Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Experimental investigation on solid desiccant–vapor compression hybrid

air-conditioning system in hot and humid weather
D.B. Jani ⇑, Manish Mishra, P.K. Sahoo
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247667, India

h i g h l i g h t s

A solid desiccant–vapor compression hybrid air-cooling system is fabricated and tested.

System performance is studied for varying ambient temperature and humidity ratio.

Process air humidity reduces up to 61.7% while passing through desiccant dehumidifier.

Effect of various operating parameters on the system performance was studied in detail.

Effect of variations in outdoor conditions on dehumidifier performance is evaluated.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Solid desiccant–vapor compression hybrid air-conditioning systems are considered as promising alterna-
Received 10 December 2015 tive to the conventional air conditioning systems because of the independent control of temperature and
Revised 15 May 2016 humidity and being environment friendly. In the present work, performance study of solid desiccant
Accepted 17 May 2016
vapor compression hybrid air-conditioning system has been experimentally carried out for typical hot
Available online 18 May 2016
and humid weather of Roorkee. The overall system performance has also been evaluated for a cooling
season from March to mid of October on the basis of various outdoor conditions. It is found that the
Keywords:
hybrid cooling system highlights good performance in hot and humid climatic condition. The present sys-
COP
Dehumidification
tem has ensured 61.7% reduction in process air humidity ratio at the outlet of desiccant wheel as com-
Regeneration pared to outdoor humidity ratio. The effect of variations in outdoor temperature on dehumidifier
Solid desiccant wheel performance is also highlighted. The obtained results also show that the system performance is highly
sensitive to the change in outside ambient condition.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction humidity control which leads to improved indoor air quality,

Hybrid cooling systems are developed to combine two or more
cooling systems to improve the overall system performance during
the process of space cooling and make the system operation eco-
nomically feasible by use of low grade energy sources. The hybrid
cooling system combines a solid desiccant dehumidification sys-
tem with a conventional vapor-compression refrigeration air-
conditioning system. In solid desiccant–vapor compression refrig-
eration (VCR) hybrid air-conditioning system, the solid desiccant
dehumidification system is intended to remove latent load, while
the VCR air-conditioning system takes care of only the sensible
heat load only. Hence, it is an alternative air-conditioning system
which combines the merit of independent temperature and
⇑ Corresponding author. Mobile: +91 9428044640.
E-mail addresses: dbjani@rediffmail.com (D.B. Jani), mmishfme@iitr.ac.in
(M. Mishra), sahoofme@iitr.ac.in (P.K. Sahoo).
downsizing the cooling coil capacity, saving in operating cost and
substantially improved humidity control for high latent load condi-
tion. These systems also have the advantage of being powered by
waste heat or solar energy which can easily be obtained from
low grade or renewable energy sources.
Solid desiccant cooling systems have been studied earlier by
many researchers. One of the earliest comprehensive studies has
been carried out by Sheridan and Mitchell [1]. They simulated
the performance of the desiccant cooling system for hot and humid
climate and found considerable energy savings as compared to
conventional VCR cooling system. Worek and Moon [2] numeri-
cally modeled a hybrid air-conditioning system which integrates
the solid desiccant dehumidifier with traditional VCR cooling sys-
tem. The performance of hybrid cooling system was predicted by
use of simulations and compared the same with the conventional
VCR system and it is found to be better in a case when ambient

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.05.104
1359-4311/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564
Nomenclature
COP coefficient of performance
cp specific heat (kJ/kg K)
DBT dry bulb temperature (°C)
h specific enthalpy of air (kJ/kg)
Qth regeneration heat addition (kW)
Qcc cooling capacity (kW)
P pressure (Pa)
RH relative humidity (%)
SHR sensible heat ratio
T temperature (°C)
V volumetric flow rate (m3/h)
VCR vapor compression refrigeration
Wc compressor work input (kW)
Wf power consumption of fan (kW)
humidity is high [3]. Further, the same authors have carried out
experimental work on solid desiccant based hybrid air-
conditioning system [4]. It is shown that there is a significant
improvement in COP in case of desiccant based hybrid air-
conditioning system as compared to traditional HVAC systems
when the latent load is high. Dhar and Singh [5] simulated the per-
formance of four different hybrid air-conditioning cycles for typical
hot-dry and hot-humid climatic conditions based on analogy
method and found that in the solid desiccant based hybrid air-
conditioning systems the marginal energy savings can be obtained
when regeneration temperature is reduced from 135 °C to 80 °C,
but the energy consumption is found to be increased when regen-
eration temperature is reduced further from 80 °C to 60 °C because
supply air flow rate increases due to high latent load.
Jia et al. [6] experimentally tested a hybrid desiccant air-
conditioning system to control the humidity. It is found that the
sensible heat factor (SHF) of the evaporator cooling coil is
increased significantly, and so the most of evaporator surface of
the hybrid desiccant system is remained dry during the operating
period. Thus, subsequent reheat is avoided and the electric power
consumption of the hybrid desiccant system is reduced. Yong et al.
[7] experimented on a desiccant dehumidifier integrated VCR
hybrid air-conditioning system and suggested that the process
air flow rate and reactivation air temperature have greater influ-
ence on the performance of the system. A desiccant based air con-
ditioning system was designed and experimentally tested [8]. The
obtained results show that the hybrid system reduces electrical
energy consumption while improving the indoor air quality. The
moisture content of the ventilated fresh air was reduced first by
passing it through a rotary dehumidifier and then its temperature
was brought to the desired comfort room temperature by passing
it over the dry cooling coil of VCR evaporator. To enhance the per-
formance of the hybrid system further, some techniques such as
pre-cooling with outdoor air, waste cool recovery, pre-cooling of
waste air with evaporative cooling and pre-heating the regenera-
tion air with exhaust air were utilized by them.
In some of the latest studies, Zeng et al. [9] numerically ana-
lyzed solar assisted hybrid one-rotor two-stage desiccant cooling
system. The obtained results were validated with experimental
data. Year round system performance was simulated using the
TRNSYS. It is shown that about 60% of humidity load can be effec-
tively handled by one rotor two stage desiccant cooling unit. Two-
stage rotary desiccant cooling system was experimentally analyzed
[10]. It is shown that the two stage desiccant cooling system can be
effectively driven by lower regeneration temperature 50–90 °C as
compared to one stage desiccant cooling system. The two stage
557
Woth power consumption of other equipments such as desic-
cant and heat wheel motor.
Greek letters
x humidity ratio (g/kg)
e effectiveness
q density (kg/m3)
Dp pressure drop (Pa)
Subscripts
dw desiccant wheel
hrw heat recovery wheel
p process air
r regeneration air
system can obtain better performance in terms of cooling power
and COP. Desiccant assisted hybrid air–water conditioning system
was simulated in HAMLAB using the TMY2 data set for a mixed
humid climate [11]. Sheng et al. [12] investigated the performance
of hybrid desiccant cooling system coupled to heat pump system. It
is found that the hybrid system requires lower temperature of heat
source for regenerating the desiccant wheel. Moreover, the
integrated heat pump and desiccant system can provide effective
control of humidity and simultaneously improves energy effi-
ciency. Suitability of the solid desiccant cooling to supplement
the traditional VCR system was studied for hot and humid climate
[13–17]. It is found that the substantial reduction in the size of the
conventional vapor compression unit by effective reduction in the
humidity ratio of incoming process air for the same capacity.
A numerical study of solid desiccant assisted evaporative air
conditioning system has been carried out by Pandelidis et al.
[18]. The different arrangement of the air conditioning system
has also been compared under different operating conditions such
as an inlet air temperature, humidity ratio and regeneration air
temperature. Further, the different configurations of desiccant
cooling system have also been studied [19] and the results
obtained by numerical study have been validated by the experi-
mental results. Thermal analysis of desiccant assisted evaporative
cooling system was carried out [20] for vehicular air conditioning.
Moreover, the effect of desiccant wheel on the performance of
evaporative cooling was also investigated in terms of desiccant
material and regeneration air temperature. The experimental tests
on hybrid desiccant cooling system were conducted by Ahn et al.
[21] for a typical residential environment. The performance
changes in relation to outdoor conditions were observed by them.
It is shown that energy consumption was affected less by the out-
door condition when ambient humidity is low. Solid desiccant
cooling system is simulated using TRNSYS [22]. The results show
that the solid desiccant cooling system saves 40% energy as com-
pared to conventional VCR system. Desiccant integrated geother-
mal cooling system was simulated using TRNSYS [23]. The
obtained results show that the use of desiccant wheel in the hybrid
system can increases the saving in primary energy from 77% to 95%
and pay-back period decreases from 14 years to 1.2 years,
respectively.
Based on the literature survey, it is found that very little work
had been done on detailed experimental analysis regarding effects
of different operating parameters on the hybrid solid desiccant
cooling system performance. Most of the earlier studies had been
carried out either with the help of simulations or experimental
work for European mild climate. This provided the prima
558 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564
motivation behind doing the present experimental study on solid
desiccant and vapor compression hybrid air-conditioning system.
To the best of authors’ knowledge, none of the earlier study of solid
desiccant cooling system, have a detailed experimentation on
hybrid cooling system which integrates rotary desiccant dehumid-
ifier and air to air sensible heat recovery wheel to the traditional
vapor compression air-conditioner for typical hot and humid North
Indian Himalayan climate (Roorkee). In the present work, numbers
of experiments have been carried out to determine the overall per-
formance of the hybrid air conditioning system during cooling per-
iod of March to October mid for hot and humid climate. Moreover,
the influence of variations in ambient condition on overall system
performance has been discussed in detail. The experimentation
covers the impact of operating parameters such as flow rate, pres-
sure drop etc. on system performance. Results show that the sys-
tem performance is highly influenced by the changing outdoor
condition. The variation in regeneration temperature based on out-
door condition has also been depicted. The effect of variations in
outdoor conditions on dehumidifier performance has also been
studied in detailed.
2. Description of the system
A test room having dimensions 3 m  3 m  3 m has been
selected for the study. The sensible and latent cooling loads are
1.37 kW and 0.39 kW respectively [24]. Sensible heat ratio (SHR)
is calculated as 0.78. Flow rates of process air stream and regener-
ation air stream are measured as 360 m3/h and 122.5 m3/h respec-
tively. The indoor comfort condition is taken as 50% RH and 26 °C
DBT [25].
The schematic diagram of solid desiccant vapor–compression
hybrid air-conditioning system and the photographic view of the
experimental set up has been illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 respec-
tively. The moisture of return room air (state 1) in process air side
is significantly adsorbed while passing through the rotating desic-
cant wheel and becomes hotter and drier at the exit of the wheel
Reactivation air
T,RH,V T,RH +
Exhaust 9 8
air
Electric heater
Exhaust fan
T,RH,V,P T,RH,P
1 2
Desiccant wheel
Process air
Return air
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of solid desiccant–VCR hybrid air-conditioning system.
(state 2). Sensible cooling of this air steam is carried out in air-
to-air sensible heat recovery wheel during state 2 to state 3 while
pre-heating the ambient air at the same time in reactivation side.
This would result into saving of useful energy while heating this
reactivation air in heater to obtain required regeneration tempera-
ture necessary for desorption of desiccant material. Between state
3 and 4, the air is further cooled further by passing over evaporator
coil of VCR air conditioning unit and supplied to the conditioned
space then after.
In the reactivation air side, ambient air is slightly pre-heated
from state 6 to state 7 while passing through the heat recovery
wheel by pre-cooling the supply air in process air side. This pre-
heated air is further heated up to state point 8 i.e. up to the regen-
eration temperature necessary for desorption of desiccant material
by an external regeneration heat source. After regenerating the
desiccant wheel, the air is finally exhausted to atmosphere at state
point 9.
The positions of various measuring instruments for simultane-
ous measurement of dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, flow,
pressure etc. within the system have been shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
As it is a recirculation mode, the small amount of ventilated
fresh air is provided to the test room occupants by incorporating
the DOR (door opening rate) while calculating the infiltration cool-
ing load by HLF method. Operation in recirculation mode keeps
away the unpleasant outdoor dust particles and improves the cool-
ing output with better energy efficiency. The problem with recircu-
lation mode is successive increase in the humidity level inside the
room and of course regarding the purity of air. However, this is the
first phase of the study. In the next phase, ventilation mode will be
considered and the comparison between ventilation and recircula-
tion modes will be explored in terms of COP.
Desiccant wheel is one of the most important components of
the solid desiccant VCR hybrid air-conditioning system. A desiccant
wheel driving system consists of an electromotor, a wheel disk and
a belt used to rotate the desiccant wheel. Physical parameters of
the desiccant wheel used in the current study are shown in Table 1.
_ T,RH T,RH
T,RH,P,V
7 6
Ambient air T
E
Conditioned air
T,RH,P VCR sensible S
cooling coil
T
4 5
3
R
O
Supply
EV
Heat recovery wheel fan O
Compressor M
Condenser
 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564 559

D
C
5
E F
H G
I

K 3 4 Conditioned air supply

J
G G By pass line
Exhaust air out
G 9 Process air in
1
7
8
I 2 I H
Ambient
air in I L
A
B
6

A- Dehumidifier unit E- Data scanner I- Pressure transmitter

B- Heat recovery wheel F- Test room J- Bypass flow control
C- VCR cooling coil G- Temp. & RH transmitter K- Energy meter
D- Outdoor unit H- Velocity transmitter L- Humidistat

Fig. 2. Photographic view of the experimental set-up.

Table 1 any risk of overheating. Tubular type heater of 1.8 kW capacity is

Physical parameters of desiccant wheel. used for heating the regenerating air. Electric heater reactivation
Sr. No. Parameter Value control incorporates both the reactivation flow switch (differential
1 Diameter 360 mm
pressure switch) as well as high temperature limit (thermostat).
2 Width 100 mm The regeneration temperature in range of 80–140 °C has been con-
3 Desiccant material Synthesized metal trolled by controlling the electric heater used in dehumidifier unit
silicate via heater thermostat temperature settings. The AC system can be
4 Desorption temperature desiccant 80–140 °C
switched off when room thermostat controls the operation of VCR
material
5 Channel shape Sinusoidal unit via relay when the comfort room temperature 26 °C is
6 Flow pattern inside the channels Laminar flow obtained while the dehumidifier unit may still working to achieve
7 Ratio of adsorption area and desorption 3:1 the required comfort humidity level (50% RH) in room. Scanner
area used in the system can be controlled by PID controller. Bypass is
8 Rotational speed 20 rph
9 Drive 230V/AC/50 Hz
used when room humidistat put off the dehumidifier circuit when
room air relative humidity is obtained 50% while VCR unit may still
working to achieve the comfort temperature of room. The volume
flow rates of the process air as well as the regeneration air can be
controlled separately by flow setting knobs provided in the dehu-
3. Measurements midifier unit. So, the dehumidifier unit and the VCR unit work
independently to achieve the required thermal comfort in the
Experiments are carried out by simultaneous measurements of room. The measurements were carried out once the temperature
temperature, relative humidity, pressure and flow rate using vijeo and humidity of the system attain steady state condition.
citect 7.30 – Schneider electric data acquisition software. Measure-
ment of temperature and relative humidity are carried out by a
Retronic Hygroflex HF 320 multifunctional digital transmitter. 4. Performance parameters
Pressure drop across desiccant wheel, heat wheel and cooling coil
is measure by using a KIMO CP 100 differential pressure transmit- Following calculations are performed to determine overall sys-
ter. The air flow rate is measured by using a KIMO CTV100 velocity tem performance and effectiveness of the desiccant and heat
transmitter. Flow averaging is used as it compensates for humidity recovery wheels. The coefficient of performance [15] of the system
and temperature profiles within the air streams. Energy meter can be expressed as follows
made of Indotech ITE-116 is used to measure the electrical power Q cc
consumption of the system. Johnson SPDT W42AA humidistat is COP ¼ ð1Þ
Q th þ W c þ W f þ W oth
fitted inside the test room to control the dehumidifier operation
according to humidity change. Subzero SZ-7569-E temperature where Qcc is the required cooling capacity of the system [12] and is
controller with 10/20A relay is also fitted inside the test room to calculated by
control the operation of compressor of VCR system according to
Q cc ¼ qcp V p ðh1  h4 Þ ð2Þ
the room temperature variation. Masibus-85XX micro-controller
based scanner along with a control panel is used to control and Energy input for regeneration, [12] Qth is determined by
operate the system. If either the process air or regeneration air
Q th ¼ qcp V r ðh8  h7 Þ ð3Þ
fan stops working, the control system automatically shuts off the
heating process to save the rotary desiccant dehumidifier against The effectiveness of desiccant wheel [26] can be expressed by
560 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564

x1  x2
edw ¼
x1
Similarly, the effectiveness of heat recovery wheel [27] can be
obtained by assuming constant mass flow rate for the two air
streams flowing across it. It is given as
T2  T3
ehrw ¼
T2  T6
5. Uncertainty analysis
Accurate measurement of physical quantities is very difficult.
Uncertainties in measuring any physical quantity are always pre-
sent due to instrumental, physical and human inadequacies [28].
Uncertainty analysis is the procedure employed to assess the
uncertainty from measured variables with known values of uncer-
tainties. Important parameters for the present experimental
scheme are measured variables like temperature, relative humid-
ity, flow rate etc. Each of these quantities has a measurement error
because of the least count or the accuracies defined for each mea-
suring device. For the calculation of uncertainty [29], the root of
the sum square is used in this study and can be expressed as
"
2
2
2 #12
@R @R @R
wR ¼ w1 þ w2 þ ... þ wn
@x1 @x2 @xn
where R is a given function of the independent variables x1, x2 . . ., xn
and w1, w2, . . ., wn are the uncertainties in the corresponding vari-
ables. The inaccuracies in measurement of temperature, relative
humidity, flow rate, pressure and electric power are ±0.3 K @
296 K, ±2.0%, ±3.0%, ±1.5% and ±2.0% respectively. The uncertainties
for the deducted quantities such as dehumidifier effectiveness and
humidity ratio is calculated as 10.8% and 9.7%, respectively. The
total uncertainty associated with the coefficient of performance is
found to be ±14.63%.
6. Results and discussion
Fig. 3 shows comparison between the current study and the
experimental results by Sheng et al. [30]. It also depicts the influ-
ence of variation in ambient air temperatures on performance of
the system. The COP of the system slightly rises with the small
increment in ambient air temperature as observed from the behav-
ior. This is due to the fact that with the increase in ambient air
temperature, reactivation air gets pre-heated to a higher tempera-
ture in heat recovery wheel (state point 7 in Fig. 1), before it is
brought to the regeneration heater. This further increases the
temperature of regeneration air and hence more moisture from
desiccant medium is removed i.e. better desorption of desiccant
wheel. Thus, the COP of system rises as per Eqs. (2) and (3)
ð4Þ discussed above. The result has been compared with an experi-
mental result of Sheng et al. [30] for the known parameter and
the behavior shows a reasonably good match. Though, the present
system have found better performance and the reason for the same
is incorporation of air to air sensible heat recovery wheel in
present case which is not used in case of Sheng et al. [30] that
ð5Þ pre-heats the regeneration air by pre-cooling the supply air saves
considerable energy.
Fig. 4 shows variation in dehumidifier effectiveness with
changes in ambient relative humidity at different ambient temper-
atures. It has been observed that increase in ambient relative
humidity leads to higher desiccant wheel effectiveness. This is
because as the process air inlet humidity ratio of desiccant wheel
increases due to higher indoor relative humidity, in presence of
higher water vapor content in the process air, there is a major
difference of vapor partial pressure between process air and the
desiccant felt leads to higher diffusion of the water vapor droplets
from process air to the desiccant material surface. Thus, increase in
humidity ratio of process air inlet of desiccant wheel due to higher
indoor relative humidity causes increase in moisture cycled and
increases the dehumidifier effectiveness. Moreover, as dehumidi-
fier process air inlet temperature increases, partial pressure of
water vapor in it gets decreases. At constant regeneration temper-
ature, this decreases the difference in partial pressure between hot
matrix and moist air flowing through dehumidifier. So, the equilib-
ð6Þ
rium properties of the desiccant are more favorable for lower tem-
peratures. Since the moisture attraction by the desiccant material
from the process air is based on the difference in vapor pressure
between desiccant material surface in channel and moist air
flowing through it, the moisture removal rate and ultimately the
effectiveness of the dehumidifier gets reduced. Since the adsorp-
tion process inside dehumidifier is exothermic hence it is favoured
by low temperature of moist process air for higher effectiveness of
dehumidifier.
Fig. 5 depicts the effect of variation in ambient air temperature
on process air outlet temperature of desiccant wheel (state 2) at
various humidity ratios. This can be attributed to the fact that a
higher ambient temperature causes a higher regeneration temper-
ature and which leads to increased removal of the moisture from
desiccant wheel during regeneration phase. Similarly, during dehu-
midification process, the desiccant could adsorb more vapor from
the process air, resulting into the hot and less humid air outlet
due to higher regeneration temperature. It has been found that
when ambient temperature increases above 32.2 °C, the process
air temperature at exit of dehumidifier increases steeply.
0.9
Tamb = 32 °C
0.8 Tamb = 30 °C
Tamb = 28 °C

0.7

5
εdw

Sheng et al. [30] 0.6

4 Current study
0.5
3
COP

2 0.4

1
0.3
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Ambient relative humidity (%)
Ambient air temperature (oC)
Fig. 4. Effect of variations in ambient relative humidity on dehumidifier effective-
Fig. 3. Validation of the current results with the experimental results [30]. ness at different outdoor temperatures.
 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564 561

66 12

ω = 18.5 ω = 16
64 ω = 16 ω = 18.5
Process air outlet temperature of

11

Supply air temperature (oC)

ω = 20 ω = 20
desiccant wheel (oC)

62

10
60

58
9

56
8
54

52 7
27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
o
Ambient air temperature ( C) Ambient air temperature (oC)
Fig. 5. Effect of variation in ambient air temperature on process air outlet Fig. 7. Effect of variation in ambient air temperature on supply air temperature at
temperature of desiccant wheel at different humidity ratios. different humidity ratios.

11 132
Process air outlet humidity ratio of

Regeneration air temperature (oC)

Tr= 80 oC Vp = 360 m 3/hr
10 Tr= 100 oC 130
Vp = 320 m 3/hr
desiccant wheel (g/kg)

Tr= 120 oC
Vp = 270 m 3/hr
9 128

8 126

7 124

122
6
28 29 30 31 32 27.5 28.0 28.5 29.0 29.5 30.0 30.5 31.0 31.5

Ambient temperature (oC) Ambient air temperature (oC)

Fig. 6. Effect of variation in ambient air temperature on process air outlet humidity Fig. 8. Effect of variation in ambient air temperature on regeneration air temper-
ratio of desiccant wheel at different regeneration temperature. ature at different air flow rates.

48
Fig. 6 shows variation in process air outlet humidity ratio of
desiccant wheel at different regeneration temperatures. As 46
observed from the behavior, it has been found that increase in
44
ambient temperatures leads to higher process air outlet humidity
ratio of desiccant wheel. This is due to the fact that at lower regen- 42
eration air temperature (80 °C), higher temperature of moist pro-
40
cess air at inlet of desiccant wheel leads to smaller difference of
ΔP (Pa)

temperature between the desiccant material and process air which 38

leads to poor adsorption. Though, on increasing regeneration tem-
36
perature (up to 120 °C) the temperature difference between desic-
cant matrix and moist process air enhances which ameliorate 34
adsorption leads to higher desiccant wheel effectiveness and ulti-
mately lower process air outlet humidity ratio of desiccant wheel. 32
Fig. 7 illustrates the effect of variation in ambient air tempera- 30
ture on room supply air temperature at different humidity ratios.
As ambient air temperature increases, the temperature of the pro- 28
240 260 280 300 320 340 360
cess air stream flowing over conventional VCR evaporator cooling
coil also increases. This is because at higher ambient temperature Process air flow rate (m3/hr)
desorption process occurring at higher temperature give rise to Fig. 9. Effect of variation in process air flow rate on dehumidifier pressure drop.
the dehumidifier outlet temperature by conveying that excess heat
to process air side. Due to the rise in inlet temperature of process
air as well as regeneration air at heat recovery wheel, sensible heat Fig. 8 depicts the effect of variation in ambient air temperature
exchange gets lowered. This is finally resulted to rise in supply air on regeneration temperature at different air flow rates. It shows
temperature as shown in Fig. 7. that when ambient temperature and so flow rate simultaneously
562 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564

Process air flow VCR cooling coil inlet Temp.

Room supply air flow VCR cooling coil outlet Temp.
Dehumidifier process air inlet Temp. VCR cooling coil outlet RH
Dehumidifier process air outlet Temp. VCR cooling coil inlet RH
1000 100

750 75

Temperature (°C), RH (%)

Volume flow rate (m3/hr)

500 50

250 25

0 0
13:00 15:45 16:30 18:15 20:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 10. Variation in flow rate, temperature and relative humidity with time at different state points of the cycle.

Dehumidifier inlet pressure VCR cooling coil inlet pressure

Dehumidifier outlet pressure VCR cooling coil outlet pressure
Dehumidifier inlet RH
Dehumidifier outlet RH
100
+25

+12.5 75
Pressure (Pa)

RH (%)

0 50

-12.5 25

-25 0
13:00 15:45 16:30 18:15 20:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 11. Variation in pressure and relative humidity with time at different state points of the cycle.

Table 2
increases regeneration air temperature tends to decreases. This is Typical experimental measurements at different state points in the cycle.
due to fact that the higher the ambient temperature, the higher
the required flow rate of air. It is observed from the behavior that Sr. No. Temperature (°C) Humidity ratio (g/kg dry air)

the rate of rise in regeneration temperature decreases successively 1 25.9 12.1

with amelioration of ambient temperature due to increasing flow 2 54.2 7.1
3 42.1 7.9
rate of air. Thus, the adoption of higher regeneration temperature
4 8.9 7.4
may lead to a respective decrease of the required flow rate for 5 26 10.5
the system which may lead to the higher performance of the 6 28 18.5
system. 7 39.2 17.1
8 83.2 17
The influence of increment in process air volumetric flow rate
9 47.6 21.30
on the pressure drop of process air across dehumidifier is shown
in Fig. 9. As seen from the behavior, pressure drop of process air
across the dehumidifier increases with an increase in process air flow rate through the cabinet and ducting, the wheel matrices bear
volumetric flow rate, which is obvious too. Apart from the higher the major share due to the restricted air passage because of excess
 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564 563

110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230
100 40
100% 60% 40% 20% 10% 5%
Sheng et al. [30] 80% 38
90 Current study 36
34
80 32
30
70 28

Humidity ratio (g/kg)

Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
26
60 24
9
F 22
50 D
E 20
1% 18
40 6 7 16
8
1 14
30 12
A B 10
20
8
10 4 C 3 2 6
4
0 2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Dry bulb temperature (°C)

Fig. 12. Comparison between current study and experimental results of Sheng et al. [30].

desiccant or compressed flutes. Introducing inlet air too close to
the wheel or at an odd angle through too small a duct can cause
blow through. It starves some portions of the wheel, and raises
flute velocities in others for a net negative effect on performance.
Other possible reasons may also include air leakage from the sur-
roundings due to the negative pressure in the chamber and air
leakage around brush seals in the desiccant wheel. Therefore, des-
iccant wheel pressure drop is an important factor that degrades the
system performance by augmenting the overall energy consump-
tion and its characteristics should further be explored.
The variation in temperature, relative humidity, flow rate
(Fig. 10) and pressure (Fig. 11) at important state points of the
cycle during 13:00 h to 20:00 h of a specific day (11th Oct-2014)
has been shown. The figures show how a particular parameter
varies during a typical day in cooling process. At the same time,
variation of one parameter with respected to the other parameters
can also be observed. Based on this, system performance at any
particular time instant can be predicted. There are different vary-
ing degrees in lines or interruptions are found due to the start
and stop of control on achieving the desired room comfort condi-
tions. This can further be used in deciding the control strategy of
individual parameters. Moreover, The process air flow is some-
times different to room supply air flow due to the shutdown of
VCR cooling coil or may be due to shut down of dehumidifier
and heat recovery wheel by opening of by pass as the operation
automatically controlled by either the thermostat or humidistat
respectively. All the measurements were carried out once the tem-
perature and humidity of the system attain steady state condition.
The obtained data were also used to analyze the effect of various
operating parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, flow,
pressure etc. on system performance. It is observed from the
behavior that with rise in indoor temperature, the process air tem-
perature at the inlet and the outlet of the dehumidifier both
increase. While with rise in indoor relative humidity, the process
air relative humidity at the inlet and the outlet of desiccant wheel
both increase. Similarly, the effects of higher temperature and rel-
ative humidity of indoor air have also been observed on process air
inlet and outlet of heat recovery wheel as well as VCR cooling coil
of evaporator.
The overall behavior of the system in terms of dry bulb temper-
ature and humidity ratio of air at different state points in the cycle
has been presented in Table 2. Based on the data, different pro-
cesses of a recirculation type solid desiccant–VCR hybrid air-
conditioning system have been plotted in a psychrometric chart
(Fig. 12) showing different state points. It depicts the behavior of
the process air and the regeneration air. It also shows the compar-
ison between current study and experimental results of Sheng at
al. [30]. Both the results are found in good agreement for the pro-
cess air side while for the regeneration air side deviation is found
between the two at regeneration air state. This is because; Sheng
et al. [30] have utilized the condenser exhaust heat for the regen-
eration of desiccant wheel which is available at comparatively low
temperature around 63 °C.
The deviations have been found in mass and energy balance
between process and regeneration side of the dehumidifier.
Fig. 12 illustrates the measured desiccant dehumidification process
on a psychrometric chart. It can be seen that the dehumidification
process is not really adiabatic. This is due to the fact that the heat
and mass transferred from the regeneration side to the process
side. It can also be found that during the process of pre cooling
of the process air as well as the pre heating of regeneration air
while passing through the heat recovery wheel, the humidity ratio
of air changes slightly, due to a minimum leakage of air into the air
passage.
7. Conclusion
Solid desiccant–vapor compression hybrid air-conditioning sys-
tem seems to be a favorable option as compared to a traditional
vapor compression air conditioning system under typical hot and
humid conditions by handling the sensible and latent cooling loads
separately and effectively. It is found that the system can achieve a
good performance in hot and humid climatic conditions due to sig-
nificant reduction in the humidity ratio of the process air from 18.5
(g/kg dry air) to 7.10 (g/kg dry air) when it passes through the
rotary desiccant dehumidifier. So, the use of desiccant dehumidi-
fier in hybrid cooling system reduces latent load significantly
which rules out the requirement of low dew point temperature
of evaporator cooling coil and subsequent reheating. Results show
that the system performance is highly influenced by the changing
to the outdoor conditions. Moreover, the proper selection of the air
streams flow rate also plays a key role to the amelioration of the
system performance by affecting the pressure drop across the
564 D.B. Jani et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 104 (2016) 556–564
dehumidifier. It is also discussed that the dehumidifier perfor-
mance gets affected with changes in either the outdoor conditions
or the regeneration temperature. Due to high dependency of the
system performance on outdoor environmental conditions, further
investigations are needed in different climatic zones for a complete
assessment of system feasibility. Its potential contribution in
improving the indoor air quality as well as environmental protec-
tion makes it attractive especially when depletion of energy
resources concerns worldwide. The performance of the system
can be augmented further by coupling it with some free form of
available energy resources such as solar energy or waste heat for
regenerating the desiccant wheel.
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D.B. Jani is an Associate Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering at
Government Engineering College, Dahod, Gujarat, India. At present he is pursuing
PhD in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology, Roorkee. His area of research is solid desiccant cooling.
Manish Mishra received his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in
2004. Presently, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He has a number of
papers to his credit in the area of design, optimization and dynamic behaviour of
heat exchangers.
P.K. Sahoo received PhD (Cryogenic Engineering) from Indian Institute of Tech-
nology, Kharagpur in 1996. Presently, he is Professor in the Department of
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He
has a number of papers to his credit in the area of Refrigeration and Air-
conditioning (Particularly use of solar energy and other low grade energy for air
conditioning), Thermodynamics, Thermo-economics (Exergy analysis; economic
analysis; evaluation and optimization of thermal systems).