Desiccant cooling as an alternative to traditional air conditioners in green cooling technology

Abstract

Desiccant-based dehumidification and air conditioning systems are considered as an energy efficient alternative to traditional vapor compression based air-conditioning systems for green building cooling technology especially in tropical hot and humid ambient climates. It is a novel green cooling technology that makes use of low-grade heat for building air conditioning. It is seen that the desiccant based dehumidification and cooling can efficiently provide comfort conditions in subtropical and especially hot and humid tropical climates. The desiccant integrated novel cooling system has a significant higher coefficient of performance compared to the conventional vapor compression system resulting to substantial electrical energy savings during the summer season by use of renewable solar energy, which also resulted in to major reduction in CO2 emissions. Therefore, these results demonstrate that there is a good potential in desiccant-based dehumidification and cooling system for energy and carbon savings while carry out building air-conditioning. Through a literature review, the feasibility of the desiccant assisted air conditioning in hot and humid climatic conditions is proven and the advantages it can offer in terms energy and cost savings are underscored. Keywords: Air-conditioning; Desiccant cooling; Dehumidification; Green cooling; Thermal comfort