Design of Solar Powered Desiccant based Air Handling Unit

Abstract

Using an air handling unit (AHU) is a suitable method to meet the ventilation requirements in a conditioned space. This paper proposes two novel design configurations of AHUs, which ensure that the excess load on the AHU cooling coil is minimized using air to air heat recovery units, a desiccant based rotary dehumidifier, and an evaporative cooler. The proposed design is also capable of harvesting surplus water in the process. The impact assessment of the proposed designs is illustrated taking the example of a typical high-humidity design case. Simplified mathematical models were used to analyze the power-saving and moisture harvesting potential of the two configurations. Calculations show that both the configurations reduce the excess load on the cooling coil by a significant amount, while also co-producing surplus water for domestic use.