Experimental investigation on a fresh air dehumidification system using heat pump with desiccant coated heat exchanger

Abstract With the increasing attention to indoor air quality (IAQ), the use of fresh air conditioning systems has become more widespread in recent years. However, the dew point dehumidification method of conventional air conditioning system results in high energy consumption because the temperature of the air needs to be reduced below the dew point temperature. In this research, a fresh air dehumidification system using heat pump with desiccant coated heat exchanger (DCHE) is presented and experimentally tested. The harmful effect of adsorption heat could be overcome and the efficiency of dehumidification could be improved due to the application of DCHE. Base on the experimental results, it can be noticed that maximum moisture removal 9.98 g/kgDA could be achieved on high humidity condition and the coefficient of performance of the heat pump system can reach 5.36. In addition, the system is more efficient for handling humid air with high relative humidity. Besides, energy saving ratio of the system is studied compared with conventional dew point dehumidification and the maximum energy saving ratio is 74.4% at the experimental condition.