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Performance simulation of membrane heat pumps based on vacuum membrane dehumidification system

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Abstract

An alternative technology that surpasses the efficiency of conventional vapor compression cycle is necessary to meet the increasing demand for air conditioning. One of the candidates, membrane heat pump (MHP), can decrease energy consumption through the separation of the air-conditioning process into dehumidification and sensible heat cooling. Humid air is dehumidified through a vapor-permeable dense membrane and cooled by a water-cooling cycle. When dehumidifying, a vacuum membrane system can be utilized in the heat pump system. In this study, two typical systems, water vapor discharge and condenser-combined vacuum membrane dehumidification (VMD) systems, are elucidated, and MHPs that consist of each VMD system are designed. Their performance are simulated and compared. The MHP with water vapor discharge VMD system has an improved coefficient of performance in general.

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Abbreviations

CSPF:

Cooling seasonal performance factor

h :

Enthalpy

ṁ :

Mass flow rate

P v :

Vapor partial pressure

̇Q c :

Cooling capacity

r vc :

Compression ratio

V :

Specific volume

Ẇ :

Work

W :

Absolute humidity

x q :

Mass quality

η :

Isentropic efficiency

σ :

Permeance

ϕ :

Relative humidity

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Acknowledgments

This research was jointly supported by the Chung-Ang University Graduate Research Scholarship in 2018 and by the National Research Foundation from the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF No. 2019R1A2C1088694). Also we thanks to Mr. Sanghoon Jung of Chung-Ang University for his editorial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Korea

    Hyunjeong Lim, Sangmi Choi & Soyeon Kim

  2. School of Energy Systems Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Korea

    Jinwook Lee, Minkyu Jung, Jihun Lim & Minsung Kim

Authors
  1. Hyunjeong Lim
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  2. Jinwook Lee
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  3. Sangmi Choi
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  4. Soyeon Kim
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  5. Minkyu Jung
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  6. Jihun Lim
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  7. Minsung Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minsung Kim.

Additional information

Recommended by Editor Yong Tae Kang

Hyunjeong Lim is a graduate student of the Department of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. She received her bachelor’s degree at Mechanical Energy Major of School of Energy Systems Engineering from Chung-Ang University in 2018. Her research interests include membrane-based dehumidification and air-conditioning systems.

Jinwook Lee is an undergraduate student of the School of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. He is planning to proceed to graduate school in the same university in 2020. His research is focused on experimental validation of membrane performance.

Sangmi Choi is a graduate student of the Department of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. She received her bachelor’s degree at Mechanical Energy Major of School of Energy Systems Engineering from Chung-Ang University in 2019. Her research interests include membrane separation characterization and CHP system analysis.

Soyeon Kim is a graduate student of the Department of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. She received her bachelor’s degree at Mechanical Energy Major of School of Energy Systems Engineering from Chung-Ang University in 2019. Her research interests include particulate matter filtering, and analysis of air conditioning systems.

Minkyu Jung is an undergraduate student of the School of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. He is planning to proceed to graduate school in the same university in 2020. His research is focused on the visualization of microparticle behavior.

Jihun Lim is an undergraduate student of the School of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. He is planning to proceed to graduate school in the same university in 2020. His research is focused on thermal system modeling using machine-learning algorithm.

Minsung Kim is an Associate Professor of the School of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1996, 1998, and 2002, respectively. Formerly, he was involved in Korea Institute of Energy Research, Daejeon, Korea and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg MD, USA. His research interests include environmental engineering, heat pump applications, and analysis of energy systems.

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Lim, H., Lee, J., Choi, S. et al. Performance simulation of membrane heat pumps based on vacuum membrane dehumidification system. J Mech Sci Technol 34, 941–948 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0143-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0143-2

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