An analytical model for cross-flow indirect evaporative cooling considering condensation under various fresh air conditions

Abstract The indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) regarded as an energy efficient technology has been widely applied to reduce thermal load from the fresh airflow in air conditioning system. When the climate is hot and humid, the condensation would take place in fresh air channels. With the aim of evaluating the performance of IEC with condensation, this paper presents a 2-D analytical model for cross-flow IEC considering condensation. The performance under various fresh air conditions has been investigated. The results show that the condensation would reduce the thermal load of fresh air significantly. Although the occurrence of condensation would weaken sensible heat transfer, the latent heat transfer even reaches up to 4.6 kW and around 40% moisture content of fresh air would be removed under full condensation state.