IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v101y2016icp52-64.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimization of a heat assisted air-conditioning system comprising membrane and desiccant technologies for applications in tropical climates

Author

Listed:
  • Safizadeh, M. Reza
  • Morgenstern, Alexander
  • Bongs, Constanze
  • Henning, Hans-Martin
  • Luther, Joachim

Abstract

Separating dehumidification and cooling loads in air-conditioning systems has been proven to be a potential strategy to reduce electricity consumption if the dehumidification of air is mostly performed by heat-powered system components. Referring to experimental experiences in Singapore, this paper presents a novel electricity-efficient air-conditioning system consisting of a membrane unit, an evaporatively cooled sorptive dehumidification system (called ECOS system) and a high-efficient conventional cooling unit. The dehumidification of air is performed by a combination of the membrane unit and the ECOS system, and the sensible cooling of air is accommodated by a high-efficiency conventional chiller and in part by the membrane device. In order to find an optimized balance of the three air-conditioning components, an optimization-based simulation approach using a genetic algorithm is developed. The optimization is based on a simple objective function that comprises operating and investment costs. The optimization results reveal that an integration of a relatively large membrane unit, a small ECOS unit and a chiller operating at an elevated evaporation temperature is the most cost effective combination meeting comfort criteria. The resulting optimized combination has potential to save more than 50% of the system's lifetime operating cost compared to conventional systems supplying 100% fresh air.

Suggested Citation

  • Safizadeh, M. Reza & Morgenstern, Alexander & Bongs, Constanze & Henning, Hans-Martin & Luther, Joachim, 2016. "Optimization of a heat assisted air-conditioning system comprising membrane and desiccant technologies for applications in tropical climates," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 52-64.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:101:y:2016:i:c:p:52-64
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.02.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544216300482
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2016.02.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, L.Z., 2006. "Energy performance of independent air dehumidification systems with energy recovery measures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1228-1242.
    2. Zhang, L.Z & Niu, J.L, 2003. "A pre-cooling Munters environmental control desiccant cooling cycle in combination with chilled-ceiling panels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 275-292.
    3. Chua, K.J. & Chou, S.K. & Yang, W.M. & Yan, J., 2013. "Achieving better energy-efficient air conditioning – A review of technologies and strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 87-104.
    4. Enteria, Napoleon & Mizutani, Kunio, 2011. "The role of the thermally activated desiccant cooling technologies in the issue of energy and environment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2095-2122, May.
    5. Fong, K.F. & Lee, C.K., 2014. "Performance advancement of solar air-conditioning through integrated system design for building," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 987-996.
    6. Sphaier, L.A. & Nóbrega, C.E.L., 2012. "Parametric analysis of components effectiveness on desiccant cooling system performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 157-166.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jagirdar, Mrinal & Lee, Poh Seng, 2018. "Mathematical modeling and performance evaluation of a desiccant coated fin-tube heat exchanger," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 401-415.
    2. Gao, D.C. & Sun, Y.J. & Ma, Z. & Ren, H., 2021. "A review on integration and design of desiccant air-conditioning systems for overall performance improvements," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Zhang, Ning & Yin, Shao-You & Li, Min, 2018. "Model-based optimization for a heat pump driven and hollow fiber membrane hybrid two-stage liquid desiccant air dehumidification system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 12-20.
    4. Han, Youhua & Li, Ming & Wang, Yunfeng & Li, Guoliang & Ma, Xun & Wang, Rui & Wang, Liang, 2019. "Impedance matching control strategy for a solar cooling system directly driven by distributed photovoltaics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 953-965.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Singh, Ashutosh & Kumar, Sunil & Dev, Rahul, 2019. "Studies on cocopeat, sawdust and dried cow dung as desiccant for evaporative cooling system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 295-303.
    2. Xu, Peng & Ma, Xiaoli & Zhao, Xudong & Fancey, Kevin, 2017. "Experimental investigation of a super performance dew point air cooler," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 761-777.
    3. Ruivo, Celestino R. & Goldsworthy, Mark & Intini, Manuel, 2014. "Interpolation methods to predict the influence of inlet airflow states on desiccant wheel performance at low regeneration temperature," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 765-772.
    4. Yang, C.M. & Chen, C.C. & Chen, S.L., 2013. "Energy-efficient air conditioning system with combination of radiant cooling and periodic total heat exchanger," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 467-477.
    5. Muhammad Aleem & Ghulam Hussain & Muhammad Sultan & Takahiko Miyazaki & Muhammad H. Mahmood & Muhammad I. Sabir & Abdul Nasir & Faizan Shabir & Zahid M. Khan, 2020. "Experimental Investigation of Desiccant Dehumidification Cooling System for Climatic Conditions of Multan (Pakistan)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-23, October.
    6. Abdel-Salam, Mohamed R.H. & Fauchoux, Melanie & Ge, Gaoming & Besant, Robert W. & Simonson, Carey J., 2014. "Expected energy and economic benefits, and environmental impacts for liquid-to-air membrane energy exchangers (LAMEEs) in HVAC systems: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 202-218.
    7. Zhang, Zi-Yang & Cao, Xiang & Yang, Zhi & Shao, Liang-Liang & Zhang, Chun-Lu, 2019. "Modeling and experimental investigation of an advanced direct-expansion outdoor air dehumidification system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1600-1612.
    8. Zouaoui, Ahlem & Zili-Ghedira, Leila & Ben Nasrallah, Sassi, 2016. "Open solid desiccant cooling air systems: A review and comparative study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 889-917.
    9. Ali Mandegari, M. & Pahlavanzadeh, H., 2009. "Introduction of a new definition for effectiveness of desiccant wheels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 797-803.
    10. Nóbrega, Carlos E.L., 2014. "A parametric analysis of periodic and coupled heat and mass diffusion in desiccant wheels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 942-948.
    11. Jing, Gang & Cai, Wenjian & Zhang, Xin & Cui, Can & Yin, Xiaohong & Xian, Huacai, 2019. "An energy-saving oriented air balancing strategy for multi-zone demand-controlled ventilation system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1053-1065.
    12. Niamsuwan, Sathit & Kittisupakorn, Paisan & Suwatthikul, Ajaree, 2015. "Enhancement of energy efficiency in a paint curing oven via CFD approach: Case study in an air-conditioning plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 465-477.
    13. Gao, D.C. & Sun, Y.J. & Ma, Z. & Ren, H., 2021. "A review on integration and design of desiccant air-conditioning systems for overall performance improvements," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    14. Svetlana Ratner & Yuri Chepurko & Larisa Drobyshecskaya & Anna Petrovskaya, 2018. "Management of Energy Enterprises: Energy-efficiency Approach in Solar Collectors Industry: The Case of Russia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(4), pages 237-243.
    15. Yang, Xiaohu & Yu, Jiabang & Guo, Zengxu & Jin, Liwen & He, Ya-Ling, 2019. "Role of porous metal foam on the heat transfer enhancement for a thermal energy storage tube," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 142-156.
    16. Wang, Wenqing & Kolditz, Olaf & Nagel, Thomas, 2017. "Parallel finite element modelling of multi-physical processes in thermochemical energy storage devices," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1954-1964.
    17. Yang, Shiyu & Wan, Man Pun & Ng, Bing Feng & Dubey, Swapnil & Henze, Gregor P. & Chen, Wanyu & Baskaran, Krishnamoorthy, 2020. "Experimental study of model predictive control for an air-conditioning system with dedicated outdoor air system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    18. Lu, Hao & Lu, Lin & Luo, Yimo & Qi, Ronghui, 2016. "Investigation on the dynamic characteristics of the counter-current flow for liquid desiccant dehumidification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 229-238.
    19. Yuan, Zhipeng & Liu, Qi & Luo, Baojun & Li, Zhenming & Fu, Jianqin & Chen, Jingwei, 2018. "Thermodynamic analysis of different oil flooded compression enhanced vapor injection cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 553-560.
    20. Tong, Zheming & Chen, Yujiao & Malkawi, Ali & Liu, Zhu & Freeman, Richard B., 2016. "Energy saving potential of natural ventilation in China: The impact of ambient air pollution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 660-668.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:101:y:2016:i:c:p:52-64. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.