A Parametric Study of an Indirect Evaporative Cooler Using a Spray Dryer Model

Torsten Berning (), Tianbao Gu and Chungen Yin
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Torsten Berning: AAU Energy, Aalborg University, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Tianbao Gu: AAU Energy, Aalborg University, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Chungen Yin: AAU Energy, Aalborg University, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: Indirect evaporative coolers (IECs) are becoming a viable alternative to the more energy-intensive traditional HVAC systems for space cooling, especially in arid regions. In this work, a recently developed computational model of an IEC was used to conduct a parametric study. The model employs a spray dryer model to track the flow path and evaporation rate of droplets. The key parameters investigated were the temperature of the droplets, a bypass effect where the amount of exhaust air and water was reduced to as low as 10%, and the length of the heat exchanger. The results suggest that the wet bulb efficiency could be increased from the previously observed 35% to 72.5% if the water temperature is decreased to 16 °C. In order to drastically increase the performance, the heat exchanger length should be increased from 50 cm to 100 cm, which could still end up in a more compact design overall as fewer plates are required. The bypass study resulted in peak performance when 40% of the secondary air flow was used as working air in conjunction with a proportional reduction in water usage. Overall, the computational model has been employed in an attempt to reduce the bulkiness, increase the efficiency and reduce the water consumption of such a system.

Keywords: internal evaporative cooler (IEC); droplet evaporation; wet bulb efficiency; computational modelling; spray dryer model; CFX-4 (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: 2025
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