Abstract
Air conditioning energy consumption accounts for most building energy consumption, indoor dehumidification is the main cause of air conditioning energy consumption. Optimize the dehumidification methods of air conditioning systems have great significance to the development of green buildings and people’s pursuit of comfort. Improvement of fins on air conditioning heat exchangers is a hot topic of current research and has achieved considerable results in terms of indoor dehumidification and energy saving compared to traditional air conditioners. This paper reviews two kinds of heat exchangers modified by coating, including desiccant-coated heat exchangers and hydrophobic/hydrophilic coated heat exchangers. For desiccant-coated heat exchangers, the preparation methods of advanced desiccant materials and the possibilities of using this material to achieve excellent energy efficiencies were presented, and the operating parameters that affect thermal performance and dehumidification are determined, including airflow temperature, air velocity, inlet air relative humidity, and regeneration temperature. For hydrophobic/hydrophilic coated heat exchangers, different kinds of hybrid hydrophobic-hydrophilic surfaces are highlighted for they are a high water droplet nucleation rate and surface heat transfer efficiency. In addition, the challenges and future works are explained at last. This paper will provide a valuable reference for the follow-up research, which will be helpful for indoor humidity control and reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning.
Highlights
With the advancement of science and technology, people’s lives have improved significantly, and they are pursuing a more comfortable living environment
The main difference between this review and others is that desiccant-coated heat exchangers and hydrophobic/hydrophilic coated heat exchangers are put together for the first time for comparative analysis, their advantages and disadvantages are introduced in detail, and their application status and prospects in the field of air conditioning are analyzed pertinently
The recent advances of Desiccant-coated heat exchangers (DCHE) will be explained in the following aspects: Desiccant materials; factors affecting the performance of DCHE, and applications in air conditioning systems
Summary
With the advancement of science and technology, people’s lives have improved significantly, and they are pursuing a more comfortable living environment. Using a two-unit heat exchanger system, one unit is saturated and enters the regenerative state, switching to another unit to continuously cool and dehumidify [5] This method can dehumidify indoor air without lowering the evaporative cooling temperature below the air dew point temperature, which is of great significance in energy-saving and indoor comfort. (2) Changing the physical or chemical properties of the heat exchanger fin surface to form wettability surfaces, including hydrophobic surfaces, hydrophilic surfaces, and hybrid hydrophobic-hydrophilic surfaces [6] This method reduces the evaporative cooling temperature to the air dew point temperature and dehumidifies by condensation. The main difference between this review and others is that desiccant-coated heat exchangers and hydrophobic/hydrophilic coated heat exchangers are put together for the first time for comparative analysis, their advantages and disadvantages are introduced in detail, and their application status and prospects in the field of air conditioning are analyzed pertinently
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