Investigation of a Storage Type Solar-Driven Solid Desiccant Cooling System

Abstract

Solar-driven solid desiccant assisted evaporative cooling could be an effective alternative to conventional vapour compression cooling systems due to its lower operating costs and lower environmental impact. This technology has been widely investigated for continuous operation through the use of desiccant wheels. However, the investigation of such technology for storing solar radiation in the form of coolth energy is missing in the literature. In that regard, primary objective of the present study is to investigate a fixed bed solar driven desiccant assisted evaporative cooling system, that uses vermiculite-calcium chloride composite sorbent, to be utilized as a coolth storage in hot-humid climate. To achieve this aim, a prototype unit was designed, developed and tested under real climatic conditions of North Cyprus. According to the results, over six hours of charging period, at regeneration temperature between 51 – 62 °C and air mass flow rate of 0.03 kg/s, average moisture desorption rate of 3.9 g/min was obtained. On the other hand, over four hours of discharging at air inlet temperature of 32 – 35 °C and mass flow rate of 0.06 kg/s, vermiculite-calcium chloride / wood chips couple provided average air temperature drop and cooling capacity of of 8.4 °C and 0.49 kW respectively. Hygrothermal efficiency of the system is also found 0.65. Additionally, the average wet-bulb effectiveness and average dew-point effectiveness were obtained as 121.6%, and 90.2% respectively. Furthermore average total and thermal coefficient of performance of 0.35 and 0.6 were achieved over the three consecutive cycles. These results suggest that the proposed system could be a potential technology for storing solar energy to be used in air conditioning applications in buildings.

Keywords

• Solid desiccant
• coolth storage
• evaporative cooling
• solar energy
• experimental

Kaynakça

1. Farooq A. S., Badar A. W., Sajid M. B., Fatima M., Zahra A., Siddiqui M. S., Dynamic simulation and parametric analysis of solar assisted desiccant cooling system with three configuration schemes, Solar Energy, 197 (2020) 22-37.
2. Comino F., González J. C., Navas-Martos F. J, de Adana M. R., Experimental energy performance assessment of a solar desiccant cooling system in Southern Europe climates, Applied Thermal Engineering, 165 (2020) 114579.
3. Lee Y., Park S., Kang S., Performance analysis of a solid desiccant cooling system for a residential air conditioning system, Applied Thermal Engineering, 182 (2021) 116091.
4. Jagirdar M., Lee P. S., Padding J. T., Performance of an internally cooled and heated desiccant-coated heat and mass exchanger: Effectiveness criteria and design methodology, Applied Thermal Engineering,188 (2021) 116593.
5. Jia C. X., Dai Y. J., Wu J. Y., Wang R. Z., Analysis on a hybrid desiccant air-conditioning system, Applied Thermal Engineering, 26(17-18) (2006) 2393-2400.
6. Asim N., Amin M. H, Alghoul M. A., Badiei M., Mohammad M., Gasaymeh S.S., ... Sopian K., Key factors of desiccant-based cooling systems: Materials, Applied Thermal Engineering, 159 (2019) 113946.
7. Jani D. B., Mishra M., Sahoo P. K., Performance studies of hybrid solid desiccant–vapor compression air-conditioning system for hot and humid climates, Energy and Buildings, 102 (2015) 284-292.
8. Belguith S., Meddeb Z., Slama R. B., Performance analysis of desiccant cooling systems in a hot and dry climate, Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration, 6(1) (2021) 1-11.

9. Aoul K. A. T., Hasan A., Dakheel J. A., Assessment of solar dehumidification systems in a hot climate, Sustainability, 13(1) (2021) 277.
10. De Antonellis S., Colombo L., Freni A., Joppolo C., Feasibility study of a desiccant packed bed system for air humidification, Energy, 214 (2021) 119002.
11. Hussain S., Kalendar A., Rafique M. Z., Oosthuizen P., Numerical investigations of solar-assisted hybrid desiccant evaporative cooling system for hot and humid climate, Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 12(6) (2020) 1687814020934999.
12. Bleibel N., Ismail N., Ghaddar N., Ghali N., Solar-assisted desiccant dehumidification system to improve performance of evaporatively cooled window in hot and -humid climates, Applied Thermal Engineering, 179 (2020) 115726.
13. Khosravi N., Aydin D., Karim Nejhad M., Dogramaci P. A., Comparative performance analysis of direct and desiccant assisted evaporative cooling systems using novel candidate materials, Energy Conversion and Management, 221 (2020) 113167.
14. Cengel, Y. A., Boles, M. A., (2007). Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach. 6th Editon (SI Units) New York, NY, USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
15. Introduction to Humidity: Basic Principles on Physics of Water Vapor, Retrieved from: https://www.soselectronic.com/a_info/resource/c/sensirion/Sensirion_Introduction_to_Relative_Humidity_V2.pdf Access date: 10th May 2021.
16. Cao Z., Tester J. W., Sparks K. A., Trout B. L. Molecular computations using robust hydrocarbon− water potentials for predicting gas hydrate phase equilibria, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 105(44) (2001) 10950-10960.
17. Sonntag R. E., Van Wylen G. J., Borgnakke C., (2008). Fundamentals of Thermodynamics. 8th ed. New York, NY, USA: Wiley.
18. Buker M. S., Mempouo B., Riffat S. B., Performance evaluation and techno-economic analysis of a novel building integrated PV/T roof collector: An experimental validation, Energy and Buildings, 76 (2014) 164-175.
19. Jani D. B., Mishra M., Sahoo P. K., Investigations on effect of operational conditions on performance of solid desiccant based hybrid cooling system in hot and humid climate, Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, 7 (2018) 76-86.