International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 60

Application of Evaporative Air Coolers Coupled With

Solar Water Heater for Dehumidification of Indoor
Air
A S Alosaimy
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering,
Taif University, KSA
alosaimy@yahoo.com

Abstract -- In the present work, novel configuration of solar
powered desiccant dehumidification system is investigated. The
proposed system comprises two evaporative air coolers. One of
the two coolers functions as an absorber and the second, which is
coupled with solar water heater, functions as a desiccant
regenerator. In the experimental part of this investigation,
Calcium Chloride is regenerated using solar energy. Hot water
from a solar collector is circulated through an air heater to
regenerate the liquid desiccant. Mathematical model, which can
be applied for analysis of the proposed system, is developed.
Absorption-regeneration cycle for the dehumidifier is described
and analyzed. An expression for the efficiency of the simple cycle
is introduced. Theoretical analysis shows that strong and weak
solution concentration limits play a decisive role in the value of
cycle efficiency. S ystem efficiency with consideration of heat and
work added to the system is well defined. The limits of
regeneration temperature and mass of strong solution per kg of
produced vapor are found highly dependent on the operating
concentration of desiccant. Experimental results show that
solution with 30% concentration can be regenerated up to 50%
using solar energy. Good agreement is found between the trained
data of the ANN model and the experimental measurements for
the whole range of the air inlet temperature.
Index Term-- Desiccant; humidification; absorption; air
conditioning; Calcium chloride.
1. INTRODUCTION
In hot and humid areas ,interest in utilizing solar powered-
cooling systems for air-conditioning and refrigeration purposes
has been growing continuously. Being considered as one path
towards more sustainable energy systems, solar-cooling is
comprised of many attractive features . This technology can
efficiently serve large latent loads and greatly improve indoor
air quality by allowing more ventilation wh ile t ightly
controlling humidity [1]. On the other hand, solar-powered air
conditioning has seen renewed interest in recent years due to
the growing awareness of environmental problems such as
global warming [2,3]. Solar collector/regenerator (C/R)
systems can achieve liquid regeneration at lower temperatures
which is suitable for buildings with high outdoor air
requirements in high humidity areas [4,5]. Several solar-driven
refrigeration systems
have been proposed and most of them are economically
justified. These systems include sorption systems containing
liquid/vapor or solid/vapor absorption/adsorption, vapor
compression systems, and hybrid desiccant vapor compression
systems [6].
The regenerator is one of the key components in liquid
desiccant air-conditioning systems, in wh ich desiccant is
concentrated and can be reused in the system. The heat
required for regenerating the weak desiccant solution is
supplied into the regenerator by either hot air or hot desiccant
solution. This heat can be provided by any form of low-grade
thermal energy which is suitable for solar thermal applications.
Different regenerator designs have been examined and a
variety of theoretical models have been employed to analyze
the regeneration process [7-9]. An analytical procedure for
calculating the mass of water evaporated from the weak
solution in the regenerator in terms of climatic conditions and
solution properties at the regenerator inlet has been developed
by Kakabayev and Khandurdyev[1].Alizadeh and Saman [10]
developed a computer model using Calciu m Chloride as the
working desiccant to study the thermal performance of a forced
parallel flo w solar regenerator. A parametric analysis of the
system has been performed to calculate the rate of evaporation
of water fro m the solution as a function of the system variables
and the climatic conditions. However, the solar radiation
intensity was assumed constant in the analysis. The effect of
regeneration temperature on the rate of water evaporation fro m
the liquid desiccant shows that an increase in solution
temperature increases the vapor pressure on the surface of the
solution and consequently the potential of mass transfer. Solar
water heaters can be applied for regeneration of the desiccant
solution if the heated water in the solar heater is used for
regeneration purposes. In this case, hot water can be used to
heat the regeneration air in an air heater and then blown to the
packing of the humidifier, where the solution is recalculated by
the solution pump. The main function of desiccant
dehumidification system is to pump humid ity fro m the
conditioned space, which has moisture sources, to the outsid e
space. Different design configurations for such systems are
available in literature [5,6]. These systems use solid or liquid
desiccant as sorbent. A new heat pump desiccant dehumidifier
for supermarket application is presented in [11]. It is a self -

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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01
regenerating liquid desiccant cooling system able to
dehumidify, heating or cooling the ambient air by an electric
heat pump that is a part of the equipment. It appears in the
shape similar to a traditional air-handling unit but it puts
together inside in a new way a chemical dehumidification
system and an electric vapor co mpression heat pump: in such a
way it can be defined as a hybrid machine. A novel desiccant
based air conditioning system was designed and tested
experimentally to improve the indoor air quality and reduce
energy consumption [12]. In the system studied, the moisture
of the air sent to the place being air-conditioned was reduced
passing it through a solid desiccant wheel and then its
temperature was brought to the desired blowing temperature by
the “dry coil” of a vapor co mpression cycle. A liquid desiccant
based air-conditioning system is described in [13]. The
dehumidifier and regenerator used in the system are adiabatic.
The air flows upward and the solution flows downward in the
packing of the dehumidifier and the regenerator: that is, the air-
solution is under counter flow. The coefficient of performance
(COP) of the liquid desiccant based system decreases sharply
when the fresh air ratio exceeds 60%. The results also show
that the proposed system can save power notably. The
maximu m power saving ratio is 58.9% when the fresh air ratio
is 20%. The application of commercially available air
humidifiers, which are used for evaporative cooling in desert
areas (dry zones), for the purposes of dehumidification of
humid air and regeneration of desiccant solution is proposed in
the present work. This application leads to a decrease in the
overall cost of the dehumidification system and there is no
need of specific design.
In the present work solar collector has been applied for
regeneration of Ca Cl2 solution. The proposed system
comprises a flat plate solar collector which is used for water
heating to heat the regeneration air in an air heater. The heated
air is used to regenerate the solution in the dehumidifier. In the
theoretical part, simp lified analysis of the performance of
desiccant operated humidity pump has been presented. Several
objectives are formulated to address the overall goal of the
present study; application of solar water heater coupled with
evaporative coolers to function as desiccant dehumidifier.
These objectives are to:
1- Design and installation of a solar water heating system
coupled with an air heater and evaporative cooler for
regeneration of calcium chloride (CaCl2) desiccant solution.
2- Study and discuss the operation of the proposed system
and evaluate the possibility of steady state operation with
application of hot water storage tank.
2. OPERAT ION OF HUMIDIT Y PUMP (HP)
Desiccant dehumid ification system, in general, functions as
humidity pu mp. The function of the humidity pump is to
transfer the humidity of room air (indoor conditions) to the
outside air(outdoor conditions). The energy required to power
such systems is main ly the regeneration heat required to heat
the desiccant regenerator. The basic concept of isothermal
humidity pump is discussed and analyzed by Hamed and
13 12 0 01 -6767 -IJMME- IJENS @ February 2013 IJENS
61
Alosaimy [11]. Isothermal operation of HP on the
psychrometric chart isdemonstrated in Fig. 1. As shown in fig.,
the system transfers moisture from the indoor air, which has
lower hu mid ity, to the outdoor airthrough the line R-O, where
the conditions R and O represent the room (dehumidified air)
and outside conditions, respectively. The system which carries
out this process is called a hu midity pump (HP). The statement
"humidity pump" comes fro m the similarity between pumping
heat from the cooled space to the hot outside air and pumping
humidity fro m an indoor air to a more humid outside air.
However, isothermal absorption of water vapor fro m air can be
carried out with continuous cooling of the desiccant during the
process. At the end of absorption the desiccant must be
regenerated to remove the absorbed water and re-concentrate
the solution.
The absorption-regeneration cycle, which can be applied,
for operation as a humidity pump, is shown in Fig. 2. The
theoretical cycle is plotted on the vapor pressure-concentration
diagram for the operating absorbent and consists of four
thermal processes which are [11,12]:
Process 1-2: isothermal absorption of water vapor from
room air;
Process 2-3: constant concentration heating of the
absorbent;
Process 3-4: constant vapor pressure regeneration of
absorbent and
Process 4-1: constant concentration cooling of absorbent.
ho
hR
o
O wo
H
φo R P ωR
R
R
t=
Fig. 1. Isothermal Operation of Humidity Pump on the
C
Psychrometric Chart
The thermal processes of this cycle are carried out between
two concentration limits: x1 and x2 and the cycle has another
operation limits which are its maximu m regeneration
temperature, t4; condensation vapor pressure, pv,O and
maximu m absorption vapor pressure, pv,R. Evaluation of these
operation limits is important fro m the point of view of system
design and construction. Therefore, description of the effect of
air conditions on the cycle operation is presented as follows: if
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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 62

the room temperature is equal to t1 and strong solution pressure is reduced again to p1 by cooling from t4 to the room
concentration is x1, absorption process starts only when the temperature where the cycle ends at point 1.
vapor pressure on the absorbent surface is lower than the 3. THE PROPOSED SYST EM
vapour pressure in the room air pv,R (Fig. 2). Theoretically, The proposed system is presented in Fig.3. The system
absorption continues from 1 to 2, i.e. ends at equilibriu m comprises two air evaporative coolers. One of the two coolers
condition when the pressure of vapor on the absorbent surface functions as an absorber (the indoor unit) and the second (the
is the same as that in room air. When the absorption process outdoor unit), which is coupled with solar water heater,
ends, absorbent is pumped to the regenerator and heated from functions as a desiccant regenerator. Calciu m Ch loride solution
an external source. Regeneration of weak absorbent can be is regenerated in the evaporative cooler (desiccant regenerator)
carried out at constant pressure. The vapour pressure on the which is supplied with hot air fro m a finned tube air/water heat
absorbent surface at point 2 is equal to pv,R which is exchanger. Water fro m the solar water heater is circulated
determined in terms of room relative humidity and temperature. through the heat exchanger to heat the flowing air. Strong
Constant pressure regeneration at this pressure requires that the solution fro m the outdoor unit is directed to the indoor unit and
regeneration temperature is the saturation temperature of water weak solution from the indoor unit is pumped to the
vapour corresponding to the vapor pressure of the outdoor air; regenerator via a solution pump. Roo m hu mid air is blown and
pv,O. When regeneration is assumed to be at ambient dehumidified in the indoor unit. This system actually functions
temperature, weak solution must be heated from t2 to t3 where as humid ity pump. Direct contact between air and desiccant is
as concentration is constant and vapour pressure increases from carried out in the packing used in the evaporative cooler to
pv,Rto pv,O, which is the saturation pressure of vapour increase the contact area. For the purpose of heat recovery,
corresponding to ambient (outdoor) conditions . The increase solution heat exchanger is applied to cool the strong solution
in temperature fro m t2 to t3 depends on the relative hu midity coming out from the regenerator (outdoor unit).
of air or the weak solution concentration, x2, which depends
also on the relative humidity at the given ambient temperature. 4. THEORET ICAL A NALYSIS
During the constant pressure condensation, solution In the theoretical part of this study, thermodynamic analysis
concentration increases from x2 to x4. The maximu m of the proposed system as well as artificial neural network
regeneration temperature depends on the available heat source model will be considered and presented in the following
and the limits required of desiccant concentration. Strong subsections.
(regenerated) solution at point 4 is not able to absorb vapour 4.1 THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS
fro m room air due to its higher vapourpressure, therefore An important aspect of any system simulation is the

φo φR
to
P v,o
3 4
tR
Vapor pressure on the desiccant surface

P v,R
2
Relative humidity = C

t = Const.
1

Crystallization zone

Desiccant concentration by weight

Fig. 2. Operation processes of isothermal absorption humidity pump on the

Vapor pressure-concentration chart

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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 63

determination of the conditions for optimized performance. 50

Date: 10/10/2010
When sorption / desorption cycle is applied with absorption of Initial mass of solution =2 kg,
water vapour from air, system efficiency can be simply Initial concentration =0.3
Final concentration =0.38
evaluated from the mu ltiplication of the cycle efficiency by the
efficiency of the heat transfer equipment (ex. collector
efficiency, when solar energy is applied). In case of forced air 40

Temperature, C
absorption, energy added to forced air stream must be
accounted in defin ition of system efficiency. Therefore, system
efficiency is defined as the ratio of heat added to generated
water vapour qv to the total equivalent heat added to the
system H, i.e
30
ηsys  q v H (1)
Air temperatures at
regenerator inlet&exit

The heat added to generated water vapor is assumed equal inlet temperature, C
to the latent load removed by the system fro m the dehumidified outlet temperature, C
space.
Fro m Fig. 2 ,during regeneration, heat must be applied to 20
the desiccant to accomplish the following: 8 9 10 11 12 13
Time, hr
heat the solution to minimu m regeneration temperature
(process 2-3, Fig. 2),; Fig. 6. variation of water and air temperatures at inlet and exit of the heat
vaporize the liquid water; exchanger and humidifier for the first group of tests
heat the solution to its final temperature in the (process 3-4,
Fig. 2 ), and 50
Air temperatures at regenerator inlet&exit
heat the regenerated vapour to its final temperature.
inlet temperature, C
The heat added to desiccant and water vapour during the outlet temperature, C
desorption process can be expressed as given in [12] as
Qd   mh v  Md h r  Md  m h a (2)
40
Temperature, C

where h is the enthalpy. Subscripts v, r and a denote

water vapour, desiccant condition at the end of regeneration
and desiccant condition at the end of adsorption, respectively.
30
60 Date: 11/10/2010
Water temperatures at Initial mass of solution =3.684 kg,
heater inlet&exit Initial concentration =0.3
Final concentration =0.48
inlet temperature, C
50 outlet temperature, C
20
8 10 12 14 16
Temperature, C

Time, hr
Fig. 7. Variation of water and air temperatures at inlet and exit of the heat
40 exchanger and humidifier for the first group of tests

30
Date: 10/10/2010
Initial mass of solution =2 kg,
Initial concentration =0.3
Final concentration =0.38
20
8 10 12 14
Time, hr

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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 64

Air vent

Water tank

Solar water Compe nsation

heater
l i ne

O utdoor unit

Packing

Air heater

Air outlet Air inlet

Weak solution Strong solution Water circulating pump

Solution heat
exchanger

Indoor unit

Dehumidified Room
air out humid air
in

Solution
pump

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of solar powered desiccant dehumidification system.

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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 65

Knowing desiccant concentration limits and mass of In terms of desiccant parameters, cycle efficiency can be
desiccant Md one can evaluate the mass of adsorbed (or expressed as given in [15],
regenerated) water vapour as follows,  Xa h r  Xr h a 
ηcyc  L h v 
(11)
X r  Xa 
m  Md (3)  X r  Xa 
Xa
4.2 NEURAL NET WORK (ANN) MODEL
where Xr and Xa are desiccant concentration at the
end of regeneration and end of adsorption, respectively. As the The artificial neural network (ANN) is a new form of
mass of desiccant changes during the processes, in eq.(3) M d is computing, inspired by biological models and composed of a
taken at start of adsorption. The heat equivalent to energy large number of processing elements organized into layers. A
added to air stream, b lown through the desiccant packing, can computing system, made up of a nu mber of simp le, highly
be evaluated by dividing the mechanical work by the Carnot interconnected processing elements, which processes
energy factor [14], information by its dynamic state response to external inputs.
The ANN is supposed to consist of artificial neurons or
Qe 
1
vo A P (4) processing elements. Fig.4. shows the architecture of the
Ca neural network model used in our previous work [16, 17]. The
wherevo is the air velocity at bed entrance, A is the face basic structure is a mult ilayer ANN model where the chosen
area of packing in contact with air, P is the pressure drop six inputs are fed into the first layer of hidden units. There, the
through the packing and Ca is the Carnot energy factor. This circles represent the neurons (weights, bias, and activation
factor is dependent on the operating temperature limits of the functions) and the lines represent the connections between the
cycle. As the temperature limits of the operating cycle are the inputs and neurons, and between the neurons in one layer and
room temperature, wh ich is equal to the absorption temperature those in the next layer. Several studies have found that a three-
Ta and maximu m regeneration temperature, which is equal to layered neural network, where there are three stages of neural
the desiccant temperature at the end of regeneration process Tr. processing between the inputs and outputs, can approximate
Consequently, Carnot energy factor can be expressed as any nonlinear function to any desired accuracy. Each layer of
 Ta the neural network consists of units which receive their input
Ca   
Tr
(5) fro m units from a layer directly below and send their output to
Tr units in a layer directly above the unit. Each connection to a
The total equivalent heat added to the system is expressed neuron has an adjustable weighting factor associated with it.
as The output of the hidden units is distributed over the next layer
H  Qd  Qe (6)
of hidden units, until the last layer of hidden units, of which the
outputs are fed into a layer of no output units. Training of the
Room conditions (temperature and relative humidity) are ANN model typically imp lies adjustments of connection
indoor controlling parameters, which determine the maximu m weights and biases so that the differences between ANN
possible mass of vapor absorbed by the desiccant (see fig. 2). outputs and desired outputs are minimized. Details of the ANN
In other words, for specific sorbent the lower value of model is presented and discussed in [17]
desiccant concentration at the end of sorption process is
dependent on indoor parameters. When Calciu m Chloride is EXPERIMENT AL W ORK
the working desiccant, the lower concentration can be In the experimental part of this investigation, calcium
expressed as given in [15] by chloride solution is regenerated in an air humidifier (desiccant
regenerator) which is supplied with hot air fro m a finned tube
  b o  
air/water heat exchanger. Water fro m the storage tank of a
b1  (7)
X min  ln p v   a o    a 1   solar
  t  111.9   t  111.9 
where, t is the sorbent temperature, oC, ao, bo, a1, b1 are
regression constants given in [15]. The vapour pressure in
room air is dependent on the relative humidity  and saturation
pressure of water, ps(t), i.e
pv  φpst  (8)
Cycle efficiency is defined as the ratio of heat added to
generate vapour to the heat added to desiccant, during
regeneration process, i.e.,
ηcyc  qv Qd (9)
where
qv = m L (10)
Fig. 4. A schematic of multilayer neural network [17]

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Fig. 5. Air heater coupled with humidifier.

 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01
60
Outdoor temp. = 40 C
Outdoor temp. = 30 C
Minimum regeneration temperature,C
Outdoor temp. = 20 C
50
0 %
H=4
or R
Indo
40
0%
H=4
or R
In do
30
0%
H=4
or R
In do
20
40 50 60
Outdoor humidity,%
Fig. 5. Minimum regeneration temperature versus outdoor relative humidity at
different values of indoor humidity and outdoor temperatures
water heater is circulated through the heat exchanger to heat
the flowing air. The south faced solar water heater connected
with the storage tank is installed on the roof of the Fluid
Mechanics Laboratory, Mechanical Department, Taif
University, Saudi Arabia. Hot water fro m the tank exit is
pumped by a water circulating pu mp through the air heater and
then returns to the tank in let. A mbient air which is drawn
through the heater is used to heat the solution which is
circulated in the humid ifier. The air heater is installed at the
inlet of the humidifier. So lution fro m a pan in the humidifier is
pumped to the top of the packing and flows downward,
whereas hot air fro m the air heart is blown across the packing.
The solar heater is connected to water compensation line and it
is equipped with an air vent near the top of the storage tank.
PVC tubes are used to connect the indoor units (air heater and
regenerator ) and the outdoor unit (solar heating system). The
air passage between the heater and the regenerator is insulated
using polyethylene layer.
A sample of solution with a specified initial mass and
concentration is put in the solution pan of the humidifier. The
solution concentration is evaluated by using the tables of
thermo-physical properties [18], by knowledge of the density
and temperature. To start the experiment, the water level in the
hot water storage tank is checked, then water pump, solution
pump and air fan are switched on. The following temperatures
66
are recorded during the experiments: heating water at inlet and
exit of the air heater; flowing air at inlet and exit of the
humidifier. A lso, the relative humidity of air at inlet and exit of
the humidifier are recorded during the experiments. At the end
of the experimental test, the mass and concentration of
regenerated solution are evaluated and the mass of evaporated
mass of water is determined. K-type thermocouples connected
50% to a digital thermo meter with a resolution of 0.1C are used for
temperature measurements. A digital hygrometer having a
60%
resolution of 0.1% is used for measuring the relative humidity.
70% The solution density is evaluated by measuring the mass and
volume. A digital balance of 1 g mresolution and 7000 g m
measuring range is used for mass measurements. An infrared
thermo meter is used to check the temperatures of the tubes of
the air heat exchanger.
70%
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The minimu m limit of the regeneration temperature for the
applied desiccant, at indoor temperature of 20 C, is plotted in
Fig 5 at different values of room relative humidity, and outdoor
70% temperatures versus the outdoor relative humid ity. As shown in
the fig., it can be observed that the minimu m regeneration
70 80 90 temperature increases with decrease in the room relative
humidity, at constant values of ambient parameters
(temperature and humidity). This can be explained by the need
to a solution with higher concentration to absorb moisture fro m
air with lower values of relative humid ity at the same amb ient
temperature. In general, it can be stated that the temperature
potential required to pump humidity fro m the room condition
to the ambient air is directly proportional with the hu midity
potential between the room and the ambient air. On the other
hand, an increase in the outdoor temperature increases the
required regeneration temperature for constant values of room
and outdoor humidity.
For an in itial mass of solution of 2 kg and in itial
concentration of 30%, an experimental test is carried out for a
period of 5 hrs (fro m 8 am to 1 p m). For the first group of tests,
fig. 6 demonstrates the variation of water and air temperatures
at inlet and exit of the heat exchanger and humidifier,
respectively. Fro m the plot it can be noted that a maximu m
water temperature at heat exchanger inlet of about 57 ˚C is
recorded at 9 a.m, whereas, this temperature fluctuates around
45 ˚C for the last period of the test. This variation in heating
water temperature is limited due to the use of hot water
storage tank. The hot water accumulate the solar energy which
is variable with time and supply the regeneration unit with
water at an average temperature of 45 ˚C during the variation
of solar radiation. In this test, water stored in the tank was
heated in the day before the test and kept at higher temperature.
The temperature of water at exit of the heat exchanger nearly
follows that of the inlet water with a variable temperature
difference. One of the most important factors affecting the
regeneration process is the temperature of air at hu midifier
(regenerator) inlet. As shown in Fig. 6, it can be noted that the
heating process, to some extent, is carried out at nearly steady
state condition for the period fro m 9 am to 1 p m . The variation
in hot air temperature is limited to about 5 ˚C for this specific
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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 67

period. During this period of experiments the radiation

intensity on the surface of the solar collector extremely 14
increases until reaching its maximu m value at noon time. For
the second group of tests, the test results of an operation period 12
of 8 hrs (fro m 8 a m to 4 p m) for an in itial mass of solution of

Humidity ratio, g/kg

3.684 kg are plotted in Fig. 7. It can be noted that the 10
maximu m temperature is limited to 42 ˚C at 1 p m and the
variation in heating water temperature fro m 8 am to 16 p m is 8
limited to about 5 ˚C. The limited variation in the heating water
temperature, compared with the variation in radiation intensity
6
proofs the importance of the heat storage during the day time
Inlet humidity ratio of regeneration air
for more stable and steady operation of the
solar system when coupled with the desiccant regenerator. 4
Date: 11/10/2010
The heating air temperature increases from 30 ˚C at 9 to about Initial mass of solution =3.684 kg,
38 at the end of the test. This increase in heating temperature 2 Initial concentration =0.3
improves the operation of the regeneration system, where the Final concentration =0.48

desiccant concentration increases also with time and the 0

increase in heating temperature is essential to build the 8 10 12 14 16
required mass transfer potential to continue the regeneration Time, hr
process. Fig 8.demonstrates the humidity ratio of air at
regenerator exit, for the tests, with time. The fluctuation of the Fig. 8. Humidity ratio of air at regenerator exit
measured data is explained by the error in the humidity
measuring instruments. The solid line in Fig.8 is the humidity
ratio of the ambient air. At the end of regeneration process,
desiccant concentration is evaluated by measuring its
temperature and density and using the tables of thermo-
physical properties[18]. For a regeneration period of 5 hours,
solution concentration increases up to 38% as shown in Fig. 6.
Data presented in Fig. 7shows that the regeneration of solution
takes place for 8 hours and as a result, solution concentration
reaches 48% at the end of regeneration process.
Fig. 9.shows a comparison between the trained data of the
ANN model and the experimental data for all the output
variables with respect to the air in let temperature. Good
agreement is found between the trained data of the model and
the experimental measurements for the whole range of the air
inlet temperature.

16
Humidity ratio, g/kg

12
Fig. 9. ANN model training results.

CONCLUSIONS
8 Novel design of solar powered desiccant operated humidity
pump has been presented and analyzed. In the proposed design,
Inlet humidity ratio of regeneration air air hu mid ifiers are applied for dehumid ification of processed
4 air and regeneration of liquid desiccant. The effects of
Initial mass of solution =3.684 kg, meteorological conditions and system design parameters are
Initial concentration =0.3
well defined. Also, system efficiency is defined in terms of
operating cycle efficiency and system design parameters.
0
Effect of indoor and outdoor parameters on the required
32 36 40 44 48 52 56
Water inlet temperature,C regeneration temperature has been highlighted. The
appropriate selection of desiccant concentration at the end of

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 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:13 No:01 68

sorption has been discussed.Based on the obtained simulation [15] Hamed AM. Absorption–regeneration cycle for production of water from
air-theoretical approach. Renewable Energy Journal 19(2000) 625–35.
results, the following conclusions can be drawn: [16] A.S.Alosaimy and A.M Hamed, Theoretical and Experimental
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proportional to the humidity potential between the indoor and Humidifier for Regeneration of Liquid Desiccant. Energy 36 (2011)
outdoor conditions (temperature and humidity). 3992-4001.
[17] A. S. Alosaimy, A. M. Hamed, A. M. El-Kersh and A. A. Aly,
2- Experimental results show that CaCl2 solution with 30% Application Of Solar Energy For Air Conditioning In Humid Zones, Final
concentration can be regenerated up to 48% using solar energy. Report, Taif University, 2010.
3- Stability of heating temperature is important. The [18] E.Z. Zaetsev, G.G. Aseev, Physical-chemical properties of binary non-
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limits the variation in the heating temperature in a range of 5
oC in the specified experimental conditions. NOMENCLAT URES
4-Good agreement between the outputs from the ANN Ca Carnot factor, dimensionless
model and the corresponding results from the experimental Cp specific heat, J/kg.oC
measurements are found. It is also concluded that the proposed h enthalpy, J/kg
model can be successfully used for predicting the overall H total equivalent heat, W
performance of the system on the basis of experimental data L latent heat of evaporation of water, J/kg
collected for different system parts from the literature. m mass flow rate of evaporated water during
regeneration, kg/s
A CKNOWLEDGM ENTS M mass flow rate of desiccant kg/s
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial p vapour pressure, mmHg
support of the University of Taif, Saudi Arabia. q heat added to vapour, W
Q heat added, W
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