Performance simulation of membrane heat pumps based on vacuum membrane dehumidification system

Abstract

An alternative technology that surpasses the efficiency of conventional vapor compression cycle is necessary to meet the increasing demand for air conditioning. One of the candidates, membrane heat pump (MHP), can decrease energy consumption through the separation of the air-conditioning process into dehumidification and sensible heat cooling. Humid air is dehumidified through a vapor-permeable dense membrane and cooled by a water-cooling cycle. When dehumidifying, a vacuum membrane system can be utilized in the heat pump system. In this study, two typical systems, water vapor discharge and condenser-combined vacuum membrane dehumidification (VMD) systems, are elucidated, and MHPs that consist of each VMD system are designed. Their performance are simulated and compared. The MHP with water vapor discharge VMD system has an improved coefficient of performance in general.