INDIRECT EVAPORATIVE AIR COOLING AND DEHUMIDIFICATION SYSTEM

Abstract

In this article a mainly heat-source driven air-cooling and dehumidification system is presented which is equipped with a desiccant based air dehumidifier unit. The source of the heat can originate from renewable, e.g. solar energy, thus, a significant amount of electricity can be saved by this system compared that of vapor-compressor systems. The cooling of the treated air is provided by the evaporation of desalinated water into the external ambient air. Because of the applied method the dew point of the processed air is usually not reached, therefore the increased relative humidity can be an issue. To solve this problem a supplementary desiccant-based system with hygroscopic solution is used to decrease the humidity of the cooled air. The regeneration of the desiccant is driven by the external heat source such as solar collector.