A proposed hyper-gravity liquid desiccant dehumidification system and experimental verification

Abstract

Liquid desiccant air conditioning systems have received more attention in recent years for their lower energy consumption. A novel hyper-gravity liquid desiccant dehumidification system was proposed in this paper. Rotating packed bed (RPB) uses a rotating part to create an artificial centrifugal force which is stronger than gravity, thus owning the advantages for gas-liquid heat and mass transfer process intensification. This work considered the feasibility of applying a countercurrent-flow RPB for air dehumidification. An experimental apparatus is established to verify the proposed liquid desiccant dehumidification system. More than 145 reliable experimental data have been collected. The effects of the rotating speed of RPB and inlet parameters of air and desiccant solution are investigated. The results show that both dehumidification effectiveness and moisture removal rate can be improved significantly by increasing the rotating speed of the RPB, solution flow rate and solution inlet concentration. Dehumidification effectiveness can reach 0.621 at the rotating speed of 1500 r/min. Compared with conventional dehumidifiers the desiccant solution consumption of RPB dehumidifier is less under the same dehumidification effectiveness. Besides, the effects of the rotating speed, air flow rate and solution flow rate on the pressure drop of the RPB dehumidifier are presented.