Design of cascade analysis for renewable and waste heat recovery in a solar thermal regeneration unit of a liquid desiccant dehumidification system

Elaine Low, Si Min Huang, Minlin Yang, Pau Loke Show, Chung Lim Law

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Liquid desiccant dehumidification (LDD) system is an emerging technology with energy-saving benefit in HVAC applications. It removes moisture from the inlet air stream and handles the latent load without overcooling and reheating. The most energy-intensive process of the LDD system, the desiccant regeneration process, can be driven by renewable solar thermal energy with a temperature lower than 100 °C. However, the integration of solar heat needs to consider the inconsistent availability of solar radiation and regeneration heat demand. In this study, a pinch-based Cascade Analysis (CA) approach is used to optimally size the solar thermal collectors and thermal energy storage (TES) water tanks, which are the main components of the solar thermal system. From the analysis, the overall system efficiency, minimum area of solar thermal collectors and total TES volume are 78.8%, 59.83 m2 and 7.10 m3, respectively, with an average daily regeneration heat demand of 213.48 kWh. The overall system installation and operating cost is approximately 14219.98 USD or 948.00 USD annually over 15 years. This work serves as a preliminary study to provide an overview of the implementation of solar thermal systems for decision-makers who intend to implement solar-based LDD systems in HVAC or drying applications.

Original languageBritish English
Article number121284
JournalEnergy
Volume235
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • Cascade analysis
  • Liquid desiccant dehumidification (LDD)
  • Pinch analysis
  • Solar heat integration
  • Solar thermal system
  • Thermal energy storage (TES)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Design of cascade analysis for renewable and waste heat recovery in a solar thermal regeneration unit of a liquid desiccant dehumidification system'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this