TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental study on advanced indirect evaporative cooling and desiccant dehumidification systems for agricultural greenhouses
AU - Raza, Hafiz Muhammad Umar
AU - Sultan, Muhammad
AU - Aleem, Muhammad
AU - Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil
AU - Jamil, Muhammad Ahmad
AU - Miyazaki, Takahiko
AU - Sajjad, Uzair
AU - Farooq, Muhammad
AU - Zhang, Zhaoli
PY - 2025/12/17
Y1 - 2025/12/17
N2 - The study aims to evaluate evaporative cooling and/or desiccant based solution(s) for energy-efficient control of greenhouse temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH). In this regard, a lab-scale greenhouse alongside experimental apparatus for three kinds of T/RH control systems (i.e. standalone M-cycle evaporative cooling, standalone desiccant air-conditioning (DAC), and M-cycle assisted DAC) are developed and thermodynamically evaluated. The standalone M-cycle evaporative cooling system showed potential to reduce ambient air T up to 13 °C, however, it was not able to maintain greenhouse humidity during humid conditions. The M-cycle assisted DAC system is outperformed for maintaining optimum greenhouse T and RH conditions as compared to standalone DAC with maximum moisture removal rate of 1.73 kg/h, cooling potential of 25.66 kJ/kg, and COP of 1.50 at regeneration T of 60 °C. The cooling potential and COP of the M-cycle assisted DAC system is ∼2 and ∼ 3.7 times higher as compared to standalone DAC system with maximum energy efficiency ratio of 3.52. Payback period and levelized cost of energy for M-cycle assisted DAC system is found 3.70 years and 0.07 USD/kWh, respectively. Moisture removal cost of solar PV operated M-cycle assisted DAC system is ∼2.6 times lower than grid electricity operated system. Integrating solar PV electricity into M-cycle assisted DAC system reduced CO2 emissions to 7.98, 4.02, and 7.73 tons CO2e/year than electricity from coal, natural gas, and oil, respectively. The study concludes that the M-cycle assisted DAC system has the potential to efficiently control greenhouse T/RH conditions.
AB - The study aims to evaluate evaporative cooling and/or desiccant based solution(s) for energy-efficient control of greenhouse temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH). In this regard, a lab-scale greenhouse alongside experimental apparatus for three kinds of T/RH control systems (i.e. standalone M-cycle evaporative cooling, standalone desiccant air-conditioning (DAC), and M-cycle assisted DAC) are developed and thermodynamically evaluated. The standalone M-cycle evaporative cooling system showed potential to reduce ambient air T up to 13 °C, however, it was not able to maintain greenhouse humidity during humid conditions. The M-cycle assisted DAC system is outperformed for maintaining optimum greenhouse T and RH conditions as compared to standalone DAC with maximum moisture removal rate of 1.73 kg/h, cooling potential of 25.66 kJ/kg, and COP of 1.50 at regeneration T of 60 °C. The cooling potential and COP of the M-cycle assisted DAC system is ∼2 and ∼ 3.7 times higher as compared to standalone DAC system with maximum energy efficiency ratio of 3.52. Payback period and levelized cost of energy for M-cycle assisted DAC system is found 3.70 years and 0.07 USD/kWh, respectively. Moisture removal cost of solar PV operated M-cycle assisted DAC system is ∼2.6 times lower than grid electricity operated system. Integrating solar PV electricity into M-cycle assisted DAC system reduced CO2 emissions to 7.98, 4.02, and 7.73 tons CO2e/year than electricity from coal, natural gas, and oil, respectively. The study concludes that the M-cycle assisted DAC system has the potential to efficiently control greenhouse T/RH conditions.
KW - Desiccant dehumidification
KW - Evaporative cooling
KW - Greenhouse climate
KW - Maisotsenko cycle
KW - Systems performance
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105025030568
U2 - 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2025.110321
DO - 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2025.110321
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105025030568
SN - 0735-1933
VL - 172
JO - International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer
JF - International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer
IS - Part 2
M1 - 110321
ER -