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Mathematical modeling and study on the application of cross flow direct evaporative cooler under different indoor and outdoor environmental conditions

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Abstract

Performance of a cross flow direct evaporative cooler under different indoor and outdoor conditions was investigated by a thermodynamic model and using finite difference scheme. Unlike the previous studies, the temperature variation of water film during the evaporation process was included among the modeling, and the error of the mathematical model to estimate the effectiveness of the cooler became lower than the error reported in the literature. To achieve the comprehensive results and evaluation of the applicability of the system under real conditions, the performance of the cooler in ambient temperatures of 25, 30, 35 and 40 °C, relative humidities of 10, 30, 50 and 70% and cooling demand of 1–5 kW for a building with air changes of 5, 10 and 15 per hour was investigated. Lastly, the study on the performance of the cooler in different Iranian provincial capitals showed that for air change of 15 per hour and cooling demand of 1 kW, the system could provide thermal comfort conditions in 24 provincial centers while for air change of 5 per hour and cooling load of 5 kW, this goal cannot be achieved in any centers. Moreover, comparing the water consumption of the coolers showed that the maximum and minimum daily water consumption was for Yazd in September and for Kermanshah on July, respectively. Investigation of the coefficient of performance of the system for air changes of 10 and 15 per hour revealed that Khoramabad and Bandar Abbas had the maximum and minimum coefficients of performance, respectively.

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Abbreviations

ACH:

Air change rate, 1/h

COP:

Coefficient of performance

A:

Surface area perpendicular to air flow direction, m2

C:

Specific heat capacity, J/kgK

h a :

Convective heat transfer coefficient, W/m2K

h d :

Mass transfer coefficient, kg/m2s

H :

Specific enthalpy, J/kg

H fg :

Latent heat of water, J/kg

K :

Thermal conductivity, W/m2K

l e :

Characteristic length, m

Lx,Ly and Lz :

Length of the cooler along x, y and z coordinates

m :

Mass flow rate, kg/s

p :

Pressure, Pa

P :

Power consumption, W

Q :

Heat transfer rate, W

T :

Temperature, °C

u :

Air velocity into the cooler, m/s

V :

Building volume, m3

β :

Pad heat transfer area to volume, 1/m

η :

Efficiency

υ :

Kinematic viscosity, kg/m.s

ρ :

Density; kg/m3

ω :

Humidity ratio, (kgwater/kgair

Nu:

Nusslet number (\(\mathrm{Nu}=0.1{(\frac{{l}_{e}}{l})}^{0.12}{\mathrm{Re}}^{0.8}{\mathrm{Pr}}^\frac{1}{3}\))

Re:

Reynolds number (\(\mathrm{Re}=\frac{{u}_{a}.{l}_{e}}{\nu }\))

Le:

Lewis number (\(\mathrm{Le}=\frac{{h}_{a}}{{C}_{p}{h}_{d}}\)

i :

Inlet

l :

Latent

o :

Outlet

s :

Sensible

v :

Vapor

w :

Water

n :

Number of iterations

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan for the virtual support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, P.O. Box 3756, Rasht, Iran

    H. B. Mahmoudi, A. H. Poshtiri & P. Poorkashani

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  1. H. B. Mahmoudi
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  2. A. H. Poshtiri
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  3. P. Poorkashani
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Correspondence to A. H. Poshtiri.

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Mahmoudi, H.B., Poshtiri, A.H. & Poorkashani, P. Mathematical modeling and study on the application of cross flow direct evaporative cooler under different indoor and outdoor environmental conditions. Int J Energ Water Res 4, 465–483 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42108-020-00088-z

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