Renewable and Sustainable Air Conditioning

The simultaneous control of air temperature and humidity are the main functions of an air conditioner in order to provide human thermal comfort conditions. The conventional vapor compression air conditioning system cools the air below its dew point temperature to remove the moisture from the air. In hot and humid regions, considerable amount of energy is used for moisture removal using these systems. Because of the high energy cost of conventional systems and poor control of latent load, need arises for some alternative cooling devices. In this chapter alternative and renewable based air conditioning systems are described to overcome the increasing use of primary energy by conventional air conditional systems. Desiccant cooling is found to be a suitable alternative to these cooling systems. The configurations of desiccant cooling systems to achieve better performance are described. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of desiccant cooling system operating on ventilation and recirculation cycle has been presented. The results showed the system operating under the ventilation cycle has a better coefficient of performance as compared to the recirculation cycle because of the less input/regeneration heat required. The desiccant cooling technology is both cost-effective and environmental friendly as no refrigerant is used in these systems.