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A novel design of a desiccant rotary wheel for passive ventilation applications

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  • O’Connor, Dominic
  • Calautit, John Kaiser
  • Hughes, Ben Richard

Abstract

Rotary desiccant wheels are used to regulate the relative humidity of airstreams. These are commonly integrated into Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning units to reduce the relative humidity of incoming ventilation air. To maximise the surface area, desiccant materials are arranged in a honeycomb matrix structure which results in a high pressure drop across the device requiring fans and blowers to provide adequate ventilation. This restricts the use of rotary desiccant wheels to mechanical ventilation systems. Passive ventilation systems are able to deliver adequate ventilation air but cannot control the humidity of the incoming air. To overcome this, the traditional honeycomb matrix structure of rotary desiccant wheels was redesigned to maintain a pressure drop value below 2Pa, which is required for passive ventilation purposes. In addition to this, the temperature of the regeneration air for desorption was lowered. Radial blades extending out from the centre of a wheel to the circumference were coated in silica gel particles to form a rotary desiccant wheel. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling of the design was validated using experimental data. Reduction in relative humidity up to 55% was seen from the system whilst maintaining a low pressure drop across the new design. As an outcome of the work presented in this paper, a UK patent GB1506768.9 has been accepted.

Suggested Citation

  • O’Connor, Dominic & Calautit, John Kaiser & Hughes, Ben Richard, 2016. "A novel design of a desiccant rotary wheel for passive ventilation applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 99-109.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:179:y:2016:i:c:p:99-109
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.06.029
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Afaq Hyder Chohan & Jihad Awad, 2022. "Wind Catchers: An Element of Passive Ventilation in Hot, Arid and Humid Regions, a Comparative Analysis of Their Design and Function," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-23, September.
    3. Shamim, Jubair A. & Hsu, Wei-Lun & Paul, Soumyadeep & Yu, Lili & Daiguji, Hirofumi, 2021. "A review of solid desiccant dehumidifiers: Current status and near-term development goals in the context of net zero energy buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Chua, K.J. & Chou, S.K. & Islam, M.R., 2018. "On the experimental study of a hybrid dehumidifier comprising membrane and composite desiccants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 934-943.
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    7. Thu, K. & Mitra, S. & Saha, B.B. & Srinivasa Murthy, S., 2018. "Thermodynamic feasibility evaluation of hybrid dehumidification – mechanical vapour compression systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 31-44.
    8. Rima Aridi & Jalal Faraj & Samer Ali & Mostafa Gad El-Rab & Thierry Lemenand & Mahmoud Khaled, 2021. "Energy Recovery in Air Conditioning Systems: Comprehensive Review, Classifications, Critical Analysis, and Potential Recommendations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-31, September.
    9. Qi Xu & Saffa Riffat & Shihao Zhang, 2019. "Review of Heat Recovery Technologies for Building Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-22, April.
    10. Sajid Mehmood & Serguey A. Maximov & Hannah Chalmers & Daniel Friedrich, 2020. "Energetic, Economic and Environmental (3E) Assessment and Design of Solar-Powered HVAC Systems in Pakistan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-25, August.
    11. Lim, Dae Kyu & Ahn, Byoung Ha & Jeong, Ji Hwan, 2018. "Method to control an air conditioner by directly measuring the relative humidity of indoor air to improve the comfort and energy efficiency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 290-299.
    12. Liu, Miaomiao & Nejat, Payam & Cao, Pinlu & Jimenez-Bescos, Carlos & Calautit, John Kaiser, 2024. "A critical review of windcatcher ventilation: Micro-environment, techno-economics, and commercialisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    13. Zhou, Xingchao & Goldsworthy, Mark & Sproul, Alistair, 2018. "Performance investigation of an internally cooled desiccant wheel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 382-397.

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