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.     

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.     

Experimental study on a new internally cooled/heated dehumidifier/regenerator of liquid desiccant systems

For providing good performance of dehumidifier and regenerator with certain dimensions, a new type of internally cooled/heated dehumidifier/regenerator based on the plate–fin heat exchanger (PFHE) was designed. To investigate the behavior of the new equipment, an experimental setup was established in an environment chamber with regulable temperature and humidity air. By the internally cooled dehumidification testing, effects of the cooling water temperature, the air flow rate and the desiccant temperature on the dehumidification performance and the cooling efficiency were presented. The behavior of internally cooled dehumidification process was compared with that of the adiabatic dehumidification process. The results suggested that the cooling efficiency decreased with the increasing of the cooling water temperature and desiccant with low temperature could bring more mass transfer coefficients. There is an optimal air flow rate to achieve the maximum absolute humidity decrease of the air. By the internally heated regeneration testing, effects of the air flow rate and the desiccant inlet temperature on the regeneration performance and air outlet parameters were discussed and also compared with those of the adiabatic regeneration process. It was concluded that the regeneration efficiency of internally heated regeneration was more than that of the adiabatic regeneration, and the internally heated regenerator could offer better thermal performance.     

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.     

硅胶转轮除湿器性能的实验研究及其评价方法

介绍了转轮除湿的原理和研究现状,通过焓差实验室制取要求状态点的空气,研究硅胶转轮除湿器的性能,并采用除湿量、除湿性能系数和除湿效率三种评价方法评价其性能。     

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.     

液体除湿空调除湿器性能研究

在液体除湿空调中,除湿器是系统的核心部件。本文搭建可用于实验研究的液体除湿空调系统中除湿器的实验台,对塔径300 mm、填料高度800 mm,以Li Cl溶液为除湿剂的除湿器布置测点进行实测。基于Mercel理论,根据热质平衡并结合D.I.Stevens的有效模型,建立适用于该液体除湿空调系统中的除湿器传热传质模型。从实验和理论模型两个方面分析除湿器进口各项参数对除湿量的影响,结果表明:理论值和实验值有很好的一致性,且数据差异较小,说明计算模型适应性良好,能准确的用于该除湿器的性能模拟测试,将实验与理论计算结果进行对比可知:在一定的工况范围内,除湿器的除湿量受进口溶液温度、浓度、质流密度等参数影响较大,其中溶液进口温度越低,除湿效果越显著,溶液进口浓度越低,除湿效果越好;溶液进口质流密度需控制在一定范围进行调节,才能显著提高除湿器性能;空气入口风速、干球温度以及含湿量对除湿出口的空气状态参数影响较弱。     

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.     

Characterization of desiccant wheels with alternative materials at low regeneration temperatures

A number of new desiccant materials have been proposed which have the potential to improve the performance of desiccant wheels being regenerated at low temperature. Desiccant wheels containing two such desiccant materials (zeolite and superadsorbent polymer) were compared with a conventional silica gel desiccant wheel. The superadsorbent polymer desiccant wheel achieved greater dehumidification than the silica gel wheel when dehumidifying high relative humidity air with low temperature (50 °C) regeneration air. The temperature of dehumidified air exiting the polymer wheel was also lower. The zeolite desiccant wheel was generally less effective at dehumidifying air and had a higher pressure drop.     

Experimental investigation and analysis of composite silica-gel coated fin-tube heat exchangers

Desiccant coated heat exchanger provides a promising option for desiccant cooling system, since it can handle sensible load and latent load simultaneously within one component. It is fabricated by coating desiccant material on the surface of conventional fin-tube heat exchanger. In order to enhance the performance of conventional silica gel coated heat exchanger (SGCHE), a novel composite silica gel coated heat exchanger (CCHE) is proposed and fabricated. An experimental setup is built to test and compare the dynamic performance of SGCHE and CCHE. Influences of main operation parameters including water temperatures and inlet air conditions on system performance are analyzed in terms of average dehumidification capacity (D_avg) and thermal coefficient of performance (COP_th). Optimization of cycle switch modes is also discussed. Experimental results show that CCHE has better dehumidification performance compared with SGCHE. In addition, pre-cooling before dehumidification process is found to be advantageous to both D_avg and COP_th.     

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...     

半导体制冷与固体除湿结合装置的性能探究

半导体制冷（又称热电制冷）因为降温迅速、易于控制等优点,广泛应用在工业生产、日常生活等方面。而热端散热效果成为制约半导体制冷效率的主要因素。半导体制冷在空气除湿领域的应用研究日趋深入,但传统的冷却除湿要求半导体冷端温度较低,使半导体制冷效率降低。建立半导体制冷（热管排热系统）、固体吸附剂结合的除湿模型,通过6级半导体制冷与热管散热系统的实验装置对干工况进行模拟验证,再模拟固体除湿工况在不同输入电流下的性能。模拟结果表明：当除湿量与文献中半导体冷却除湿装置相同时,该半导体与固体除湿结合的模型的系统COP为1.78,明显高于文献中装置的COP。说明结合固体吸附剂后可以加强传质动力提高冷端温度,从而提高系统性能。     

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.     

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.     

Evaluation of solid-desiccant-based evaporative cooling cycles for typical hot and humid climates

This paper presents an evaluation of various solid desiccant cycles for air conditioning in hot and humid climates. Psychometric evaluation of potential cycles for 16 typical Indian cities has been carried out with the objective of achieving standard comfort conditions in the room. Computer simulation is based on constant effectiveness of heat exchangers and evaporative coolers and actual performance data of a commercially available desiccant wheel dehumidifier. The influence of various outdoor conditions, the effectiveness of heat exchangers/evaporative coolers on the cooling coefficient of performance and volumetric air flowrate per unit cooling capacity have been investigated. It is found that amongst ventilation, recirculation and Dunkle cycles, the Dunkle cycle is better for a wide range of outdoor conditions. However, cycles using wet surface heat exchangers give even higher performance.     

Exergoeconomic performances of the desiccant-evaporative air-conditioning system at different regeneration and reference temperatures

This paper presented the exergoeconomic evaluation of the developed desiccant-evaporative air-conditioning system. The developed system was evaluated based on the steady-state conditions at different regeneration and reference temperatures. The exergoeconomic evaluation method was implemented to the system components and the whole system to evaluate the exergy efficiency, exergy destruction ratios, cost rates, relative cost differences and exergoeconomic factors. The regeneration and reference temperatures affected the exergy efficiencies, exergy destruction ratios, cost rates, relative cost differences and exergoeconomic factors. The desiccant wheel, heating coil and evaporative cooler had a high cost rate (investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, and exergy destruction cost). The exit air fan, outdoor air fan and evaporative cooler had a high relative cost difference. The exit air fan, outdoor air fan and secondary heat exchanger had a high exergoeconomic factor. Replacement of the desiccant wheel with a higher dehumidification performance could decrease the high cost rate. A higher efficiency evaporative cooler and heating coil were needed. Cheaper air fans (outdoor air fans and exit air fans) were needed.     

热泵型溶液除湿新风系统性能分析与优化

本文建立了热泵型溶液除湿(HPLD)新风系统数学模型,研究了新风温度、湿度对系统运行性能的影响。结果表明:新风温度升高1℃,系统COP平均下降率为0.9%;新风含湿量增加1 g/(kg干空气),系统COP平均下降率为3.6%,新风湿度增加导致HPLD系统COP大幅下降,系统新风湿度变化的适应性差。为扩大HPLD系统适应范围,提出了冷却除湿与HPLD组合式除湿系统,以组合式除湿系统COP为评价指标,得到组合系统级间新风参数最优状态:温度为21℃,含湿量为14.1 g/(kg干空气)。夏季典型工况下,组合式除湿系统COP为5.40,比单一HPLD系统COP提高87.5%。最后,根据HPLD系统设计参数制作了实验样机,并对模拟结果进行了验证。     

Performance analysis of liquid desiccant dehumidification systems

Desiccant systems find applications in a very large variety of industrial and daily usage products including the new HVAC installations. An overview of liquid desiccant technology has been presented in this paper along with a compilation of experimental performance data of liquid desiccant dehumidifiers, empirical dehumidification effectiveness and mass transfer correlations in a useful and easy to read tabular format. The latest trends in this area suggest that hybrid systems are of current interest to HVAC industry, not only for high latent load applications but also for improving indoor air quality. The paper presents a comprehensive comparative parametric analysis of packed bed dehumidifiers for three commonly used desiccant materials viz. triethylene glycol, lithium chloride and calcium chloride, using empirical correlations for dehumidification effectiveness from the literature. The analysis reveals significant variations and anomalies in trends between the predictions by various correlations for the same operating conditions, and highlights the need for benchmarking the performance of desiccant dehumidifiers.     

An experimental study on the dehumidification performance of a counter flow liquid desiccant dehumidifier

This paper presents an experimental study on the dehumidification performance of a counter flow liquid desiccant dehumidifier using structured packing with a high specific surface area (650 m² m⁻³). New empirical equations correlating the moisture effectiveness and the enthalpy effectiveness with critical inlet parameters are developed, which can be used to conveniently predict the performance of a similar dehumidifier. The empirical correlations are validated using the experimental data of this study, and compared with the experimental data reported by another researcher. The deviations are within ±10% for the former and within ±15% for the latter. The performance of the present type of packing is also compared with other two types of structured packing available in literature. The influences of the inlet conditions of the air and the desiccant as well as the packing height on the dehumidification performance are also investigated and compared with the results reported in previous studies.     

溶液调湿过程气液界面RBM效应的实验研究

分析了液体调湿过程产生RBM效应的机理,考察了除湿和再生过程的RBM效应以及RBM效应对热质传递性能的影响.结果表明:气液热质交换导致液膜温度、密度在径向和流向方向分布不均,形成表面张力梯度和密度梯度,引发RBM效应;RBM效应严重影响传热传质效率和润湿率,影响程度因热质交换条件不同差异很大.