• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.569-576
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• 2007

The desiccant rotor is the most essential component of desiccant cooling system, but one of its drawbacks to spread out is rotor size. To reduce the size of rotor the analysis of rotor performance is crucial. Systematic examination on the effect of desiccant and channel geometries has been conducted based on the numerical program previously developed. Considered parameters related to channel geometries are channel shape and cross section area of channel, and parameters related to desiccant are mass fraction, heat capacity, density, maximum water uptake and separation factor of isotherm. Considerable reduction of rotor size is expected by adjusting the parameters.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.603-608
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• 2008

A simple equation to find a optimum speed of desiccant rotor is presented in this theoretical study. Usually the determination of optimum speed of desiccant rotor requires tedious and lengthy procedures by solving governing differential equations with many complicated parameters. The determining equation of optimal rotating speed is derivated from governing differential equations with three linearization assumptions, which simplify temperature profile linear along the desiccant rotor depth, psychrometric chart within a proper range, and relative humidity-sorption capacity relation. This study shows that the dominant parameters of optimal rotating speed of desiccant rotor are NTU, flow velocity, desiccant rotor depth, and temperature different between dehumidification and regeneration. The comparison shows the good agreement between complicated calculation results and simple theoretical equation prediction.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.687-694
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• 2007

Cycle simulation is peformed for two types of the desiccant cooling system incorporating a regenerative evaporative cooler. The cooling capacity and COP are evaluated at various effectiveness values of the regenerative evaporative cooler, the desiccant rotor and the sensible heat exchanger. As either of the effectiveness of the regenerative evaporative cooler or the humidity effectiveness of the desiccant rotor increases, both the cooling capacity and COP increase, but the enthalpy leak ratio gives the opposite effect on the system performance. It is found that COP of cycle A mainly depends on the humidity effectiveness of the desiccant rotor, while for cycle B enthalpy leak ratio of desiccant rotor has the major impact on COP. The effect of the sensible heat exchanger on the cooling capacity is small about 1/10 compared with those of other components.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.521-528
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• 2007

The desiccant rotor is the most essential component of desiccant cooling system, but its design relies on manufacturer's experience and principles are not yet clear in spite of a lot of theoretical/experimental work published. The mathematical modeling of desiccant rotor needs solution of coupled partial differential equations of heat and mass transfer. In this study, numerical program is developed and validated using a real desiccant rotor. The calculation results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data and other available numerical results. Optimization of desiccant rotor on the condition of low regeneration temperature are investigated. The optimal rotor speed at which the process outlet humidity becomes minimized, shows same as that of the system optimization. Compared to high regeneration temperature, broad is the range of optimal speed of low regeneration temperature. Systematic analysis on the optimal area ratio of regeneration to dehumidification section has also been conducted.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.629-632
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• 2009

The polymeric desiccant rotor is made from the super absorbent polymer by ion modification. The moisture sorption capacity of the super desiccant polymer(SDP) is 4 to 5 times larger than those of common desiccant meterials such as silica gel or zeolite. It is also known that SDP can be regenerated even at the relatively low temperature. To fabricate the desiccant rotor, firstly the SDP was laminated by coating the SDP on polyethylene sheet. Then corrugated and rolled up into a rotor. The diameter, the depth, the dimensions of the corrugated channel, etc. were pre-determined from numerical simulation on the heat and mass transfer in the desiccant rotor. The dehumidification performance was tested in a climate chamber. The relevant tests were carried out at the process air inlet temperature of $32^{\circ}C$, the regeneration air inlet temperature of $60^{\circ}C$ and the inlet dew-point temperature of both the process air and the regeneration air of $18.5^{\circ}C$, when the rotation period is long, the moisture sorption is not effective. In the desiccant rotor developed in this study, the optimum rotation period is found about 350s at the regeneration temperature of $60^{\circ}C$. It was found from further experiments that the optimum rotation tends to decreases as the regeneration temperature increases. Meanwhile, the outlet temperature of the process air deceases monotonically as the rotation period increases.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2012

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the dehumidification characteristics for several operating conditions of a compact desiccant rotor. This problem is of particular interest in the design of a desiccant type of dehumidifier. Room temperature, room humidity, regeneration temperature, revolution speed and frontal air velocity of desiccant rotor are varied as operating conditions. The results obtained indicate that dehumidification rate is increased with an increase in the room humidity while dehumidification effectiveness is not changed much. It is also found that the optimal rotor speed and optimal regeneration temperature exist for maximum dehumidification rate and dehumidification effectiveness.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.575-582
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• 2009

The optimum rotation speed of a desiccant rotor is studied theoretically based on a theoretical solution to the heat and mass transfer processes in the desiccant rotor. A simple correlation equation for the optimum rotation speed is derived to show the effects of various parameters including the thermo-physical properties, the geometric dimension, and the operating condition of the desiccant rotor. The theoretical result is compared with existing experimental data to validate the linearization and simplification included in the solution procedure. Based on the theoretical solution, the effects of major parameters on the optimum rotation speed are studied and the fundamental mechanism of the influences is investigated.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.537-544
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• 2007

To facilitate comparative analysis on the effects of numerous parameters concerning design and operation of a desiccant rotor, it is firstly required to represent the dehumidification performance as numerical indices. In this work is proposed two performance indices of a desiccant rotor: the humidity effectiveness and the enthalpy-leak ratio. The humidity effectiveness represents the actual dehumidification as compared with the dehumidification in an ideal case, while the enthalpy-leak ratio represents the enthalpy transfer from the regeneration side to the dehumidification side. In an ideal case, the two indices approach one and zero, respectively. The effects of numerous parameters on the dehumidification performance of a desiccant rotor are investigated through numerical simulation and represented with the two indices. The results show that the performance indices are mainly determined by three nondimensional parameters each representing the thermal capacity, the sorption capacity, and the transfer capacity of a desiccant rotor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.523-531
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• 2012

The performance simulation of a desiccant rotor, which is a core component of a desiccant cooling system, was conducted on the basis of a theoretical solution of the heat and mass transfer process in the rotor. The simulation model was validated by comparing simulation results with experimental data; reasonable agreement was observed. The effect of the rotation speed on the performance of the desiccant rotor was investigated for various operation conditions: temperature (50 to $70^{\circ}C$), humidity ratio (0.01 to 0.02 kg/kg DA), and flow rate of regeneration air. The optimum rotation speed was determined from the maximum moisture removal capacity (MRC) of the desiccant rotor, and it was found to vary with the operation conditions. Further, the correlation for the optimum rotation speed was determined by regression analysis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2012

This study investigates the pressure leakage characteristics of a desiccant rotor with a brush-type air seal. Through a pressure leakage experiment, a correlation equation for the leakage air flow rate is obtained as a function of the air seal area and pressure difference. Using this equation, an air leakage model for the desiccant rotor is developed. By comparing simulation results with the experimental results for the desiccant rotor, the accuracy of the air leakage model is demonstrated. A performance test of a desiccant rotor with various air flow rates is carried out. Using the air leakage model, the effective mass flow rate and air leakage rate are found. In addition, the characteristics of the air leakage are analyzed for a desiccant cooling system using the developed air leakage model.