A simplified model for predicting dehumidification effectiveness of a liquid desiccant system

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to propose a practical correlation returning the dehumidification effectiveness of a liquid desiccant system. From the existing literature, it was found that two desiccant solutions [lithium chloride (LiCl) and triethylene glycol (TEG)] are commonly used as a working fluid in two different types of absorber towers; packed bed, and spray towers. In this research, the experimental data of each absorber tower performance with two different desiccant solutions were collected from the open literature. By statistically analyzing the collected data using the 2 k factorial experiment design approach, the impact of each system operation parameters on the dehumidification effectiveness were quantitatively estimated. And then, a simplified second-order equation model was derived as a function of operation parameters showing significant impact on the dehumidification effectiveness. It was found that the operating parameters, such as inlet ambient air temperature, desiccant solution temperature, liquid-to-gas ratio(L/G), inlet air relative humidity, and solution concentration have significant impact on the system dehumidification performance. The proposed model was validated by comparing the dehumidification effectiveness values predicted by both proposed model and existing models found in the existing literature.