Predictions of moisture removal rate and dehumidification effectiveness for structured liquid desiccant air dehumidifier

In hot and humid climates such as in the Sultanate of Oman, the humidity puts extra load on the electric vapor-compression air conditioning (VAC) systems. Liquid and solid desiccants can reduce the moisture content of humid air and thus reduce the latent load imposed on the VAC systems. In the present work, the performance of air dehumidifiers using triethylene glygol (TEG) as desiccant was investigated. Three differently structured packing densities were used (77, 100 and 200 m²/m³). The performance of the dehumidifier was evaluated and expressed in terms of the moisture removal rate ( m_cond) and the dehumidifier effectiveness (ε_y). The experimental work was undertaken to study the effects of several influencing design factors on this performance. The design factors covered included the air and TEG flow rates, air and TEG inlet temperatures, inlet air humidity and the inlet TEG concentration. The desiccant flow rate investigated was much less than that covered in previous studies and the range of the inlet temperatures of air and desiccant was significantly wider. The objective this study was to use the multiple regression method and the principal component analysis to obtain statistical prediction models for the water condensation rate and the dehumidification effectiveness in terms of these design factors. The results of both techniques agree with each other affirmed that the desiccant flow rate, desiccant inlet concentration and air inlet temperature are the most significant variables in predicting m _cond, whereas desiccant flow rate, air inlet temperature and packing density are the most significant variables in predicting ε_y.