Abstract
Direct contact air conditioning systems, in which heat and mass are transferred directly between air and water droplets, have many advantages over conventional indirect contact systems. The purpose of this research is to investigate the cooling and heating performances of direct contact air conditioning system for various inlet parameters such as air velocity, air temperature, water flow rate and water temperature. The experimental apparatus comprises a wind tunnel, water spray system, scrubber, demister, heater, refrigerator, flow and temperature controller, and data acquisition system. The inlet and outlet conditions of air and water are measured when the air contacts directly with water droplets as a counter flow in the spray section of the wind tunnel, and the heat and mass transfer rates between air and water are calculated. The droplet size of the water sprays is also measured using a Malvern Particle Analyzer. In the cooling conditions, the outlet air temperature and humidity ratio decrease as the water flow rate increases and as the water temperature, air velocity and temperature decrease. On the contrary, the outlet air temperature and humidity ratio increase in the heating conditions as the water flow rate and temperature increase and as the air velocity decreases.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bohn, M.S., 1985, “Air Molten Salt Direct- Contact Heat Exchange,”J. of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 107. pp. 208–214.
Ismail, I. M. and Mahmoud, K. G., 1994, “Comparative Study of Different Air Conditioning Systems Incorporating Air Washers,”Int. J. of Refrigeration, Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 364–370.
Jacobs, H. R., 1988, “Direct-Contact Heat Transfer for Process Technologies,”J. of Heat Transfer, Vol. 110, pp. 1259–1270.
Kang, Y. H., Kim, N. J., Hur, B. K., and Kim, C. B., 2002, “A Numerical Study on Heat Transfer Characteristics in a Spray Column Direct Contact Heat Exchanger,”KSME Int. J., Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 344–353.
Kim, N.J., Kim, C.B., Seo, T. B. and Hur, B. K., 2001, “Performance of a Direct Contact Heat Exchanger with Meshes for a Solar Thermal Energy System,”KSME Int. J., Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 268–276.
Lee, H. C, Bang, K. H. and Kim, M. H., 1998, “Experimental Study on the Thermal Performance of a Cooling Tower,”Korean J. of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 88–94.
Seetharamu, K. N. and Battya, P., 1989, “Direct Contact Evaporation between Two Immiscible Liquids in a Spray Column,”J. of Heat Transfer, Vol. 111, pp. 760–785.
Siqueiros, J. and Bonilla, O., 1999, “An Experimental Study of a Three-Phase, Direct-Contact Heat Exchanger,”Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 19, pp. 477–493.
Tadrist, L., Shehu Diso, I., Santini, R. and Pantaloni, J., 1987, “Vaporization of a Liquid by Direct Contact in Another Immiscible Liquid,”Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 30, No. 9, pp. 1773–1785.
Warrington, R. O. and Mussulman, R. L., 1983, “Analysis of a Liquid/Gas Direct Contact Heat Exchanger Concept,”J. of Energy, Vol. 7, pp. 732–734.
Yoo, S. Y., Kwon, H. K. and Kim, K. Y., 2004, “Performance Analysis of Water/Air Direct Contact Air Conditioning System,”Korean J. of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 175–183.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yoo, SY., Kwon, HK. An experimental study on the performance of air/water direct contact air conditioning system. KSME International Journal 18, 1002–1009 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02990872
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02990872