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Enthalpy entransy dissipation model for liquid dehumidification/regeneration and its application in a two-stage liquid dehumidification system

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Abstract

From the perspective of thermal-mass coupled transfer capacity, the enthalpy entransy dissipation number was proposed in this paper. Analytical models of liquid dehumidifier/regenerator based on enthalpy dissipation numbers were established and validated by comparing with numerical models and experiments, respectively. Finally, the analytical model was applied to a hybrid connection two-stage liquid dehumidification fresh air (HTLDFA) system by analyzing the effects of enthalpy entransy dissipation numbers and specific heat capacity ratio of the main components on the system performance. Study results of applying in the HTLDFA system show reducing enthalpy entransy dissipation number of each component of that system may decrease the temperature and moisture content of the supply air as well as increase the energy efficiency ratio. The enthalpy entransy dissipation numbers of the dehumidifier Deh Ι, the regenerator Reg Ι and the cooling tower CT Ι of the HTLDFA system have more significant effects on the system. The C*DehIII has the most significant effect on the results on the system performance. The enthalpy entransy dissipation number can be well used for evaluating irreversible loss analysis of liquid dehumidification/regeneration and the optimized HTLDFA system by applying the analytical method provides an effective reference for its industrial application.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area, \({\text{m}}^{2}\)

c p :

Specific heat at constant pressure, kJ kg−1 °C−1

c v :

Specific heat at constant volume, kJ kg−1 °C−1

C* :

The equivalent heat capacity ratio between air and solution in equilibrium state

EER:

Energy efficiency ratio

E T :

Temperature entransy, \({\text{kJ K}}\)

E a,w :

Moisture entransy, \({\text{ g}}^{2}\) s−1 kg−1

E a,h :

Air enthalpy entransy, \({\text{kJ}}^{2}\) s−1 kg−1

E h,s :

Solution enthalpy entransy, kJ s−1

E T * :

Temperature entransy dissipation number

E h * :

Entransy dissipation number

E h,diss :

Combined enthalpy entransy dissipation of solution and air, \({\text{kJ}}^{2}\) s−1 kg−1

h :

Specific enthalpy, \({\text{kJ}}\) kg−1

h a :

Air specific enthalpy, kJ kg−1

h eq :

Equivalent specific enthalpy of air at equilibrium with the surface of the solution, kJ kg−1

h s :

Solution specific enthalpy, kJ kg−1

H :

Total enthalpy, \({\text{ kJ}}\) kg−1

j :

The coefficient

k :

Heat transfer coefficient, \({\text{ kJ}})\) m−2 s−1

k m :

Mass transfer coefficient, \({\text{ kg}}\)m−2 s−1

Le:

Lewis number

M :

Mass flow rate, \({\text{kg}}\) s−1

m de :

Dehumidification rate, \({\text{g}}\) s−1

m re :

Regeneration rate, \({\text{g}}\) s−1

NTU:

Number of heat transfer unit

Q :

Heat flux, \({\text{kW}}\)

R :

Gas–fluid flow ratio

R s :

Ratio of the CaCl2 solution flow entering Deh \({\text{\rm I}}\) to the total flow

t :

Degree Celsius, °C

T :

Kelvin temperature, K

\(\omega\) :

Humidity content of air, \({\text{g}}/{\text{kg}}_{{{\text{dry}},{\text{air}}}}\)

\(\varphi\) :

Relative humidity

\(\xi\) :

Salt concentration of desiccant solution, \({\text{kg}}_{{{\text{salt}}}} /{\text{kg}}_{{{\text{solution}}}}\)

\({\Delta }\) :

The logarithmic mean potential difference between the inlet and outlet

ε:

Effectiveness

\({\updelta }\) :

Unit dimension

\(a\) :

Air

\({\text{aa}}\) :

Air–air sensible heat exchanger

\({\text{amb}}\) :

Ambient

\({\text{CTI}}\) :

The first-grade cooling tower

\({\text{CTII}}\) :

The second-grade cooling tower

\({\text{CTIII}}\) :

Directly evaporative cooler

\({\text{CaCl}}_{2}\) :

Calcium chloride aqueous solution

\({\text{De}}\) :

Dehumidifier

\({\text{Diss}}\) :

Dissipation

\({\text{DehI}}\) :

CaCl2 solution dehumidifer

\({\text{Deh}}\Pi\) :

Dehumidifier of regeneration air of the second-grade dehumidification

DehI\({\Pi}\) :

LiCl solution dehumidifier

\({\text{eq}}\) :

Equilibruim

h:

Enthalpy

\({\text{he}}\) :

Heat exchanger

\({\text{HE}}1\) :

The first-grade solution–solution heat exchanger

\({\text{HE}}2\) :

The second-grade solution–solution heat exchanger

\({\text{HE}}3\) :

The first-grade solution–water heat exchanger

\({\text{HE}}4\) :

The second-grade solution–water heat exchanger

\({\text{in}}\) :

Inlet

\({\text{LiCl}}\) :

Calcium chloride aqueous solution

m:

Mass transfer

min:

Minimum value

\({\text{max}}\) :

Maximum value

\({\text{N}}\) :

Indoor

\({\text{Out}}\) :

Outlet

\({\text{re}}\) :

Regenerator

\({\text{RegI}}\) :

CaCl2 solution regenerator

\({\text{Reg}}\Pi\) :

LiCl solution regenerator

\(s\) :

Solution

\({\text{sat}}\) :

Saturation

\({\text{sup}}\) :

Supply air

\({\text{SH}}1\) :

The first-grade solution–water heater

\({\text{SH}}2\) :

The second-grade solution–water heater

\(w\) :

Water

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51766010), the Knowledge Innovative Team of High-efficient Refrigeration in Nanchang city (2018-CXTD-004) and Special Fund Project for Graduate Innovation of Jiangxi Province of China (YC2021-S139).

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  1. School of Civil Infrastructure Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Donggen Peng, Yuzhen Tang & Zhuo Cao

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  1. Donggen Peng
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DP: Concept, Methodology, Inspection, Supervision. YT: Writing original research paper. ZC: Software, Result validation.

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Correspondence to Donggen Peng.

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Peng, D., Tang, Y. & Cao, Z. Enthalpy entransy dissipation model for liquid dehumidification/regeneration and its application in a two-stage liquid dehumidification system. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 5647–5666 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12125-0

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