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Transient performance and temperature field of a natural convection air dehumidifier loop

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Abstract

In this paper, transient performance of the previously introduced natural convection heat and mass transfer loop is investigated for an air dehumidifier system. The performance of the loop is studied in different conditions of heat source/heat sink temperature and different startup desiccant concentrations. Unlike conventional loops, it is observed that natural convection of the fluid originates from the heat sink towards the heat source. The proper operation of the cycle is highly dependent on the heat sink/heat source temperatures. To reduce the time constant of the system, a proper desiccant concentration should be adopted for charge of the loop.

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Abbreviations

C :

Concentration (kgsalt/kgsolution)

down:

Lower horizontal level

P :

Pressure (kPa)

T :

Temperature (°C)

up:

Upper horizontal level

\(\dot{V}\) :

Volume flow rate (l/h)

AC:

Air conditioning

ASTM:

American society of testing machines

CaCl2 :

Calcium chloride

HFM:

Hollow fiber membrane

IAQ:

Indoor air quality

LAMEE:

Liquid to air membrane energy exchanger

LDAC:

Liquid desiccant air conditioning system

LiBr:

Lithium bromide

LiCl:

Lithium chloride

MgCl2 :

Magnesium chloride

NCLD:

Natural convection liquid desiccant

PE:

Poly ethylene

PIV:

PARTICLE image velocimetry

PP:

Poly propylene

PVDF:

Poly vinylidene fluoride

RTD:

Resistance temperature detector

TEG:

Tri-ethylene glycol

db:

Dry bulb

wb:

Wet bulb

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran

    Mohammad Ali Fazilati, Ahmad Sedaghat & Ali-Akbar Alemrajabi

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  1. Mohammad Ali Fazilati
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  2. Ahmad Sedaghat
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  3. Ali-Akbar Alemrajabi
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Correspondence to Mohammad Ali Fazilati.

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Fazilati, M.A., Sedaghat, A. & Alemrajabi, AA. Transient performance and temperature field of a natural convection air dehumidifier loop. Heat Mass Transfer 53, 2287–2296 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-017-1984-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-017-1984-9

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