Performance Analysis of Thermally Regenerated Desiccant System Integrated With Chilled Beam for Warm Humid Climate

Abstract

At present, climate change and rising energy prices motivate the researchers to focus on better utilization of energy for space cooling applications. The chilled beam system has already been widely used in Europe for better utilization of energy for space cooling. But, the condensation on the chilled ceiling panel limits its application in the hot and humid climates. Operating a chilled beam system for such warm and humid climate requires the integration of desiccant system, which needs to be regenerated thermally for the purpose of the indoor air quality control. This paper emphasis the performance analysis of a thermally regenerated desiccant system integrated with a building chilled beam system in Singapore. A TRNSYS simulation model of such system has been developed to investigate the thermal performance. In this model, the chilled beam system meets the sensible load of the cooling space, while the desiccant air handling system meets the latent load of the cooling space. To regenerate this desiccant system, different heat sources such as solar, electricity and waste heat are considered in the analysis. It has been found that this integrated desiccant system with active chilled beam meets the cooling load (space temperature 21°C to 25°C and relative humidity between 55% ∼ 65%) of an office building effectively. It has also been found that the utilization of solar energy as heat source for desiccant regeneration decreases the energy consumption of the system at about 20% and reduces the operating cooling cost at about 1.5 to 2.5 times than the conventional VAV system.