Use of liquid desiccant cooling to improve the performance of vapor compression air conditioning

A hybrid air conditioning system, which consists of sections of desiccant dehumidification, evaporative cooling and vapor compression air conditioning, has been established in this paper. Experimental investigation demonstrates that cooling production and COP of the new hybrid system can be increased significantly, if they are compared with those of vapor compression system (VCS) alone. Assuming that the outlet temperature and humidity of the system are constant, psychrometric analysis at ARI conditions has been conducted under three different cases. The benefits are represented by lower electricity consumption of the compressor, higher COP of the system, less flow rate of condensation air, and reduced size of VCS, etc. The reason that the hybrid system is superior in performance to conventional systems lies in that desiccant dehumidification and evaporative cooling changes the inlet states of the air entering into VCS. Furthermore, the effects of dehumidification and evaporative cooling are analyzed in the paper.     

Case study and theoretical analysis of a solar driven two-stage rotary desiccant cooling system assisted by vapor compression air-conditioning

In this paper, a solar hybrid desiccant air conditioning system, which combines the technologies of two-stage desiccant cooling (TSDC) and air-source vapor compression air-conditioning (VAC) together, has been configured, experimentally investigated and theoretically analyzed. The system mainly includes a TSDC unit with design cooling capacity for 10 kW, an air-source VAC unit with 20 kW in nominal cooling capacity, a flat plate solar collector array for 90 m², a hot water storage tank and a cooling tower. Performance model of the system has been created in TRNSYS simulation studio. The objective of this paper is to report the test result of the solar hybrid air conditioning system and evaluate the energy saving potential, thereby providing useful data for practical application. Experimental results show that, under typical weather condition, the solar driven desiccant cooling unit can achieve an average cooling capacity of 10.9 kW, which contributes 35.7% of the cooling capacity provided by the hybrid system. Corresponding average thermal COP is over 1.0, electric COP is up to 11.48. Under Beijing (temperate), Shanghai (humid) and Hong Kong (extreme humid) weather conditions, the solar TSDC unit can remove about 57%, 69% and 55% of the seasonal moisture load, thereby reducing electric power consumption by about 31%, 34% and 22%, respectively. These suggest that the solar hybrid system is feasible for a wide range of operating conditions.     

Use of desiccant dehumidification to improve energy utilization in air-conditioning systems in Beirut

Humidity and indoor moist surrounding affect air cleanliness and protects harmful microorganisms when relative humidity is above 70%. In humid climates, the humidity issues are a major contributor to energy inefficiency in HVAC devices. The use of liquid desiccant dehumidification systems of supply air is a viable alternative to reduce the latent heat load on the HVAC system and improve efficiency. Thermal energy, at a temperature as low as 40–50°C, required for the operation of a liquid desiccant hybrid air conditioner can be efficiently obtained using a flat-plate solar collector. In this work a model of a solar-operated liquid desiccant system (using calcium Chloride) for air dehumidification is developed. The system utilizes packed beds of counter flow between an air stream and a solution of liquid desiccant for air dehumidification and solution regeneration. The desiccant system model is integrated with a solar heat source for performance evaluation at a wide range of recorded ambient conditions for Beirut city. Standard mass and energy balances are performed on the various components of the system and a computer simulation program is developed for the integrated system analysis. The desiccant system of the current study replaces a 3 TR (10.56 kW) vapour compression unit for a typical house as low latent load application, and is part of a hybrid desiccant–vapour compression system for a high latent load application, namely a small restaurant with an estimated cooling load of 11.39 TR (40 kW), including reheat. The relevant parameters of the desiccant system are optimized at peak load, and it is found out that there is an important energy saving if the ratio of the air flow rate in the regenerator to that in the dehumidifier is about 0.3 to 0.4. The COP of the desiccant unit is 0.41 for the house, and 0.45 for the restaurant. The size of the vapor compression unit of the restaurant is reduced to 8 TR when supplemented by a desiccant system. The performance is studied of the desiccant system integrated with a solar collector system and an auxiliary natural gas heater to heat the regenerator. The transient simulation of the solar desiccant system is performed for the entire cooling season. The solar fraction for the house is equal to 0.25, 0.47, and 0.68 for a collector area of 28.72, 57.44, and 86.16 m², respectively. The solar fraction for the restaurant is 0.19, 0.38, and 0.54, for the same collector areas. The life cycle savings for the house run solely on desiccant system were positive only if natural gas is available at a cheap price. For the restaurant, the economic benefit of the desiccant system is positive, because the need for reheat in the vapor compression system is eliminated. For a gas price of 0.5638 $/kg, the payback period for the restaurant turned out to be immediate if the energy is supplied solely by natural gas, and 11 years if an 86.16 m² solar collector is implemented to reduce the fuel consumption. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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).     

Performance evaluation of a solar-powered flat-plate multichannel liquid desiccant air conditioning system

There has been a limited application of liquid desiccant (LD) dehumidification systems in space air conditioning until now. The key elements responsible for this restricted implementation are leakage of desiccant solution, corrosion of components, and solution carryover along with the processed air to the space to be conditioned. To remove these problems, an evacuated tube solar heat collector-driven multichannel liquid desiccant air conditioning system has been proposed and experimentally investigated. In this study, dehumidification and regeneration rate, their effectiveness, cooling effect of the dehumidifier, and indirect evaporative cooling unit have been analyzed. The results obtained indicate that the process air has been dehumidified and cooled by 6.32 g kg⁻¹ and 5.26°C, respectively. The regeneration rate and effectiveness have been obtained to be 0.26 g s⁻¹ and 0.31, respectively. In terms of the cooling effect, the system output of 0.703 and 0.130 kW has been obtained from the dehumidifier and indirect evaporative cooling unit of the system, respectively. The proposed system validates the possibility of the novel solar-powered liquid desiccant air conditioning system concept and provides growth and development of the LD air conditioning technology for space air conditioning.     

An experimental study of structured packing dehumidifier/regenerator operating with liquid desiccant

The present work presents an experimental investigation on the performance of the structured packing cross flow desiccant dehumidification system (DDS). This system is referred as DDS; its heart is the dehumidifier/regenerator. It is used to meet a latent heat load by air dehumidification. Calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solution is used as the working desiccant material in this system. The structured packing has a density (specific surface area) of 390 m²/m³, corrugation angle of 60° and void fraction of 0.88. The effect of relevant parameters such as air flow rate, desiccant solution flow rate, desiccant solution temperature and concentration and packing thickness on the performance of the system is studied. The performance of the system is evaluated using the mass transfer coefficient, moisture removal rate (MMR), effectiveness and the coefficient of performance (COP). The remarkable increase of mass transfer coefficient and MRR for both deh/reg is observed by increasing both air and solution flow rates. Eventually, the payback period (PP) of the DDS is 11 months with annual running cost savings (ΔC_RC) of about 31.24% compared with vapor compression system (VCS) dehumidification. The overall environmental impacts of DDS are nearly 0.63 of VCS. This may emphasize the need of incorporating a desiccant system along with air conditioning applications.     

Energy and economic performance analysis of an open cycle solar desiccant dehumidification air-conditioning system for application in Hong Kong

In this article, a transient simulation model and the EnergyPlus were used to study the energy performance and economical feasibility for integrating a solar liquid desiccant dehumidification system with a conventional vapor compression air-conditioning system for the weather condition of Hong Kong. The vapor compression system capacity in the solar assisted air-conditioning system can be reduced to 19 kW from original 28 kW of a conventional air-conditioning system as a case study due to the solar desiccant cooling. The economical performance of the solar desiccant dehumidification system is compared with that of the conventional air-conditioning system. The results show that the energy saving potentials due to incorporation of the solar desiccant dehumidification system in a traditional air-conditioning system is significant for the hot wet weather in Hong Kong due to higher COP resulted from higher supply chilled water temperature from chiller plants. The annual operation energy savings for the hybrid system is 6760 kWh and the payback period of the hybrid system is around 7 years. The study shows that the solar assisted air-conditioning is a viable technology for utilizations in subtropical areas.     

On the optimum sizing of exhaust gas‐driven automotive absorption cooling systems

An optimization analysis is presented for estimating the optimum size of absorption‐type automotive air‐conditioning system that uses waste exhaust gas as heat input. An economic analysis and optimization method were performed and combined with the thermal analysis for thermo‐economic optimization of the absorption cooling system that seems to be an alternative to the commonly used automotive air‐conditioning systems of vapor compression type. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance assessment of hybrid desiccant cooling system at various climates

In our work, operation of hybrid desiccant cooling system (HDCS) has been investigated based on experimental studies. Different climates have been created by changing the temperature and humidity of HDCS inlet air, using an electrical heater and a centrifuge humidifier. Input energies, temperature of various points, and their relative humidity have been measured at the created climates. Coefficient of performance (COP), thermal coefficient of performance, and electrical coefficient of performance (ECOP) of the HDCS have been calculated. As a reference situation, vapor compression system (VCS) was examined at the same condition as HDCS. Results show that COP of HDCS in comparison with VCS decreased about 36% and 28% in hot-dry and hot-humid climates, respectively, which is due to the thermal energy consumption in HDCS. In contrast its ECOP increased, which means that by using HDCS some electrical energy would be saved. Defining operating cost index (OCI) parameter, operation costs of VCS and HDCS have been compared. Analyzing the OCI results shows that in HDCS, although decreasing the electricity consumption results in more usage of natural gas, these systems are economical especially in those countries with low natural gas prices.     

Operational results of an intermittent absorption cooling unit

The concept of solar cooling is appealing because the cooling load is in phase with the intensity of solar energy. Many system arrangements or cycles are employed to achieve solar cooling, such as Absorption, desiccant or Rankine‐vapour compression systems. The technical feasibility of driving an absorption‐cooling unit by a low‐temperature heat source (such as solar energy using a simple flat‐plate collector) for air‐conditioning applications is investigated in this work. This study aims to design and construct a prototype for an intermittent absorption refrigeration system and to examine its implementation. The operating characteristics of the considered unit are extensively investigated. In order to accomplish this strategy, the prototype was integrated in a test rig designed for this purpose and equipped with the necessary measuring instruments to determine the required operating criteria of the unit. The energy added or extracted to or from the different unit components is calculated and the system performance is analysed. The C.O.P of the unit is found to be 19% which is 2% lower than the designed value, which could be regarded as an encouraging result for more studies in this field. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Technical development of rotary desiccant dehumidification and air conditioning: A review

Rotary desiccant air conditioning system, which combines the technologies of desiccant dehumidification and evaporative cooling, is advantageous in being free from CFCs, using low grade thermal energy and controlling humidity and temperature separately. Compared with conventional vapor compression air conditioning system, it preserves the merits of environment-friendly, energy saving, healthy, comfortable, etc. Ongoing research and development works suggest that new desiccant materials and novel system configurations have significant potential for improving the performance and reliability and reducing the cost and size of rotary desiccant dehumidification and air conditioning system, thereby increasing its market competitiveness and breaking out the current fairly small niche market. For the purpose of providing an overview of recent efforts on these issues and showing how rotary desiccant air conditioning systems can be designed and coupled to available thermal energy, this paper presents and analyzes the status of rotary desiccant dehumidification and air conditioning in the following three aspects: the development of advanced desiccant materials, the optimization of system configuration and the utilization of solar energy and other low grade heat sources, such as solar energy, district heating, waste heat and bioenergy. Some key problems to further push forward the research and development of this technology are also summarized.     

A feasibility study of a solar desiccant air‐conditioning system—Part I: psychrometrics and analysis of the conditioned zone

A desiccant dehumidifier in conjunction with evaporative coolers can reduce air conditioning operating costs significantly since the energy required to power a desiccant cooling system is small and the source of this required energy (solar, waste heat, natural gas) can be diverse. Such a solid desiccant cooling system with a backup vapour compression system is simulated and the performance of the system is evaluated to study its feasibility in four cities in the United States. This paper describes the relevant psychrometric calculations and analyses of the conditioned zone required for simulating the transient performance of the system. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

转轮复合式空调系统的数值计算及能耗分析

主要研究了以太阳能作为再生热源的转轮除湿和蒸气压缩制冷相结合及转轮除湿、蒸气压缩和蒸发冷却相结合的2种复合式空调系统,同时对电能作为再生热源的上述空调系统进行研究,建立了系统的物理模型,并对系统性能参数进行数学描述。通过与相同条件下常规蒸气压缩空调系统的比较分析,得出复合式空调系统制冷剂质量流量分别减少50.20％和66.67％；压缩系统性能系数COP分别提高了26.49％和32.16％；压缩机能耗分别节省了62.64％和76.92％。电能作为再生热源时,总负荷能耗分别节省了32.68％和42.00％；当采用太阳能作为再生热源时,总负荷能耗节省更多的能量,分别为61.86％和71.16％(认为1kW电能等价于3kW热能)。研究还发现,室内相对湿度相同,随室内设计温度的提高,复合式系统压缩机能耗明显减少,节能率呈上升趋势；相反总负荷能耗的节能率呈下降趋势。干热气候条件下,系统节能较为明显：71.75％和85.96％(电能再生)。热湿气候条件下,系统节能不明显,甚至消耗更多能量,而采用太阳能时,复合式系统均具有明显节能效果。     

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.     

Micro tri-generation system for indoor air conditioning in the Mediterranean climate

Mediterranean countries show two specific features regarding air-conditioning of buildings: a high—and growing—cooling load and high relative humidity, at least in coastal zones. In this contribution we report on the development of an innovative micro scale tri-generation system (power + heating + cooling), equipped with a rotor based desiccant system adapted to the Mediterranean conditions which receives heat for the desiccant regeneration from a combined heat and power (CHP) cycle.The paper presents the design of the advanced desiccant air handling unit which uses a high efficient combination of a vapor compression chiller working at a high evaporator temperature and a desiccant wheel (silica gel). The electricity of the chiller is supplied by the CHP system and the heat to regenerate the desiccant is the waste heat of the CHP. System simulations have been used to optimize the hydraulic design and the operation strategy in order to minimize operation costs and maximize energy savings. Some new component models, e.g. for the advanced desiccant cycle were developed for this purpose. The final design of the entire system consisting of the CHP system, the vapor compression chiller, the advanced desiccant air handling unit and the load system is described. The load system is composed of an air duct network with induction units and a chilled water network with fan-coils in the office rooms.Regarding energy performance results indicate an electricity saving >30% in comparison to state-of-the-art solutions based on conventional technology.     

Simulation of an integrated hybrid desiccant vapor-compression cooling system

The performance of a desiccant, integrated, hybrid, vapor-compression cooling system is modeled numerically. The concept of hybrid cooling investigated in this paper utilizes the waste heat rejected from a vapor-compression cycle to activate a desiccant dehumidification cycle. The hybrid system consists of 4 major components: a compressor, an evaporator and 2 desiccant, integrated condensers/dehumidifiers. The equations governing the transport of heat and mass in the desiccant, integrated condenser/dehumidifiers are formulated considering air as the working fluid in the process stream and a refrigerant stream, which is cooled from superheated vapor to subcooled liquid, as the heat source during desorption; a water stream is used to remove the heat generated during adsorption. The governing equations are nondimensionalized and solved for both sorption processes using an explicit finite-difference scheme. The performance of a first generation prototype desiccant, integrated, hybrid, vapor-compression cooling system is then evaluated at ARI conditions.     

An experimental and theoretical investigation of refrigerant charge on a secondary loop air‐conditioning heat pump system in electric vehicles

Automotive air‐conditioning heat pump systems are particular interest worldwide in energy conservation and emission reduction for electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cell electric vehicles. Refrigerant charge amount is a key factor for the air‐conditioning heat pump system optimization affecting the condensing pressure and subcooling in both heating and cooling modes. In this paper, the influence of the refrigerant charge on system performances was investigated using the experiment method on a secondary loop air‐conditioning heat pump system. The typical heat transfer and flow parameters were recorded, and both cooling and heating performances of the system were investigated and illustrated by pressure‐enthalpy diagrams. The critical refrigerant charges were determined in both heating and cooling modes. Three typical void fraction correlation models were also applied for the refrigerant charge determination modeling as a system off‐design method. Results show that the Hughmark void fraction correlation method has the best prediction of the critical refrigerant charge in both cooling and heating modes.     

Cooling performance and energy saving of a compression–absorption refrigeration system driven by a gas engine

The prototype of combined vapour compression–absorption refrigeration system was set up, where a gas engine drove directly an open screw compressor in a vapour compression refrigeration chiller and waste heat from the gas engine was used to operate absorption refrigeration cycle. The experimental procedure and results showed that the combined refrigeration system was feasible. The cooling capacity of the prototype reached about 589 kW at the Chinese rated conditions of air conditioning (the inlet and outlet temperatures of chilled water are 12 and 7°C, the inlet and outlet temperatures of cooling water are 30 and 35°C, respectively). Primary energy rate (PER) and comparative primary energy saving were used to evaluate energy utilization efficiency of the combined refrigeration system. The calculated results showed that the PER of the prototype was about 1.81 and the prototype saved more than 25% of primary energy compared to a conventional electrically driven vapour compression refrigeration unit. Error analysis showed that the total error of the combined cooling system measurement was about 4.2% in this work. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance comparison between a solar driven rotary desiccant cooling system and conventional vapor compression system (performance study of desiccant cooling)

Solar driven rotary desiccant cooling systems have been widely recognized as alternatives to conventional vapor compression systems for their merits of energy-saving and being eco-friendly. In the previous paper, the basic performance features of desiccant wheel have been discussed. In this paper, a solar driven two-stage rotary desiccant cooling system and a vapor compression system are simulated to provide cooling for one floor in a commercial office building in two cities with different climates: Berlin and Shanghai. The model developed in the previous paper is adopted to predict the performance of the desiccant wheel. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate and compare the thermodynamic and economic performance of the two systems and to obtain useful data for practical application. Results show that the desiccant cooling system is able to meet the cooling demand and provide comfortable supply air in both of the two regions. The required regeneration temperatures are 55 °C in Berlin and 85 °C in Shanghai. As compared to the vapor compression system, the desiccant cooling system has better supply air quality and consumes less electricity. The results of the economic analysis demonstrate that the dynamic investment payback periods are 4.7 years in Berlin and 7.2 years in Shanghai.