Abstract
In humid environments, decoupling the latent and sensible cooling loads - dehumidifying - can significantly improve chiller efficiency. Here, a basic limit for dehumidification efficiency is established from fundamental thermodynamics. This is followed by the derivation of how this limit is modified when the pragmatic constraint of a finite flux must be accommodated. These limits allow one to identify promising system modifications, and to quantify their impact. The focus is on vacuum-based membrane dehumidification. New high-efficiency configurations are formulated, most notably, by coupling pumping with condensation. More than an order-of-magnitude improvement in efficiency is achievable. It is contingent on water vapor exiting at its saturation pressure rather than at ambient pressure. Sensitivity studies to recovery ratio, temperature, relative humidity and membrane selectivity are also presented.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 106-115 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Energy |
Volume | 132 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 13 2017 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the generous funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Singapore under the Energy Innovation Research Programme (EIRP) Funding Scheme (R-265-00-543-279) managed on our behalf by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). JMG expresses his gratitude to Prof. Kian Jon (Ernest) Chua for his generous and gracious hospitality at NUS during the period of this research.