Analysis on the performance sensitivity and stability of the ultrasonic atomization liquid desiccant regeneration system

Abstract

In this work, significance of the operating conditions for improving the performance and stability of the liquid desiccant regeneration system was investigated through an L18 × L8 cross-product orthogonal array together with the statistical analysis method and Taguchi method. Both the moisture removal rate and the desiccant mass fraction increase were studied as the performance indicators while 144 test runs based on the cross-product orthogonal within the ultrasonic atomization liquid desiccant regeneration system were conducted as the example to demonstrate the analysis process. It was found that though all of the operating conditions exhibited direct influence on the performances of the ultrasonic atomization liquid desiccant regeneration system, their significance differed significantly. For instance, the mass flow rate of desiccant solution was found to be the most sensitive factor in achieving higher moisture removal rate while the desiccant temperature contributed most to attaining the better desiccant mass fraction increase. Meanwhile, effective measures could be taken to enhance the system stability by employing drier airstream or warming up the desiccant solution for the desiccant regeneration process, whereas little help would be offered by changing the flow rates of airflow or desiccant solution. Based on the significance analysis, the operating conditions were ranked and classified into four types, for example, vital factor, robust factor, regulatory factor and minor factor, while the optimal conditions for the ultrasonic atomization liquid desiccant regeneration system were also figured out and validated at the end of the article. The method presented in this work may help in identifying the four classifications of the operating conditions and clarifying the optimal ones for liquid desiccant regeneration systems to achieve the optimal and robust performance.