TY - JOUR
T1 - Simultaneous production of cooling and freshwater by an integrated indirect evaporative cooling and humidification-dehumidification desalination cycle
AU - Chen, Qian
AU - Burhan, Muhammad
AU - Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil
AU - Ybyraiymkul, Doskhan
AU - Akhtar, Faheem Hassan
AU - Ng, Kim Choon
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - Cooling and freshwater represent two fundamental demands in hot and arid regions. This paper reports the integration of an indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) and a humidification-dehumidification desalination cycle (HDH) for the simultaneous production of cooling and freshwater. To take full advantage of system integration, the purge air from IEC is supplied to HDH to promote water productivity. A pilot IEC unit is firstly designed and tested to achieve the temperatures and humidity of the outlet air steams. Results reveal that the IEC unit is able to cool down the supply air to below 25 °C under different outdoor conditions, and the purge air temperature is also 5–10 ℃ lower than the intake air temperature. Employing the IEC purge air as the working air, the HDH cycle is then investigated analytically. Under the operation ranges considered, the freshwater productivity and gain-output ratio (GOR) are 25–125 L/hr and 1.6–2.5, respectively, which are higher than other HDH configurations operating under the same conditions. Finally, the performance of the combined IEC-HDH system is evaluated. The overall coefficient of performance (COP) and Second-law efficiency are found to be 2.1–2.5 and 3–26%, respectively. Further improvement of efficiency can be achieved by integrating with adsorption or vapor compression refrigeration cycles.
AB - Cooling and freshwater represent two fundamental demands in hot and arid regions. This paper reports the integration of an indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) and a humidification-dehumidification desalination cycle (HDH) for the simultaneous production of cooling and freshwater. To take full advantage of system integration, the purge air from IEC is supplied to HDH to promote water productivity. A pilot IEC unit is firstly designed and tested to achieve the temperatures and humidity of the outlet air steams. Results reveal that the IEC unit is able to cool down the supply air to below 25 °C under different outdoor conditions, and the purge air temperature is also 5–10 ℃ lower than the intake air temperature. Employing the IEC purge air as the working air, the HDH cycle is then investigated analytically. Under the operation ranges considered, the freshwater productivity and gain-output ratio (GOR) are 25–125 L/hr and 1.6–2.5, respectively, which are higher than other HDH configurations operating under the same conditions. Finally, the performance of the combined IEC-HDH system is evaluated. The overall coefficient of performance (COP) and Second-law efficiency are found to be 2.1–2.5 and 3–26%, respectively. Further improvement of efficiency can be achieved by integrating with adsorption or vapor compression refrigeration cycles.
KW - Cooling/freshwater cogeneration
KW - Experimental study
KW - Humidification dehumidification desalination
KW - Indirect evaporative cooling
KW - System integration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087701035&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113169
DO - 10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113169
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087701035
SN - 0196-8904
VL - 221
JO - Energy Conversion and Management
JF - Energy Conversion and Management
M1 - 113169
ER -