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Experimental investigation of solar-powered desiccant cooling system by using composite desiccant “CaCl2/jute”

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Abstract

A solar-powered composite desiccant cooling system has been experimentally investigated. It consists of evacuated tube solar water heater, composite desiccant bed heat exchanger (CDBHE), direct evaporative cooling unit and cooling tower. The composite desiccant material has been synthesized by using iron mesh and jute layer impregnated with calcium chloride solution, and this composite desiccant is placed in shell- and tube-type heat exchanger to make CDBHE. In this desiccant cooling system, the evacuated tube solar water heater is used to produce required hot water for regeneration of composite desiccant material. A cooling tower is used to produce cooling water which is pumped into CDBHE during dehumidification process to remove heat of adsorption. Direct evaporative cooling unit is used to cool the outlet process air of CDBHE. It has been found that the average dehumidification rate increases by 54.1 % when using circulating cooling water. The COPth of desiccant cooling system has been found to be 0.46 with a cooling capacity of 353.8 W.

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Abbreviations

A d :

Dehumidification rate (kg/h)

A p :

Area of solar collector (m2)

CDBHE:

Composite desiccant bed heat exchanger

COPth :

Thermal coefficient of performance

DEC:

Direct evaporative cooling unit

ETC:

Evacuated tube collector

h in :

Enthalpy of process air at inlet of desiccant cooling system (kJ/kg)

\(h_{\text{out}}\) :

Enthalpy of process air at outlet of desiccant cooling system (kJ/kg)

I :

Solar intensity (W/m2)

\(\dot{m}_{\text{a}}\) :

Mass flow rate of process/regeneration air (kg/s)

Q c :

Cooling capacity (W)

Q s :

Solar energy (W)

R c :

Regeneration rate (kg/h)

\(t_{\text{DE}}\) :

Dehumidification time period (s)

t R :

Regeneration time period (s)

Y in :

Humidity ratio of process air at inlet of desiccant cooling system (g/kg)

Y out :

Humidity ratio of process air at outlet of desiccant cooling system (g/kg)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, 136119, India

    Amit Kumar & Avadhesh Yadav

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  1. Amit Kumar
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  2. Avadhesh Yadav
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Correspondence to Amit Kumar.

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Kumar, A., Yadav, A. Experimental investigation of solar-powered desiccant cooling system by using composite desiccant “CaCl2/jute”. Environ Dev Sustain 19, 1279–1292 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9796-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9796-5

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