An experimental study of a solar-regenerated liquid desiccant ventilation pre-conditioning system

A solar-regenerated liquid desiccant ventilation pre-conditioning system has been installed and experiments were carried out for a period of nine months covering rainy, cold, and hot seasons in a hot and humid climate (Thailand). A heat exchanger was used to cool the dehumidified air instead of typical evaporative cooling to maintain the dryness of the air. The use of solar energy at the regeneration process and cooling water from a cooling tower makes the system more passive. The evaporation rate at the regeneration process was always greater than the moisture removal rate at the dehumidification process indicating that the concentration of the desiccant in the system would not decrease and so the performance would not drop during continuous operation. The system could reduce the temperature of the delivered air by about 1.2 °C while the humidity ratio was reduced by 0.0042 kg_w/kg_da equivalent to 11.1% relative humidity reduction. The experimental results were also compared with models in literature.     

Performance of a solar-regenerated liquid desiccant ventilation pre-conditioning system

A solar-regenerated liquid desiccant ventilation pre-conditioning system has been proposed for use in hot and humid climates. The system aims to dehumidify the ventilation air which is the major source of latent load. A heat exchanger is used to cool the dehumidified air instead of typical evaporative cooling to maintain the dryness of the air. The use of solar energy at the regeneration process and cooling water from a cooling tower makes the system more passive. The simulation procedure for the proposed system has been presented. By inputting the climatic data and the physical parameters of all equipments, the operating parameters at each equipment and the performance parameters of the system can be evaluated. The simulation procedure is demonstrated by showing the daily profiles of the operating and performance parameters on a typical day as well as investigating the influence of the selected operating parameters on the system performance. The results suggest that the most influential parameters are solar radiation, ventilation rate, and desiccant solution concentration. The balance between the water removed at the dehumidifier and that evaporated at the regenerator needs to be considered to maintain uniform performance during continuous operation.