湿供冷系统的结构和原理，并分析了影响除湿性能的一些因素。在与传统的制冷技术作比较的同时，评价了该系统的优越性。该系统不仅节约能源，还有助于提高室内空气品质和环保。