A numerical solution for cooling and dehumidification of air by a falling desiccant film in parallel flow

The heat and mass transfer process between falling liquid desiccant film and air in parallel flow heat exchanger is investigated numerically. The governing equations with appropriate boundary and interfacial conditions describing the physical problem are derived. The control volume approach is used to predict the outlet conditions for both the air and the desiccant solution. The effect of inlet conditions, mass flow rates and channel geometry on the air cooling and dehumidification processes is also predicted. The average Nusselt and Sherwood numbers for air flow are correlated in terms of Prandtl number, Schmidt number and channel geometry. Typical numerical experiments showed good agreement of the present results with the available data in literature. Moreover, a parametric study is conducted to illustrate the general effects of various variables on heat and mass transfer processes in cooling and dehumidification of air.     

Analysis of heat and mass transfer between air and falling film in a cross flow configuration

Heat and mass transfer between air and falling solution film in a cross flow configuration is investigated. Effects of addition of Cu-ultrafine particles in enhancing heat and mass transfer process are also examined. A parametric study is employed to investigate the effects of pertinent controlling parameters on dehumidification and cooling processes and their subsequent optimization. It is found that low air Reynolds number enhances the dehumidification and cooling processes. An increase in the height and length of the channel and a decrease in the channel width enhance dehumidification and cooling processes. It is also found that an increase in the Cu-volume fraction increases dehumidification and cooling capabilities and produces more stable Cu-solutions.     

Effectiveness of heat and mass transfer in packed beds of liquid desiccant system

A liquid desiccant system (using CaCl₂) is presented for air dehumidification using solar energy or any other low grade energy to power the system. The system utilizes two packed beds of counterflow between an air stream and a solution of liquid desiccant for the processes of air dehumidification and solution regeneration. To simplify the prediction of the performance of the system an effectiveness of heat transfer and an effectiveness of mass transfer in the packed beds are defined. A finite difference model is developed to model the heat and mass transfer in packed beds during the air dehumidification mode and the solution regeneration mode. This finite difference model is used to calculate the effectiveness of heat and mass transfer in the packed beds at various bed heights, various air and solution flow rates, various inlet temperatures of air and solution to the bed, and various concentrations of CaCl₂ solution at the bed entrance. Charts of the effectiveness of heat and mass transfer are presented in a convenient form. A designer of a liquid desiccant system may use the charts in predicting the performance of these systems without having to use the finite difference model for this purpose.     

An analytical model for heat and mass transfer processes in internally cooled or heated liquid desiccant–air contact units

Internally cooled or heated liquid desiccant–air contact units can be used for effective air dehumidification or desiccant regeneration, respectively. One-dimensional differential equations were utilized in the present study to describe the heat and mass transfer processes with parallel/counterflow configurations. The effects of solution film heat and mass transfer resistances, the variations of solution mass flow rate, non-unity values of Lewis factor and incomplete surface wetting conditions were all considered in the differential model. On considering the relatively narrow ranges of operating conditions in a specified application, the equilibrium humidity ratio of desiccant solution was assumed to be a linear function of its temperature and concentration. Constant approximations of some properties and coefficients were further made to render the coupled equations linear. The differential equations were rearranged and an analytical solution was developed for newly defined parameters. For four possible flow arrangements and three types of commonly used liquid desiccant solutions, results of analytical solutions were compared with those of numerical integrations over a wide range of operating conditions, and the agreement was found to be quite satisfactory. Further, the heat and mass transfer performances were analyzed and some guidance to improve the unit design was provided.     

Study of an aqueous lithium chloride desiccant system: air dehumidification and desiccant regeneration

Desiccant systems have been proposed as energy saving alternatives to vapor compression air conditioning for handling the latent load. Use of liquid desiccants offers several design and performance advantages over solid desiccants, especially when solar energy is used for regeneration. For liquid–gas contact, packed towers with low pressure drop provide good heat and mass transfer characteristics for compact designs. This paper presents the results from a study of the performance of a packed tower absorber and regenerator for an aqueous lithium chloride desiccant dehumidification system. The rates of dehumidification and regeneration, as well as the effectiveness of the dehumidification and regeneration processes were assessed under the effects of variables such as air and desiccant flow rates, air temperature and humidity, and desiccant temperature and concentration. A variation of the Öberg and Goswami mathematical model was used to predict the experimental findings giving satisfactory results.     

Two-Dimensional Numerical Analysis of Membrane-Based Heat and Mass Cross-Flow Exchanger

ABSTRACT

A two-dimensional numerical simulation model for a membrane-based heat and mass exchanger was developed. The system model equations were used to determine the coupled heat and moisture transfer from the humid air to the high concentrated liquid desiccant solution (LiCl, lithium chloride) by means of a parallel stack hydrophobic permeable membrane. The two streams of air and liquid desiccant solution were arranged in cross-flow directions. The fourth-order Runge–Kutta method was employed to solve these system model equations in a steady-state condition. This model enables one to predict the latent effectiveness of a membrane-based parallel cross-flow exchanger for dehumidification purpose in response to air to liquid mass flow ratio and the mass transfer unit number.     

Modelling and parametric analysis of heat and mass transfer performance of refrigerant cooled liquid desiccant absorbers

A detailed mathematical model is developed to predict the heat and mass transfer performance of a vapour compression/liquid desiccant hybrid cooling and dehumidification absorber referred to as RCLDA system in this work. An RCLDA system uses a desiccant loop to bring the humidity within the comfort range along with a sensible cooling loop to bring the temperature within the comfort range. In an attempt to increase both the COP of the desiccant as well as the cooling system, the RCLDA system combines a desiccant cycle operating in its most efficient range along with a cooling cycle operating at higher evaporator temperatures. Governing equations describing the steady-state, two-dimensional heat and mass transfer in an RCLDA system are developed to study its cooling and dehumidification performance. A numerical scheme based on a control volume analysis is used to solve these differential equations. A parametric analysis is conducted to help understand and optimize the performance of this RCLDA system. The analytical model is also used to develop heat and mass transfer performance maps for partial load performance estimation of the RCLDA system. A knowledge of the partial load performance is required for the yearly performance estimation. It is found from this study that the performance of the RCLDA system is a strong function of refrigerant and air side NTU, evaporator temperature, carry-over regenerator load and refrigerant and air mass flow rates. The mass flow rate of desiccant solution in the absorber did not have any significant impact on the performance of the absorber. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

液体除湿空调系统中除湿过程的模拟和实验研究

在对液体除湿机理研究的基础上,针对对流传热边界条件,建立了内冷型竖直板逆流降膜除湿过程的数学模型,并通过实验方法对该模型进行验证,实验采用CaCl2水溶液作为除湿剂,分析了各种进口参数对除湿效果的影响。结果表明:该数学模型能够较好地解释竖直板降膜除湿过程;空气和溶液的流量、温度,空气的含湿量,溶液的浓度等均对除湿过程有不同程度的影响。     

Dehumidification and humidification process of desiccant solution by air injection

Liquid desiccant dehumidification was proved to be an effective method to extract the moisture from air with a relatively less energy. An experimental study was carried out to evaluate the liquid desiccant system performance during dehumidification and humidification processes using an injected air through the liquid desiccant solution (calcium chloride). A different air mass flow rates though the desiccant solution was considered during the experimental work. The desiccant system was studied at different operating conditions like different temperatures, different humidity ratios and different solution levels. The effectiveness for both the dehumidification and humidification processes was calculated through this work. It was found that, the system effectiveness reached to 0.87 in the dehumidification and about 0.92 in the humidification process. Also; the experimental results showed a mass transfer coefficient of 28 kg s⁻¹ m² mm Hg at an air mass flow rate of 0.022 kg s⁻¹ in the dehumidification process. The cooling effect factor was also studied and analyzed during that work.     

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.     

Coupled heat and mass transfer characteristic in packed bed dehumidifier/regenerator using liquid desiccant

The dehumidifier and regenerator are two key components in liquid desiccant air conditioning systems. The heat transfer driving force and the mass transfer driving force influence each other, the air and desiccant outlet temperatures or humidity ratio may exceed the air and desiccant inlet parameters in the dehumidifier/regenerator. The uncoupled heat and mass transfer driving forces, enthalpy difference and relative humidity difference between the air and desiccant are derived based on the available heat and mass transfer model and validated by the experimental and numerical results. The air outlet parameter reachable region is composed of the air inlet isenthalpic line, the desiccant inlet equivalent relative humidity line and the linkage of the air and desiccant inlet statuses. Except the mass flow rate ratio and the heat and mass transfer coefficients, the air and desiccant inlet statuses and flow pattern have great effects on the dehumidifier/regenerator performance. The counter flow configuration expresses the best mass transfer performance in the dehumidifier and the hot desiccant driven regenerator, while the parallel flow configuration performs best in the hot air driven regenerator.     

Exergy analysis of flow dehumidification by solid desiccants

Equations for the temporal and spatial exergy values and changes in the humid air stream and the desiccant for flow of humid air over desiccants and in desiccant-lined channels were established, and solved based on a thorough transient conjugate numerical analysis of laminar and turbulent flow, heat, and mass transfer that yielded the full velocity, temperature, and species concentration in the humid air and the solid desiccant. The desiccant was silica gel, the Reynolds number ranged from 333 to 3333, and the turbulence intensity in the turbulent flows was varied from 1% to 10%. Some of the major findings are: (1) in laminar flow, a total of ~20% of the humid air exergy is reduced in its drying, (2) in the desiccant, practically all of the exergy reduction is due to the release of absorption heat, (3) most of the exergy reduction, following the dehumidification rates, takes place in the first 1.5 s and first centimeter, (4) for the same inlet velocity, a desiccant-lined channel is more effective for dehumidification than a flat bed, and proportionally ~20% more exergy is expended, (5) turbulent flow improves dehumidification and proportionally increases exergy expenditure by 27–30%. Conclusions from these results are drawn to increase the exergy efficiency of the process.     

太阳能平板降膜型再生器的模拟和实验研究

在对液体再生机理研究的基础上,针对对流和辐射传热边界条件,建立了太阳能平板集热型再生器中逆流降膜再生过程的数学模型,并通过实验方法对该模型进行验证,实验采用CaCl2水溶液作为除湿剂,分析了各种进口参数对再生效果的影响.结果表明:模拟结果与实验数据能够较好地吻合;太阳辐射强度、空气温度、空气含湿量和溶液浓度等均对再生过程有不同程度的影响.     

A new method for determining coupled heat and mass transfer coefficients between air and liquid desiccant

This paper presented the characteristic of liquid desiccant dehumidification based on NTU–Le model. The results showed that the Lewis number Le had little effect on air outlet humidity ratio during desiccant solution dehumidification process. A new method called h_D–Le separative evaluation method was developed for determining coupled heat and mass transfer coefficients between air and liquid desiccant, through which the heat and mass transfer coefficients between air and liquid desiccant were calculated to obtain from experimental inlet and outlet parameters of air and desiccant solution. The effects of the air volume flow rate, temperature, humidity ratio and the solution concentration, temperature on the Lewis number, heat and mass transfer coefficient were analyzed according to experimental data and the h_D–Le separative evaluation method. Based on the computation results, it was concluded that the Lewis number greatly depended on the operation parameters and conditions of the air and desiccant. In addition, the correlations of the heat and mass transfer coefficients were developed. The additional 74 groups of experiments validated the developed correlations by comparison of air/solution parameters change with the calculation data.     

Performance characterisation of liquid desiccant columns for a hybrid air-conditioner

Use of liquid desiccant-vapor compression hybrid system is encouraged for low humidity applications. The liquid desiccant is primarily used to further dehumidify the supply air. In the present study, by using psychrometric equations and liquid desiccant property data, heat and mass transfer analysis for the dehumidifier and regenerator columns in counter flow configuration has been carried out. The simulation of the columns corresponds to low solution to air (S/A) flow ratio where precooled air gets dehumidified in the absorber while preheated air is used for regeneration of the solution. A detailed study of the performance characteristics for the absorber and regenerator columns confirms the requirement of the desiccant loop for additional dehumidification of the conditioned air. This need develops the main motive towards the concept of hybrid air conditioning.     

Experimental and Numerical Study on Heat and Mass Transfer of Cross-Flow Liquid Desiccant Dehumidifier/Regenerator

Abstract

A liquid desiccant air dehumidification system driven by heat pump was established. The performance of cross-flow dehumidifier/regenerator was experimentally investigated. The empirical correlations of Sherwood number for dehumidification/regeneration were obtained by fitting the experimental data. On the basis of the empirical correlations of Sherwood number and thermodynamics analysis of heat and mass transfer process for dehumidifier/regenerator, a cross-flow heat and mass transfer model was established. The effects of air and solution parameters on the dehumidification/regeneration performance were analyzed. The number of mass transfer units and the height-to-length ratio of the packing module were also studied. The results show that there exist optimal number of mass transfer units and height-to-length ratio in the dehumidifier/regenerator.     

Effects of the Random Distributions on the Laminar Flow and Heat Transfer in a Quasi-Counter Flow Parallel-Plate Membrane Channel

ABSTRACT

An internally cooled parallel-plate membrane contactor has been employed for liquid desiccant air dehumidification. The contactor is comprised of a series of quasi-counter flow parallel-plate membrane channels (QCPMC). The processing air and the liquid desiccant (solution) streams are separated by the membranes. Cooling tubes are installed in the solution channel to take away the absorption heat. The laminar flow and heat transfer in the QCPMC with the cooling tubes in the solution side (QCPMCC) are studied based on a unit cell containing the sandwiched domain outside the cooling tubes between two neighboring membranes. This paper is focused on the effects of the random distributions in the height direction on the transport phenomena in the QCPMCC. The governing equations of the momentum and thermal transports are built up together with a uniform wall temperature boundary condition. The product of the mean friction factor and Reynolds number and the mean Nusselt number are then calculated. Effects of the various random distributions in the height direction on the product of the mean friction factor and Reynolds number and the mean Nusselt number are analyzed. Compared to the regular arrangement, the mean Nusselt number for the random distribution is larger than that for the regular one when the Reynolds number is less than 68.5. However when the Reynolds number is larger than 68.5, the mean Nusselt number for the random distribution is smaller than that for the regular one.     

Effects of inlet conditions on film evaporation along an inclined plate

The evaporation of falling water liquid film in air flow is used in different solar energy applications as drying, distillation and desalination, and desiccant systems. The good understanding of the hydrodynamics and heat exchange in falling liquid film and gas flow, with interfacial heat and mass transfer, can be applied in improving solar systems performance. The solar system performance is dependent on the operating conditions, system conception and related to several physical parameters, where the effects of some of these parameters are not completely clarified. In the present numerical study, we examine the effects of inlet conditions on the evaporation processes along the gas–liquid interface. The liquid film streams over an inclined plate subjected to different thermal conditions. Liquid and gas flows are approached by two coupled laminar boundary-layers. The numerical solution is obtained by utilizing an implicit finite-difference box method. In this analysis an air–water system is considered and the coupled effects of inclination, inlet liquid mass flow rate and gas velocity are examined. The results show that, for imposed heat flux or uniform wall temperature, the effect of inclination is highly dependent on the liquid mass flow rate and gas velocity. An increase in the liquid mass flow rate causes an enhancement of the effect of inclination on the heat and mass transfer. The inclination affects the heat and mass transfer, especially at lower gas velocities. In the range of inclination angles of 0–10°, an increase in the inclination improves the evaporation by increasing the vapor mass flow rate. The maximum effect of inclination is nearly achieved at an inclination angle of 10°.     

A characteristic study of liquid desiccant dehumidification/regeneration processes

This article presents a research study on the process analysis of adiabatic liquid desiccant dehumidification/regeneration with slug flow assumptions. A controlling equation is developed for the quasi-equilibrium processes where the two fluid streams are in contact in quasi-equilibrium conditions. Results from this equation with numerical integration for the solution are presented as process curves on a psychrometric chart. Two of these curves are found to be characteristic of two typical types of adiabatic dehumidification/regeneration processes: one featured with small enthalpy change of air and low mass flow of solution (type-1) and the other with small concentration change and high mass flow of solution (type-2). These two types of process curves are thus named as characteristic process curves. Numerical simulations of one-dimensional heat and mass transfer model under practical conditions were also performed. With special inlet conditions and approximately balanced heat and mass capacity conditions, the loci of states for the two fluid streams will still proceed approximately along the same characteristic process curves. Under other inlet conditions, the characteristic process curves still function as asymptotic limits for the real processes. Thus, the research presented in this article provides an in-depth understanding of the complicated heat and mass transfer processes and also a theoretical basis for further development of simplified and precise enough algorithm of heat and mass transfer calculations.