Split Airstream Desiccant Cooling
Taitem Engineering PC
Web Address: http://syracusecoe.org/documents/2008/6/TAD_II_2007_Summary_Sheets.pdf
This material is based upon work supported by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency under Award Number EPA 05 X-83232501-0.
The proposed desiccant air-conditioning cycle takes advantage of the free cooling available from the ground, and uses desiccant technology to achieve the dehumidification required for effective air conditioning. This approach is predicted to result in efficiencies exceeding 1.2 coefficient of performance (COP), compared to other heat-based cooling cycles such as absorption cooling (0.6-0.7 COP) and traditional ventilation-cycle desiccant systems (0.5-0.6 COP).
If successful, the proposed system would not require vapor compression (a compressor), nor would it require the consumption of water as in the traditional ventilation-type desiccant air-conditioning cycle. It would use less parasitic energy than the traditional ventilation-based desiccant cycle, and allow the use of renewable-resource heat sources to drive an air-conditioning cycle. It would furthermore allow significantly enhanced humidity control, using control strategies as advocated by the Syracuse Center of Excellence's i-EQS initiative. Other advantages are: it would allow integrated high-efficiency heating by the same system; it is a low-maintenance system with few moving parts, no high-pressure refrigerant system, and no dependence on correct refrigerant charge or other adverse conditions common to vapor compression systems (system blockage, airflow problems, etc.); and it is a compact system with no aesthetically objectionable outdoor equipment other than the hidden underground geothermal piping.
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