Investigation on an Open Cycle Water Chiller based on Desiccant Dehumidification

Abstract

In this thesis, a novel open cycle desiccant dehumidification system is experimentally studied. The system is installed and operated at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) as part of the Green Energy Laboratory (GEL) initiative. The system uses two-stage desiccant dehumidification as well as regenerative evaporative cooling for chilled water production. The purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the system performance during different ambient and operational conditions. The investigated system has great potential regarding the environmental aspect of HVAC system solutions. The system is more energy efficient compared to conventional air conditioning systems and uses solar thermal power provided by evacuated tube solar air collectors as the main source of energy. Therefore, this type of system can contribute in reducing the use of non-renewable energy sources.A lot of experiments have been performed from June to July 2012 during varying ambient conditions. As a first step, the necessary regeneration temperature level is established. The results show that this temperature should be in the range of 70-75˚C or higher to be able to achieve desired dehumidification effect. Then, experiments regarding the overall system performance during different ambient temperature and humidity conditions are performed and analyzed. The results show that the system excels good performance during periods of high ambient humidity and is capable of achieving average COPth and COPel around 0.8 and 5.7 respectively. The total dehumidification efficiency is approximately 58% and is proven to vary with respect to the regeneration temperature, where increasing regeneration temperature results in higher amount of moisture removed from the processed air. The solar collectors providing heat to the regeneration air has an efficiency of 47-60% depending on the available level of solar radiation intensity. During periods of low intensity it is proven that the heating system needs assistance from an auxiliary device to be able to generate a sufficient temperature level. The evaporative cooler producing chilled water is capable of providing water at a temperature below 21˚C during periods of high ambient temperature, and temperatures below 16˚C if the ambient temperature decreases. The achieved dehumidification and cooling capacity of the desiccant system makes it possible to provide qualified supply air with temperature in the range of 20-26˚C and absolute humidity below 12 g/kg. Also, an experiment with the purpose of investigating the newly installed second desiccant wheel is carried out. The system is operated with only the second wheel running and the results show that the dehumidification performance is very good when the second wheel provides the first stage dehumidification. Lastly, experiments investigating the impact of the pre-cooling heat exchanger is performed and analyzed.