Energy and Buildings, Vol.99, 75-86, 2015
Experimental analysis of an internally-cooled/heated liquid desiccant dehumidifier/regenerator made of thermally conductive plastic
Internally-cooled dehumidifiers that use liquid desiccant are supposed to be superior to the adiabatic type in terms of solution flow rate, device volume, etc. In the present study, an internally-cooled dehumidifier made of thermally conductive plastic was designed, and it achieved superior corrosion resistance. Its performance was investigated both experimentally and through simulation. An experimental chamber was built for this internally-cooled dehumidifier, and the experimental results in different working conditions were obtained using a lithium bromide (LiBr) aqueous solution. Performance indices including the moisture removal rate, dehumidification/regeneration efficiency, and volumetric mass transfer coefficient were analyzed in conjunction with the inlet parameters. Compared with the internally-cooled dehumidifiers made of metal materials described in the literature, the present analysis indicates that this plastic dehumidifier demonstrated comparable heat and mass transfer performance, providing a feasible approach for an internally-cooled process. In addition, with the help of the experimental results, a numerical model was built and validated for this internally-cooled dehumidifier using liquid desiccant. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Liquid desiccant;Internally-cooled dehumidification;Heat and mass transfer;Thermally conductive plastic;Experimental analysis