TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance of an internally cooled and heated desiccant-coated heat and mass exchanger
T2 - Effectiveness criteria and design methodology
AU - Jagirdar, Mrinal
AU - Lee, Poh Seng
AU - Padding, Johan T.
N1 - Accepted Author Manuscript
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Internally cooled and heated desiccant-coated heat and mass exchangers (ICHDHMX) driven by low-grade heat are very attractive owing to their energy-saving potential, especially for applications where substantial moisture removal (such as air-conditioning) is a necessity. In this paper, we derive equations for the performance of an ideal ICHDHMX, allowing us to define humidity-ratio effectiveness (εY) and relative-humidity effectiveness (εRH) such that their values approach 1 as the performance approaches that of an ideal ICHDHMX. Besides an equation-based approach, an easy-to-use psychrometric-chart based approach is presented to determine the performance of an ideal ICHDHMX. We invoke conservation principles to ascertain whether or not it is feasible to use the ICHDHMX for a given set of inlet conditions of air and water streams for dehumidification and regeneration. The dimensions of the ICHDHMX can be determined using this methodology, not even requiring knowledge of a tuning parameter unless a precise outlet specific humidity is required. Simulations are conducted for cases involving three incoming hot water temperatures (38, 44 and 50 °C) and several mixing ratios of room return air (25 °C at 0.011 kg/kg dry air) and outdoor air (32 °C at 0.02 kg/kg dry air), typical of warm and humid weather conditions. For all cases, the cool-water inlet is fixed at 30 °C. The results show that even when the dehumidification air-stream humidity is high, if the regeneration air-stream humidity is low (typical of room-exhaust air), the operation of an ICHDHMX is feasible using a low regeneration temperature of only 38 °C. When the regeneration temperature is 50 °C, the exchanger can operate under the complete range of humidity conditions tested. A cooling coefficient of performance up to 9.8 and effectiveness value up to 0.88 is realized, while the fluid power required is generally very low. These findings substantiate the case for commercial adoption of this technology for air-conditioning.
AB - Internally cooled and heated desiccant-coated heat and mass exchangers (ICHDHMX) driven by low-grade heat are very attractive owing to their energy-saving potential, especially for applications where substantial moisture removal (such as air-conditioning) is a necessity. In this paper, we derive equations for the performance of an ideal ICHDHMX, allowing us to define humidity-ratio effectiveness (εY) and relative-humidity effectiveness (εRH) such that their values approach 1 as the performance approaches that of an ideal ICHDHMX. Besides an equation-based approach, an easy-to-use psychrometric-chart based approach is presented to determine the performance of an ideal ICHDHMX. We invoke conservation principles to ascertain whether or not it is feasible to use the ICHDHMX for a given set of inlet conditions of air and water streams for dehumidification and regeneration. The dimensions of the ICHDHMX can be determined using this methodology, not even requiring knowledge of a tuning parameter unless a precise outlet specific humidity is required. Simulations are conducted for cases involving three incoming hot water temperatures (38, 44 and 50 °C) and several mixing ratios of room return air (25 °C at 0.011 kg/kg dry air) and outdoor air (32 °C at 0.02 kg/kg dry air), typical of warm and humid weather conditions. For all cases, the cool-water inlet is fixed at 30 °C. The results show that even when the dehumidification air-stream humidity is high, if the regeneration air-stream humidity is low (typical of room-exhaust air), the operation of an ICHDHMX is feasible using a low regeneration temperature of only 38 °C. When the regeneration temperature is 50 °C, the exchanger can operate under the complete range of humidity conditions tested. A cooling coefficient of performance up to 9.8 and effectiveness value up to 0.88 is realized, while the fluid power required is generally very low. These findings substantiate the case for commercial adoption of this technology for air-conditioning.
KW - Air conditioning
KW - Desiccant coated heat exchanger
KW - Desiccant dehumidification
KW - Fin tube heat exchanger
KW - HVAC
KW - Modeling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100266112&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.116593
DO - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.116593
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100266112
SN - 1359-4311
VL - 188
JO - Applied Thermal Engineering
JF - Applied Thermal Engineering
M1 - 116593
ER -