Cross-Contamination Test of an Enthalpy Wheel Loading a Strong Acidic Cation Ion-Exchange Resin or 3A Zeolite as a Desiccant Material

Abstract

Enthalpy wheels have been widely used for achieving comfortable air-conditioning with low energy consumption. Desiccant materials such as silica gel and molecular sieves are used so as to give it a latent heat exchanging function. However, this important function has become the cause of cross-contamination because substances with offensive odors are also adsorbed onto desiccants. In this study, cross-contamination of an enthalpy wheel consisting of ion-exchange resin particles as a desiccant material is examined and compared with a commercialized 3A zeolite wheel. It is found that the ion-exchange resin type wheel shows a smaller cross-contamination ratio than the other for all contaminants tested in this study, i.e. ammonia, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde and propane, although water-soluble and smaller contaminants such as ammonia still indicated a higher contamination ratio.