Liquid desiccant dehumidification and regeneration process: Advancing correlations for moisture and enthalpy effectiveness
Alessandro Giampieri, Zhiwei Ma, Janie Ling‐Chin, Huashan Bao, Andrew Smallbone, Anthony Paul Roskilly
Abstract
The paper developed correlations for predicting moisture and enthalpy effectiveness of the liquid desiccant dehumidification and regeneration process. Experimental dehumidification and regeneration data available from the literature with different system dimensions, liquid desiccant solutions (LiBr and LiCl), geometry and size of the packing and flow configuration (counter- and cross-flow) were gathered for correlations development. The developed correlations involved the mass flow rates of air and desiccant solution, the inlet temperature of the air and the desiccant solution, the moisture content and enthalpy of the inlet air, the moisture content and enthalpy of air at an equilibrium state with the inlet desiccant solution, the geometry, dimensions and wetting of the packing and the contact time between air and desiccant solution. The comparison between the calculated and experimental effectiveness showed a good match, which had errors ranging 4.37–7.2%, and performed better when compared to other correlations available in the literature. These newly developed correlations will be useful for quick system design and performance analysis and to establish cost-effective solutions for liquid desiccant technology.