TY - JOUR
T1 - A hybrid indirect evaporative cooling-mechanical vapor compression process for energy-efficient air conditioning
AU - Chen, Qian
AU - Kum Ja, M.
AU - Burhan, Muhammad
AU - Akhtar, Faheem Hassan
AU - Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil
AU - Ybyraiymkul, Doskhan
AU - Ng, Kim Choon
N1 - Funding information: This research was supported by the Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
PY - 2021/11/15
Y1 - 2021/11/15
N2 - The indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) is deemed an effective and sustainable alternative to existing mechanical vapor compression (MVC) chillers in cooling applications. However, IEC is a passive cooler that has no effective control over the supply air temperature and humidity. Also, the performance of IEC degrades severely when the humidity of the air is high. To overcome these limitations, we investigate a hybrid process that connects IEC and MVC in tandem. The outdoor air is firstly pre-cooled in the IEC by recovering energy from the room exhaust air, and then it is further processed to the desired condition using MVC. Such a hybrid IEC-MVC process benefits from IEC's high energy efficiency and MVC's capability of humidity and temperature control. A pilot IEC unit with the cross-flow configuration is firstly constructed and tested under assorted outdoor air conditions. Employing the room exhaust air as the working air in the wet channels, the IEC simultaneously cools and dehumidifies the outdoor air. Under the operating conditions considered, the outdoor air temperature can be reduced by 6–15 °C, and the humidity ratio drops by 0.5–4 g/kg. The coefficient of performance (COP) for IEC is 6–16, leading to an overall COP of 4.96–6.05 for the hybrid IEC-MVC process. Compared with a standalone MVC, the electricity consumption can be reduced by 19–135%.
AB - The indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) is deemed an effective and sustainable alternative to existing mechanical vapor compression (MVC) chillers in cooling applications. However, IEC is a passive cooler that has no effective control over the supply air temperature and humidity. Also, the performance of IEC degrades severely when the humidity of the air is high. To overcome these limitations, we investigate a hybrid process that connects IEC and MVC in tandem. The outdoor air is firstly pre-cooled in the IEC by recovering energy from the room exhaust air, and then it is further processed to the desired condition using MVC. Such a hybrid IEC-MVC process benefits from IEC's high energy efficiency and MVC's capability of humidity and temperature control. A pilot IEC unit with the cross-flow configuration is firstly constructed and tested under assorted outdoor air conditions. Employing the room exhaust air as the working air in the wet channels, the IEC simultaneously cools and dehumidifies the outdoor air. Under the operating conditions considered, the outdoor air temperature can be reduced by 6–15 °C, and the humidity ratio drops by 0.5–4 g/kg. The coefficient of performance (COP) for IEC is 6–16, leading to an overall COP of 4.96–6.05 for the hybrid IEC-MVC process. Compared with a standalone MVC, the electricity consumption can be reduced by 19–135%.
KW - Energy recovery
KW - Indirect evaporative cooler
KW - Mechanical vapor compression
KW - Room exhaust air
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115930601&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114798
DO - 10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114798
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85115930601
SN - 0196-8904
VL - 248
JO - Energy Conversion and Management
JF - Energy Conversion and Management
M1 - 114798
ER -
