Numerical Study on Heat and Mass Transfer of the Cross-flow Liquid Desiccant Regenerator

Abstract Liquid desiccant air conditioning (LDAC) system becomes more and more environmentally friendly and efficient than vapor compression cooling system to control air humidity. This paper concentrates on the heat and mass transfer process of cross-flow liquid desiccant regeneration. A cross-flow theoretical model based on finite difference method was established. The LiBr aqueous solution was used as the liquid desiccant. A mass transfer empirical correlation fitted by experimental results was introduced to the model. The software MATLAB was adopted to solve the control equations. The results show the maximum differences of air temperature and humidity ratio reach 3.8 °C and 4.2 g•kg -1 in air outlet, respectively. There exists an optimal NTU m in regenerator based on a certain operation condition.