A Review of Desiccant Cooling

D. G. Waugaman
Systems
A. Kini This paper describes recent published design advances that have been made in
desiccant cooling systems. In desiccant cooling cycles, the desiccant reduces the
humidity of the air by removing moisture from the air. Then the temperature is
C. F. Kettleborough reduced by other components such as heat exchangers, evaporative coolers, or
conventional cooling coils. The main advantage that desiccant cooling systems offer
Departments of Mechanical Engineering is the capability of using low-grade thermal energy. Desiccant cooling systems for
and Engineering Technology, residential and commercial applications are now being used to reduce energy-op-
Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX 77843
erating costs. However, the initial costs are comparatively high. The focus of research
for the past decade has been to develop desiccant systems with a high coefficient
of performance. Recent studies have emphasized computer modeling and hybrid
systems that combine desiccant dehumidifiers with conventional systems.

Introduction
Almost all materials have the capacity to adsorb and hold sumption of fossil fuels. The electrical energy requirement can
water vapor, but commercial desiccants have significant ca- be less than 25 percent of conventional refrigeration systems.
pacity for holding the water. A commercial desiccant takes up The source of thermal energy can be diverse (i.e., solar, waste
between lOand 1100 percent (ASHRAE, 1989)of its dry weight heat, natural gas).
in water vapor, depending on its type and moisture available 3 Indoor air quality is improved due to the higher venti-
in the environment. Desiccants remove moisture from the sur- lation rates and the capability of desiccants to remove airborne
rounding air until they reach equilibrium with it. This moisture pollutants (Kettleborough, 1986).
can be removed from the desiccant by heating it to temperatures 4 Since desiccant systems operate near atmospheric pres-
between 50 and 260 °C and exposing it to a scavenging air sure, maintenance and construction are simplified.
stream. The desiccant is then cooled so that it can adsorb 5 Desiccant cooling systems can eliminate the need for a
moisture again. The transfer of moisture is due to the difference separate furnace for space heating in the winter season.
in vapor pressure at the desiccant surface and that of the
surrounding air. When the vapor pressure at the desiccant The thermal coefficient of performance (COP) is commonly
surface is less than that of air, the desiccant attracts moisture used to compare system performance. However, parasitic elec-
and releases it when its vapor pressure is greater than that of trical energy requirements can offset gains made in the thermal
air. COP and should be considered in making comparisons. Also,
the definition of the thermal COP varies with systems discussed
Desiccant cooling systems are particularly useful when the
in this paper. Some investigators use the space-cooling load
latent load is large in comparison to the sensible load. Des-
divided by the thermal energy required to regenerate the des-
iccants also can remove contaminants from airstreams to im-
iccant. Others use the heat removed from the process airstream
prove indoor air quality (Relwani, 1986). A thermal energy
divided by the thermal energy required to regenerate the des-
input is used to regenerate the desiccant. Regeneration energy
iccant. Some investigators use standard ARI (American Re-
is equal to the heat necessary to raise the temperature of the
frigeration Institute) indoor and outdoor conditions (80°F, 50
desiccant to make its surface vapor pressure higher than the
percent relative humidity, and 95°F, 40 percent relative hu-
surrounding air plus the heat necessary to vaporize the moisture
midity, respectively). Unless stated otherwise, COP values
that it contains. A small amount of energy also goes into
quoted in this paper are for standard ARI conditions.
desorption of the water from the desiccant.
The major advantages of desiccant cooling are:
Open-Cycle Solid Desiccant Systems
1 Only air and water are required as working fluids. Fluo- Pennington patented the first, and probably the most stud-
rocarbons are not required; thus, there is no impact on the ied, desiccant cooling cycle in 1955. Commonly called the
ozone layer. "ventilation" cycle (Fig. 1), it takes ambient air into a rotating
2 Significant potential for energy savings and reduced con- desiccant dehumidifier where moisture is adsorbed. The tem-
perature increases because of the energy released during the
adsorption process. The air is then sensibly cooled and evap-
Contributed by the Petroleum Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF oratively cooled and introduced into the conditioned space.
ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received by the Petroleum Di-
vision, March 15, 1991; revised manuscript received June 22, 1992. Associate The air exiting the room is first evaporatively cooled, then
Technical Editor: A. Ertas. passed through the sensible heat exchanger where it recovers

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 Exhaust
7

2 1

Heat it
Exchanger 1 ii Ambient

25.00 - 9
Fig. 2 Recirculation cycle
SATURAT10N

20.00 ~ /
1

;
15.00 -_ ' i
7 \ B

\ I \ \

10.00 ;
, V \

5.00 :
^\3 \ 2

:
0.00
40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00
TEMPERATURE (C)
Heat Heat
Fig. 1 Pennington cycle Exchanger Exchanger

Fig. 3 SENS cycle

heat of adsorption from the supply air. Next it is heated with
low-grade thermal energy and the hot air is used to regenerate
the desiccant. COP values of about 0.8-1.0 are commonly
predicted for this cycle (Kettleborough, 1986; Lof, Cler, Bris-
bane, 1986). Tecogen Inc. is developing laboratory prototypes
of 3-5-ton desiccant cooling systems based on the Pennington
cycle and propose to achieve an ARI COP of 1.0 (Cohen,
1989).
Schultz (1987) investigated a desiccant dehumidifier in a
system operating in the ventilation mode. In this system, the
dehumidifier is regenerated by direct absorption of solar ra-
diation. This system was found to have a COP less than the
conventional systems in which regeneration is normally
achieved by passing hot air through the dehumidifier and drying
it.
One early variation of the Pennington cycle was the "re-
circulation" cycle (Fig. 2). The difference is that the air from
the conditioned space is recirculated through the dehumidifier Fig. 4 DINC cycle
and other components. Ambient air is used for regeneration
and then exhausted to the atmosphere. COP values of 0.8 and
less, at ARI, conditions are commonly predicted for this cycle. coil is supplied to the cooling tower from which it is discharged
Several modifications of these cycles have been proposed to the atmosphere and the rest is supplied to the building
that suggest higher COP values can be achieved by modifying conditioned space. On the desorption (regeneration) side, out-
the cycle. One important modification was proposed by Ma- door air is passed through the heat exchanger. Next, it is heated
claine-cross (1974). This system is called the simplified ad- using solar energy and finally passed through the desiccant
vanced solid desiccant (SENS) cycle. COP values of above 2.0 wheel where the desiccant is regenerated. The regenerator tem-
have been predicted using ideal components. This cycle has peratures were about 50-70 °C for the impregnated lithium
been tested at the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory chloride wheel. An auxiliary boiler provides heat if necessary.
(SEAL) at Colorado State University (Lof, Appleyard, 1988). Testing at SEAL produced COP values of about 2.45 at 26 °C
The schematic of the SENS cycle is shown in Fig. 3. In this ambient and 26 percent relative humidity.
cycle, ambient air is first dehumidified in a rotating desiccant Texas A&M researchers have proposed the direct-indirect
wheel, then cooled in the rotating heat exchanger. It is then evaporative cooling (DINC) cycle (Waugaman, Kettleborough,
mixed with air recirculated from the building and passed 1987). It replaces one direct evaporative cooler at the Pen-
through a finned-coil heat exchanger supplied with cold water nington cycle with an indirect evaporative cooler and redirects
from a small cooling tower. Some cooled air from the finned the flows (Fig. 4). This cycle is simpler than the SENS cycle

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 and COP values of over 1.6 have been predicted for this cycle
at ARI conditions.
The major energy inputs to the cycle are thermal energy to
heat the regenerative air and mechanical energy to run the
fans. The performance of a dehumidifier depends on its ge-
ometry and choice of the desiccant materials. The geometry
of the dehumidifier affects its pressure drop, size and cost as
well as the performance and cooling capacity. Ideally, an op-
timum combination of the desiccant material and the dehu-
midifier geometries provides high-efficiency and low-cost de-
humidifiers. Some researchers have proposed the addition of
inert heat capacity to the desiccant to improve system per-
formance (Grolmes, 1981).
Collier and Cohen (1988) have been working on a staged
regeneration idea to regenerate low-heat-capacity desiccant
beds. In this process only a fraction of the regeneration air
stream is heated to the maximum regeneration temperature.
Thus, the regeneration occurs in two stages: the first stage
regenerates with a portion of the air exiting from the sensible
heat exchanger, with no additional heating; and the second
stage regenerates with the remainder of the air exiting the
sensible heat exchanger, with additional heating. The temper-
ature of this air will be at the desired regeneration temperature
that will sustain the dehumidification side of the cycle. They
have used computer simulations to model desiccant cooling
systems and have shown that the staged regeneration idea is
superior to adding inert heat capacity to the desiccant matrix.
They have predicted a COP of around 1.1 for a Pennington
cycle using the staged regeneration process. Staged regenera-
tion was shown to improve performance levels and significant
increases in cooling capacity and overall system efficiency is Fig. 5 Zeolite heat pump (reproduced from Tchernev, 1989)
projected (Collier et al., 1990b).
Enerscope Inc. with the Gas Research Institute (GRI) is
studying methods for reducing the first cost of the dehumidifier is under development with support from the Gas Research
and the sensible heat exchanger (Collier, 1990a). Computer Institute in Chicago. A simple schematic of the system is shown
simulations have shown that by unbalancing and stratifying in Fig. 5 (Hajji, 1989). This system uses vaporization and
the heat exchanger, high efficiency and cooling capacity can condensation of water within evaporator/condenser containers
be achieved with low-effectiveness heat exchangers. Also, the 1 and 2, to exchange heat with chilled water circulated to the
required size of the desiccant wheel can be reduced by a factor cooled space. Oil is used to cool and heat the desiccant (zeolite)
of six. It has also been shown that increasing the regeneration within the containers 1 and 2. A pump is used to circulate the
temperature from 210°F to 390°F increases the efficiency by oil in a closed-loop through the oil-air heat exchangers and
5 percent and the capacity by 70 percent. Semco Manufacturing the zeolite containers. The evaporator/condenser is located
Inc. is employing a modified dehumidifier simulation program inside the zeolite container (Fig. 6). The outside cooling coil
from Enerscope Inc. for developing low-cost desiccant im- circulates water through the evaporator and is used to conduct
pregnated, corrugated wheel structures (Fischer, 1990). the heat of vaporization to the chilled water according to cooled
space requirements.
Waugaman (1988) quantified the effects of changing ge-
ometry and operating parameters of rotary, parallel plate, The oil leaving the adsorber is heated further by the gas
micro-bead silica gel wheels in the Pennington cycle using the boiler to about 200 °C and passed into the container operating
"analogy" (Maclaine-cross, 1974) (Jurnaik, 1982) method of in the desorption mode. As the temperature of the zeolite is
modeling the dehumidifier. The analogy method incorporates increased, the refrigerant (water) is desorbed and the pressure
parameters called combined potentials and specific heat-ca- in the container increases. The refrigerant condenses on the
pacity ratios that reduce the number of equations of a desiccant walls of the container and the heat of condensation is rejected
wheel to two, as in a rotary heat exchanger. Therefore, it is to the outside air during the cooling season. It is used to provide
"analogous" to heat transfer alone. Efficiencies which account part of the heating load during the heating season. The oil is
for nonideal heat and mass transfer are calculated based on further cooled in an oil-to-air heat exchanger to about 38°C,
the physical parameters of the dehumidifier, the rotational which can provide heat to the conditioned space during the
speed and other design conditions. COP values were estimated heating season. Tchernev has found that a seasonal cooling
at 1.6 for optimum parameters. COP of 1.2 can be achieved.
The Solar Energy Research Institute has a cyclic test facility
(CTF) (Pesaran, 1989) to develop analytical methods for pre-
dicting the performance of advanced rotary dehumidifiers. The Open-Cycle Liquid Desiccant Systems
CTF has a full set of automated controls to maintain steady Liquid desiccant systems have not been extensively inves-
inlet conditions (temperature, absolute humidity and airflow tigated because of the modest COP values that were predicted,
rate). Instrumentation monitors the wheel rotational speed, usually below 1.0. Still, liquid desiccants have some advantages
ambient air conditions, and inlet and outlet air conditions. over solid desiccant systems. Since the energy is stored as
chemical energy rather than thermal energy, the reliance on
continuous thermal energy supplies is reduced. Liquid desic-
Closed-Cycle Zeolite Heat Pump cants do not require complex dehumidifier geometries, as the
Tchernev (1989) have proposed the concept of regenerative desiccant is usually sprayed over the incoming air and can be
heat exchange for a closed-cycle zeolite heat pump. This system regenerated on inexpensive open-flow collectors or tanks. The

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 Heat Source

H
EC
E
A
T

E
X
c
H C.T.
A
N
EC
G
E E : Economizer
EC : Evaporative Cooler R CU : Cooling Unit
CT : Cooling Tower
Fig. 7 A liquid desiccant cooling system (reproduced from Patnaik,
1987)

greater than the coil temperature. However, in high-humidity

conditions, this method is not very efficient and high indoor
humidity makes the conditions uncomfortable. The common
reaction to increased humidity is to reduce the set-point tem-
perature, which results in increased operation of the system,
thereby increasing energy consumption. Also, in the new high-
Fig. 6 Condenser/evaporator of zeolite heat pump (reproduced from
efficiency A/ C systems, the evaporator coil is at a higher tem-
Tchernev, 1989) perature, so the moisture removal is reduced.
Hybrid desiccant systems integrate a desiccant dehumidifier
disadvantages of liquid desiccants are that some liquid des- with a conventional cooling system such that the dehumidifier
iccants may be corrosive. Also, because of their high vapor takes up the latent load and the conventional system can be
pressure, the desiccant may be released into the air. The health used for the sensible portion of the load. Hybrid systems offer
effects of inhaling desiccants are not well known. the advantages of reduced energy costs and reduced equipment
A simple schematic of a liquid desiccant system is shown in size and independent control of temperature and humidity.
Fig. 7 (Patnaik, 1987). In this configuration, the ambient air The hybrid is usually more complicated and likely more ex-
is dehumidified, then cooled in a sensible heat exchanger. Ad- pensive to build than either subsystem.
ditional cooling takes place through an evaporative cooler, as Novosel and Griffiths (1988) have predicted results of a gas-
in the Pennington cycle, before entering the conditioned space. fired desiccant humidity pump to supplement electrically
The return air is first cooled in an evaporative cooler, and part driven refrigeration equipment. A schematic of the pump is
of the air is returned to the conditioned space. The rest of the shown in Fig. 8. It is designed as a makeup air module that
air is passed through the heat exchanger where it cools the dehumidifies the makeup air with liquid desiccant. It is coupled
incoming air. In the liquid desiccant loop, the dilute solution to a new or existing conventional A/C system via a duct. It
from the dehumidifier first flows through a heat recovery unit consists of a gas-fired regenerator with an air-to-air heat ex-
(economizer), then to a regenerator where the moisture is re- changer to recover the heat of regeneration. An evaporative
moved. The concentrated solution coming out of the regener- cooler reduces the temperature of the scavenger air that is used
ator is first cooled in the economizer, and then in the "cooling to cool the liquid desiccant conditioner. This dehumidified and
unit," before returning to the dehumidifier where it can absorb cooled air is then passed on to the conventional system for
moisture again. sensible cooling. They have predicted a COP of 0.71 based on
cooling outside air at ARI standard conditions to 89.7°F and
Liquid desiccant dehumidifiers coupled to regenerators using
0.007 lb/lb humidity ratio. They have also predicted that in-
lithium bromide and lithium chloride as a liquid desiccant have
tegrating a humidity pump with a gas engine-driven chiller will
been tested in the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory (Pat-
increase the COP by 14 percent (from 1.4 to 1.6). This is being
naik, 1988). No cooling equipment or load was coupled to the
developed for manufacture by Kathabar Systems.
desiccant, but cooling capacities of 1.0-4.0 refrigeration tons
(3.5-10.4 kW), for airflow rates between 0.65-0.95 kg/s, were Ryan et al. (1989) have developed a residential dehumidifier
estimated. Regeneration energy and COP values were not re- using aqueous lithium chloride desiccant. This system (Fig. 9)
ported. uses a direct evaporative cooler, a boiler regenerator, a liquid
Chen et al. (1989) have studied the effects of design factors desiccant conditioner and an interchange heat exchanger. The
and operating conditions on the performance of the dehu- water is removed from the desiccant directly by boiling. There-
midifier. They found that the dehumidifying rate is linearly fore, regeneration air need not be heated and it reduces the
proportional to the solution concentration, the inlet air hu- size of the desiccant unit. The indoor return air is dehumidified
midity and temperature, and quadratically proportional to the in a flat plate heat exchanger. The interchange heat exchanger
flow rates of both solution and air. It was also found that the transfers the heat from the hot regenerated desiccant, leaving
dehumidifying rate decreases linearly with the solution tem- the boiler to the cool dilute desiccant leaving the conditioner.
perature. This results in energy savings. This system delivered 1 t of
dehumidification with the supply air being within 4°F of the
return air. The average COP of this unit calculated over the
Hybrid Desiccant Systems test period was 0.5. An economic analysis compared this des-
In a conventional vapor compression system, moisture re- iccant system to a modern vapor compression system coupled
moval occurs by condensation if the return air dew-point is with an electric dehumidifier. The lower operating cost of the

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 To Ambient

Air-to-Air To Sensible
Heat Excnangar Coaling Water Make-up Air Cooung Device
Regeneration
Air

Gas-Fired
Healer

Scavenger
Air

WVV^
Brine Interchanger
Regenerator Conditioner

Diluted Desiccant Solution • Concentrated Desiccant Solution

Fig. 8 Humidity pump (reproduced from Novosel and Griffiths, 1988)

Absorption Chiller
Aux. Burner
~p~trrrrf]
1 Evaporator

- Return
i quid
3esiccanL
Regenera tion t

Cooling
rfe Cooling
Air Out |^TT!rvifTYTTfTr| Heat
Exch.
Supply
Air
Air
Steam £. ok)
-© )
Sump ^ Cool ing^-*. Regeneration
^eakej Air
Boiler

s Stronger

Fig. 9 Residential dehumidifier using aqueous lithium chloride (repro-

Desiccant Recuperation
Heat Exchanger
duced from Ryan et al., 1989)
Fig. 10 DUBLSORB system (reproduced from Saunders et al., 1989)

desiccant system resulted in payback periods of around two

years. U.S. cities located in climates ranging from the hot and humid
Saunders et al. (1989) have developed a concept called the to hot and dry to moderate summer conditions.
DUBLSORB system that incorporates a conventional liquid Meckler (1989) proposed a hybrid cogeneration cooling cycle
desiccant unit with a conventional absorption chiller (Fig. 10). that incorporates packaged to cogenerated electrical power
The heat rejected from the chiller condenser is used to regen- with a solar-powered Rankine cycle and a means of using the
erate the chiller with supplemental regeneration energy being heat rejected at the condenser to regenerate the desiccant. A
provided by an auxiliary gas-fired burner. This system uses a case study of a representative building revealed that this system
cooling tower to cool both the chiller absorber and the desiccant decreased the energy consumption by 12 percent, as compared
dehumidifier. Since the chiller has to meet only the sensible to a conventional HVAC system.
load, it is smaller than a conventional chiller. In an economic Maclaine-Cross (1988) proposed a hybrid system with a des-
analysis, Saunders has shown that the payback period is less iccant unit, consisting of a regenerative dehumidifier, heat
than three years when compared to a conventional electric exchanger, evaporative cooler, heat coils and fans, to provide
chiller with reheat. The mathematical modeling of the system the latent and part of the sensible load. A gas-engine-driven
has resulted in COP values of around 0.9 to 1.2, depending chiller takes up the remaining load. He found that energy costs
on the indoor humidity ratio (outdoor conditions were near can be halved with the payback period averaging two years.
standard ARI conditions). This suggests that these units will be very competitive with
Robert Turner et al. (1988), at the University of Nevada, conventional systems when the desiccant units are available
have compared the economics of operation of various heat- commercially.
pump desiccant-wheel configurations driven by a natural gas Parsons (1987), at the Solar Energy Research Institute, ex-
internal combustion engine. The engine exhaust heat is used amined the merits of coupling a desiccant dehumidification
to supply part of the regeneration energy for the desiccant. subsystem to a gas-engine-driven vapor compression system.
Mathematical modeling predicted these systems cost much less This system uses a rotary silica-gel parallel-plate dehumidifier.
to operate than the all-electric heat pump in eight different They have found that by addition of the desiccant subsystem,

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 NIGHTTIME DAYTIME growth of fungi. The moisture problem is being tackled by
ADSORPTION MODE DRSORPTION MODE using a gas-fired dehumidifier integrated with a heat exchanger.
This permits a down-sized electric air conditioner. They have
also shown cost savings can be achieved by using a desiccant
system to dehumidify an ice arena (Banks, 1990b).
The Gas Research Institute (GRI), in a cooperative project
with McDonald's Corporation, is evaluating the performance
of 5-t desiccant dehumidifiers. These are makeup air units
integrated with existing air-conditioning units for restaurants
(Koopman, 1989).'
Arthur D. Little Corp. has developed a solid desiccant de-
humidification/electric vapor compression system for residen-
tial applications in the 1-3-t range (Teagan, 1989). The system
is projected to achieve a COP of 0.7 and an EER of 40. It is
a compact package design with a honeycomb wheel in a blended
return and fresh air configuration.
VC = Vapor Compression Machine
DEC = Direct Evaporative Cooler
Fig. 11 DESRAD system operating modes (reproduced from Swami, Desiccant Materials Research
1990)
Extensive work is now being done on identifying low-cost,
high-performance materials that can maximize the perform-
the gas-based COP is increased by 40 percent and the cooling ance of desiccant cooling systems. Silica gel and lithium chlo-
capacity is increased by 50 percent. ride are now the most widely used desiccant materials in studies
A new idea in desiccant cooling has been developed at the on wheel geometries in desiccant cooling. The sorption per-
Florida Solar Energy Center (Rudd, 1990; Swami, 1990). It is formance, durability and life-cycle costs of these materials limit
called the "desiccant enhanced nocturnal radiation" (DES- the cost effectiveness of desiccant cooling systems. The Solar
RAD) cooling and dehumidification system. This concept is a Energy Research Institute (Pesaran, Bingham, 1989) have de-
passive cooling approach and uses a desiccant bed integrated veloped experimental facilities to evaluate new desiccant ma-
in the roof to achieve both the latent and sensible cooling in terials, and to validate mathematical models.
hot and humid climates. The capacity of household materials Collier et al. (1986) have, by computer simulation, identified
to store moisture and thermal energy is used during the day, the desiccant adsorption properties that would maximize the
and the desiccant bed removes moisture during the night. Sen- performance of a desiccant cooling system. He found that the
sible cooling is provided during the night and the desiccant is properties have a large influence on the cooling capacity and
regenerated during the day. COP of the cycle. He has proposed an "ideal desiccant" called
The system (Fig. 11) operates in two modes: the nighttime the Type IM material, which can improve the thermal COP
adsorption mode and the daytime desorption mode. At night, of the desiccant cooling system from the present achievable
room air is circulated to the desiccant bed on the roof where range of 0.85-1.05 for silica gel, to about 1.3—1.4 or close to
the moisture is removed. The heat of sorption is transferred the theoretical maximum. System analyses have shown that
to the atmosphere. After the air passes through the desiccant the operating costs are at least 20 percent less than with con-
bed, it is passed through an evaporative cooler to increase the ventional materials. Also, the cubic feet per minute per ton
humidity level and to further cool the air. This air is then (cfm/ton) can be reduced from the range of 310-400 for silica
passed into the room where it absorbs the heat and moisture gel to a range of 200-250. This would reduce the size of the
from the room. system and maintain low parasitic electric power requirement.
During the day, the desiccant system is disconnected from The materials research effort is now directed toward finding
the house. The desiccant is regenerated by venting it with and measuring properties of materials that could be better
ambient air that is heated by the sun-absorbing metal roof. desiccants than the silica gel and approach the Type IM ma-
The heat exchanged, between the metal roof, the hot air and terial in its sorption performance. Also, the dehumidifier costs
the desiccant, regenerates the bed. The system relies on the could be reduced by improved manufacturing methods for the
internal thermal mass and the moisture capacitance of special new materials.
construction materials and household articles to carry the cool- Czanderna (1988a) at the Solar Energy Research Institute
ing and dehumidifying loads during the day. A conventional has been working on identifying polymeric materials that might
air-conditioning system is used as a backup. be used in desiccant cooling systems. Polymers have the po-
Swami et al. (1990) have studied a building-integrated DES- tential for sorbing 5 to 80 percent of their weight and can be
RAD system and they have found a 79, 81 and 75-percent easily fabricated into the required shapes. Polymers have the
reduction in the total, sensible and latent loads, respectively. potential for being regenerated at temperatures below 176°F
This suggests that this concept is a very promising solar cooling and to maintain long-term stability through thousands of sorp-
alternative; but initial costs may be high, and there might be tion-desorption cycles. Also, the cost of commercial polymers
degradation in the performance of the desiccant subjected to is comparable to that of commercial grade silica gel. Polymers
repeated cycles. can serve both as the desiccant and the support structure in a
Cargocaire Engineering Corporation has conducted research desiccant wheel. They have used the Quartz Crystal Micro-
on the application of desiccant systems for supermarket ap- balance Apparatus (Czanderna, Thomas, 1988b) to measure
plications (Bowlen, Kosar, 1989). In 1984, they introduced an the water sorption capacity of polymers. They have identified
integrated gas-fired desiccant dehumidification/electric air- nine commercially available polymers as candidate-advanced
conditioning system. This system has greater humidity control desiccant materials for further study and modification.
resulting in a 10-percent reduction in cooling and refrigeration The Eaton Corporation has developed an advanced desiccant
costs. material based on ionic-gel polymer (Pusatcioglu, 1989). They
Cargocaire is also investigating the concept of humidity con- have identified cross-linked polystyrene (sulfonic acid-sodium
trol in humid-climate hotels where the air distributed by con- form) as the most promising material that has properties close
ventional air-conditioning units is cool but saturated (Banks, to that of the Type IM material. LaRoche Chemicals has also
1990a). High-humidity indoor air results in discomfort and the identified several candidate Type IM materials (Belding, 1989)

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 and have manufactured and tested single sheets of fiber glass computer analysis. Very little testing has been performed on
impregnated with this material and found that the whole system complete integrated systems. Perhaps a shift of the emphasis
exhibits Type 1M behavior. to construction and testing of packaged systems will gain des-
Mullins (1989) at Michigan Tech University has found that iccant cooling a significant share of the A / C market.
porous glass is capable of reversible water sorption. It offers The developments of the Montreal Protocol to phase out
the potential for improved performance over the conventional the use of certain fluorocarbons, and the developments in
materials. desiccant cooling provide alternatives to conventional air-con-
Komarneni of the Pennsylvania State University is deter- ditioning equipment. Higher electrical energy costs and envi-
mining the capability of nano-composite materials to perform ronmental concerns and legislation should contribute to the
as effective desiccants (Komarneni, 1989). Nano-composite demand for desiccant cooling and the need for further devel-
materials are made up of two or more components, with the opment of the hardware.
size of each component between 1-100 nm. They have iden-
tified Type 1M composites and further characterization is un-
der way. References
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cooperative program created and evaluated four unique solid 1705, Gas Research Institute, Chicago, 111.
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($8.00/lb). Calcium chloride is the cheapest (15 cents/lb), but Bharathan, D., Parsons, J., and Maclaine-Cross, I., 1986, "Experimental
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mixture has low viscosity and is highly soluble over a consid- tems," GRI Contract No. 5083-243-0839, Gas Research Institute, Chicago, 111.
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its effect on the sorption performance of the desiccants. A test Collier, R. K., and Cohen, B. M., 1988, "An Analytical Examination of
facility was built in 1989 to thermally cycle several desiccant Methods for Improving the Performance of Desiccant Cooling Systems," Pro-
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moisture capacity. The silica gel samples thermally cycled with Collier, R. K., Novosel, D., andWorek, W. M., 1990b, "Performance Anal-
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Czanderna, A. W., 1988a, "Polymers as Advanced Materials for Desiccant
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a Regenerative Closed Cycle Adsorption Cooling/Heating System," Proceedings
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Much less experimental and field work have been done than ergy Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Maclaine-Cross, I. L., 1974, " A Theory of Combined Heat and Mass Transfer Energy Conference, Miami, Fla., pp. 219-224.
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Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. and Field Experiment Results for a Residential Liquid Desiccant Dehumidifier,"
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Houston, Tex., pp. 150-154. the Twelfth Annual ASME Solar Energy Conference, Miami, Fla., pp. 397-
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formance by Adding a Desiccant Dehumidification Subsystem," SERI/TP-254- Tchernev, D. I., and Clinch, J. M., 1989, "Closed Cycle Zeolite Regenerative
3402, Solar Energy Research Institute, Golden, Colo. Heat Pump," Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual ASME Solar Energy Con-
Patnaik, S., Lenz, T. G., and Lof, G. O. G., 1987, "Experimental Studies ference, San Diego, Calif., pp. 347-351.
with a Solar Open Cycle Liquid Desiccant System," Proceedings of the ISES Teagan, P., 1989, "Integrated Gas-Fired Desiccant Dehumidifier/EIectric AC
Solar World Congress, Hamburg, West Germany, Sept. Cooling System," GRI Contract No. 5086-293-1423, Gas Research Institute,
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8 / V o l . 115, MARCH 1993 Transactions of the ASME

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