Design and Manufacturing of desiccant disk for use in dehumidifiers and air conditioners
Project Overview
The majority of the energy consumed in a household is directed to heating and air
conditioning. With increasing fuel prices and environmental concerns, renewable energy
technologies are developing. However, the focus of these technologies is the production of
electricity. Using the electricity produced by renewable sources for heating and air
conditioning creates inefficiency if the renewable source can be directly used for the purpose
of heating and air conditioning. It is well known that the highest load on the electricity
generation system is imposed by air conditioners during the warm season. Typically, the sun
irradiance experiences a maximum during the warm season. There are several methods to
harvest the solar energy for refrigeration purposes. Since the 1990s, adsorption technology is
used in dehumidification. The disadvantages of liquid–vapor adsorption systems are
overcome by using solid–vapor cycles. For this project, we Improved and tested an old
desiccant disk project. In particular, we added a few more thermocouples, installed fan
anemometers for measuring air velocity, and installed more humidity and temperature sensors
to get more accurate results and data. We also designed and manufactured two types of
evaporative cooler (which are direct, and indirect evaporative coolers) we test each one of
them, then we compare the results, which we got, and finally we chose the best, and the more
efficient one to improve our project. In addition, we replace the AC fans which was used in
the previse project with DC fans, so we will get full power of them by supplying their power
from solar panels. In addition to that, we made an inspection hatch to get an easy way to fill
and replace the silica inside the disk, without causing an issue to the whole system.
Project Objectives
The main objectives that we are looking for in this project are:
- Improve the instrumentation and data acquisition (newer and more thermocouples,
installed fan anemometers, installed more RH sensors).
- Design and build a direct and an indirect evaporative cooler. Test and compare the results
from the two coolers
- Replace AC fans with array of DC fans that can be powered by solar panels.
- Create inspection hatch and close leaks in the desiccant disk.
- Test the system and acquire new data.
Presentation
