Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Experimental and numerical investigation on the performance of an internally cooled dehumidifier

  • Original
  • Published:
Heat and Mass Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Liquid desiccant based dehumidifiers are important components of the air conditioning applications. Internally cooled dehumidifiers with liquid desiccants are deemed to be superior to the adiabatic types, thanks to the cooling medium which takes away the latent heat of vaporization occured when moist air contacts with liquid desiccant. However, its utilization in industrial applications is restricted due to the inherent corrosive characteristics of the liquid desiccants. In this study, an experimental chamber is built for epoxy coated plate fin type dehumidifier which is used in order to diminish the corrosive effect of the lithium chloride aqueous solution. Dehumidification effectiveness and moisture removal rate, two parameter indices, are adopted to measure the performance of the air conditioning system. The effect of inlet operating parameters on moisture removal rates is extensively analyzed. Two dimensional numerical model adapted from the conservation principles is utilized for obtainment of output parameters. Experimental results are compared with the numerical model and comparisons show that numerical outputs agrees with the experimental results. And also, dehumidification performance of lithium chloride and lithium bromide aqueous solutions are evaluated and compared against each other.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

A:

Heat and mass transfer area (m2)

Cp:

Specific heat capacity (kj/kg K)

H:

Height of the dehumidifier (m)

h:

Enthalpy (kj/kg)

hfg :

Latent heat of vaporization (kj/kg)

L:

Length of the dehumidifier (m)

Le:

Lewis number (dimensionless)

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

Moisture removal rate (g/s)

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

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

NTUh :

Heat transfer unit number between air and desiccant (dimensionless)

NTUm :

Mass transfer unit number between air and desiccant (dimensionless)

P:

Pressure (kPa)

T:

Temperature (°C)

X:

Concentration of the liquid desiccant (%)

α:

Heat transfer coefficient between air and desiccant (kW/m2K)

αw :

Heat transfer coefficient between cooling water and desiccant (kW/m2K)

αm :

Mass transfer coefficient between air and desiccant (kg/m2s)

η:

Dehumidification efficiency (dimensionless)

ω:

Absolute humidity (kg vapor/kg dry air)

a:

Air

da:

Dry air

e:

Air in equilibrium with liquid desiccant

in:

Inlet

out:

Outlet

s:

Liquid desiccant

v:

Vapor

w:

Cooling water

References

  1. Enteria N, Mizutani K (2011) The role of the thermally activated desiccant cooling technologies in the issue of energy and environment. Renew Sust Energy Rev 15:2095–2122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Luo Y, Wang M, Yang H, Lu L, Peng J (2015) Experimental study of internally cooled liquid desiccant dehumidification: application in Hong Kong and intensive analysis of influencing factors. Build Environ 93:210–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jain S, Dhar P, Kaushik SC (2000) Experimental studies on the dehumidifier and regenerator of a liquid desiccant cooling system. Appl Therm Eng 20:253–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Li Z, Liu XH, Lun Z, Jiang Y (2010) Analysis on the ideal energy efficiency of dehumidification process from buildings. Energy Build 42:2014–2020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ouyang YX, Wang JF, Liu JQ (2000) Research on the cycle of dehumidifying by compressing the air. J Fluid Mech 28:44–47

    Google Scholar 

  6. Qiu GQ, Riffat SB (2010) Experimental investigation on a novel air dehumidifier using liqıid desiccant. Int J Green Energy 7:174–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Liu XH, Jiang Y, Qu KY (2007) Heat and mass transfer model of cross flow liquid desiccant air dehumidifier/regenerator. Energy Convers Manage 48:546–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Oberg V, Goswami DY (1998) Experimental study of the heat and mass transfer in a packed bed liquid desiccant air dehumidifier. J Sol Energy Eng 120:289–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Luo Y, Shao S, Xu H, Tian C, Yang H (2014) Experimental and thoretical research of a fin-tube type internally-cooled liquid desiccant dehumidifier. Appl Energy 133:127–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Zhang LZ, Niu JL (2003) A pre-cooling Munters environmental control desiccant cooling cycle in combination with chilled-ceiling panels. Energy 28:275–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Patanwar P, Shukla SK (2014) Mathematical modelling and experimental investigation of the hybrid desiccant cooling system. Int J Sustain Energy 33:103–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Tu M, Ren CQ, Zhao ZS (2010) Performance comparison between two novel configurations of liquid desiccant air conditioning system. Build Environ 45:2808–2816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zhao K, Liu XH, Zhang T, Jiang Y (2011) Performance of temperature and humidity independent control air conditioning system applied in an office building. Energy Build 43:1895–1903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhang T, Liu X, Jiang J, Chang X, Jiang Y (2013) Experimental analysis of an internally—cooled liquid desiccant dehumidifier. Build Environ 63:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Saman WY, Alizadeh S (2002) An experimental study on a cross flow type plate heat exchanger for dehumidification/cooling. Sol Energy 73:59–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Yin Y, Zhang X, Wang G, Luo L (2008) Experimental study on a new internally cooled/heated dehumidifier/regenerator of a liquid desiccant systems. Int J Refrig 31:857–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Liu XH, Chang XM, Xia JJ, Jiang Y (2009) Performance analysis on the internally cooled dehumidifier using liquid desiccant. Build Environ 44:299–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yin Y, Zhang X, Peng D, Li X (2009) Model validation and case study on internally cooled/heated dehumidifier/regenerator of liquid desiccant systems. Int J Therm Sci 48:1664–1671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Luo Y, Shao S, Xu H, Tian C, Yang H (2014) Experimental and theoretical research of a fin-tube type internally cooled liquid desiccant dehımidifier. Appl Energy 139:127–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Liu J, Zhang T, Liu X, Jiang J (2015) Experimental analysis of an internally-cooled/heated liquid desiccant dehumidifier/regenerator made of thermally conductive plastic. Energy Build 99:75–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Kessling W, Laevemann E, Kapfhammer C (1998) Energy storage for desiccant cooling systems component development. Sol Energy 64:209–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Queiroz AG, Orlando AF, Saboya FEM (1998) Performance analysis of an air drier for a liquid dehumidifier solar air conditioning system. J Sol Energy Eng 110:120–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bansal P, Jain S, Moon C (2011) Performance comparison of an adiabatic and an internally cooled structured packed-bed dehumidifier. Appl Therm Eng 31:14–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Khan AY (1998) Cooling and dehumidification performance analysis of internally-cooled liquid desiccant absorbers. Appl Therm Eng 18:265–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Chang XM, Liu XH, Jiang Y (2007) Performance numerical analysis on an internally cooled liquid desiccant dehumidifier. In: Proceeding IBPSA International Building Performance Simulation Association Conference, pp 607–613

  26. Gao WZ, Shi YR, Cheng YP, Sun WZ (2013) Experimental study on partially cooled dehumidification in liquid desiccant air condition system. Energy Build 61:202–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Koronaki IP, Christodoulaki RI, Papaefthimiou VD, Rogdakis ED (2013) Thermodynamic analysis of a counter flow adiabatic dehumidifier with different liquid desiccant materials. Appl Therm Eng 50:361–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Ege University, 35040, Bornova, İzmir, Turkey

    Oguz Emrah Turgut & Mustafa Turhan Çoban

Authors
  1. Oguz Emrah Turgut
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mustafa Turhan Çoban
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oguz Emrah Turgut.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Turgut, O.E., Çoban, M.T. Experimental and numerical investigation on the performance of an internally cooled dehumidifier. Heat Mass Transfer 52, 2707–2722 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1782-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1782-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation