Experimental Study on the Performance of a Dew-Point Evaporative Cooling System with a Nanoporous Membrane

Jing Lv, Bo Zhou, Mengya Zhu, Wenhao Xi and Eric Hu
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Jing Lv: School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Bo Zhou: School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Mengya Zhu: School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Wenhao Xi: School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Eric Hu: School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: In this paper, a plate counter-flow dew-point evaporative cooling system was designed with a nanoporous membrane covered on the surface of the wet channel for enhancement of heat and mass transfer. First, the operating principle of this device and theoretical analysis of nanoporous membrane evaporation were discussed in detail. Then, the impacts of several operating parameters on cooling performance, mainly including inlet air temperature, humidity, velocity, and the effect of utilizing the membrane, were investigated in trials. It was found that the cooling performance can be improved by using membrane significantly. In the dry channel, the maximum temperature decrease can reach 12.5 °C. At a high inlet air temperature, the product air can be dropped to a lower temperature, contributing to a more significant heat transfer process. Lower humidity, on the other hand, resulted in a reduced product air temperature and a lower cooling efficiency. Under the condition of 50% humidity, the wet-bulb efficiency and dew-point efficiency were 1.09 and 0.79, respectively. With the inlet air velocity increasing from 1.5 m/s to 2 m/s, the outlet air temperature would rise, and the wet-bulb efficiency and dew-point efficiency would decrease. To achieve better cooling performance, inlet air velocity ought to be limited to a low speed.

Keywords: dew-point evaporative cooling; nanoporous membrane; heat and mass transfer; cooling performance (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
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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