An improved indirect evaporative cooler experimental investigation. (15th December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Burhan, Muhammad; Ybyraiymkul, Doskhan; Oh, Seung Jin; Ng, Kim Choon
• Is Part Of: Applied energy. Volume 256(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-12-15
• Subjects: RAC room air conditioner -- AC air conditioning -- IEC indirect evaporative cooler -- COP coefficient of performance -- GCC gulf cooperation council -- EJ exajoule -- KSA Kingdom of Saudi Arabia -- TWh terawatt hour -- KWh kilowatt hour -- AHU air handling unit -- DH dehumidification -- OA outdoor air -- RH relative humidity; Indirect evaporative cooler -- Chiller efficiency -- Coefficient of performance -- Air-conditioning; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Energy conservation -- Periodicals; Energy conversion -- Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113934
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-2619

Abstract

Highlights: Decoupling of latent and sensible load in cooling is the key for sustainability. The indirect evaporative cooler integrated with dehumidification is one of the solution. Improved IEC with three major modification can achieve COP up to 78 for cooling only. The dehumidification system COP around 4–5 can help to achieve overall COP of 7–8. The proposed multi injection vertical heat exchanger design has the best performance. Abstract: Air conditioning has enhanced the work efficiency and improved life style by maintaining comfortable environment. The growing demand of air conditioning has negative impact on energy and environment. In 2015, air conditioning consumed 6% of total global electricity produced and it is expected to increase to 20% by 2050. The leveling-off conventional chiller's efficiency at 0.85 ± 0.03 kW/Rton due to pairing of dehumidification and cooling processes in one machine is not only the major reason of high energy consumption but also the key limitation in efficiency improvement. The de-coupling of dehumidification and cooling processes can be one of the solution to achieve the quantum jump in the performance, 0.6 ± 0.03 kW/Rton, by improving individual processes. We proposed an improved indirect evaporative cooler system for sensible cooling that can be combined with dehumidification processes to achieve sustainable cooling goals. The experimentation on 800 mm long and 280 mm wide generic cell showed that it can produce temperature differential up to 10 °C with small area of heat transfer. It was showed that the proposed vertical heat exchanger configuration with multi point injection of working air is the best configuration of the indirect evaporative cooler, achieving coefficient of performance level of 78 for cooling alone. We expect that overall coefficient of performance level of 7–8 is achievable by incorporating efficient dehumidification processes. We also presented detailed design parameters that can be used as a reference for commercial system design.