Study on Heat Transfer Process and Fresh Water Output Performance of Phase Change Heat Storage Dehumidifier

Lixi Zhang, Kai Feng, Zhendong Xie and Kangbo Wang
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Lixi Zhang: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Kai Feng: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Zhendong Xie: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Kangbo Wang: School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: In the humidification-dehumidification solar desalination process, using phase change materials to recover water vapor condensation latent heat in the dehumidification can improve heat utilization and water production performances. When sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate and paraffin were used as phase change materials respectively in the phase change heat storage dehumidifier, by means of numerical simulation and experiment, the heat transfer process, entropy generation, and water production performances of heat pipes and copper wire meshes coupled phase change materials in the dehumidifier were studied. The results showed that sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate has stronger heat transfer ability, higher thermal entropy generation, and heat storage capacity than paraffin; adding copper wire meshes into the phase change material can accelerate heat transfer and shorten the time required for monitoring points to reach phase change temperature; increasing the wet air temperature at inlet of phase change heat storage dehumidifier, using copper wire meshes in the phase change material, increasing the diameter of copper wire mesh, and using a passive basin desalinator for secondary water production can improve water production performances. In brief, the use of sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate and copper wire meshes in the phase change heat storage dehumidifier leads to better heat storage and heat transfer effects.

Keywords: humidification-dehumidification (HDH); solar desalination; phase change material (PCM); dehumidifier; gained output ratio (GOR); water production cost (WPC) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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