Experimental study and performance evaluation of a small-scale CAU10-H coated heat exchanger structure

Desiccant-based dehumidification systems enable higher energy efficient control of indoor air humidity. These systems can withdraw moisture in a cost-effective way than the sensible heat. Solid desiccant systems are also to be... [ view full abstract ]

Desiccant-based dehumidification systems enable higher energy efficient control of indoor air humidity. These systems can withdraw moisture in a cost-effective way than the sensible heat. Solid desiccant systems are also to be adapted to use solar thermal or waste heat as an energy source which carries off its energy saving potential one step further. These systems would offer good prospects beyond its current value when the cost reduction and performance improvement are handled.

Desiccant coated heat exchangers recently gather much attention among research communities and industrial companies by the aspect of energy savings. Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) are declared to possess several good qualities such as condensation pressure of water in the pores, uptake capacity, and recyclability and water stability of the material. CAU-10-H is a MOF which good stability is reported in recurrent water adsorption and desorption cycles. In this work, the experimental studies related to the sorptive coated heat exchanger structure have been accomplished at a test bench which is specially designated for measurements of small samples. Water uptakes derived from experimental data for the heat exchanger structure is well correlated with the adsorption and desorption isotherms of CAU-10-H. Regeneration and dehumidification efficiencies, as well as the mass of adsorbate removed from the air, are calculated for the experimental results. Results have shown that CAU-10- H coated heat exchanger structure can remove a reasonable amount of moisture from the process air.