A Simplified Graphical Model of Air Cooler Using Mollier Diagram and Implementation in a Design Tool

Abstract

A validated heat and mass transfer model for an air cooler is developed and implemented in a design tool. The overall heat transfer coefficient is derived from the experiments, which can be written as a function of the heat transfer coefficients on the water and air side. For a good agreement between the measurements of a wet cooler and model solutions a correction in the heat transfer coefficients substantially is done. In addition, results obtained from the measurements indicate the heat transfer coefficient itself and the correlation between heat and mass transfer need to be adapted. Acceptable results are obtained when mass transfer coefficient is adjusted by a correction factor. The decrease in heat transfer is observed with increase in dehumidification and the same is concluded from the coupling of heat and mass transfer. The fins are not completely wet, which means an analogy between sensible and latent heat only exists partly. The corrected model is implemented in the studies of advanced evaporative air conditioning systems where it is used to construct a graphical model based on rules for transients in the Mollier diagram of humid air. Preliminary calculations show that it is very accurate and useful for the simulation of controlled air handling systems although it is very fast resulting of the short calculation time of the simplified models.