Sensitivity analysis and component modelling of a packed-type liquid desiccant system at partial load operating conditions

Prediction of annual energy consumption requires the partial load performance evaluation of each component in an air conditioning system. A packed-type or a coil-type liquid desiccant apparatus is an essential component of a hybrid liquid desiccant system. Therefore, predicting the hour by hour performance of a packed-type hybrid liquid desiccant system to estimate its annual energy consumption requires that the performance of a packed-type system be known at partial load conditions. For this purpose a detailed sensitivity analysis of heat and mass transfer performance of a packed-type liquid desiccant system is carried out to identify important performance parameters. Two output parameters — enthalpy effectiveness and humidity effectiveness — are defined to present the results. Based on the conclusions drawn from the detailed sensitivity analysis, a simple model is developed to predict the performance of an absorber and a regenerator at partial load operating conditions. Performance predictions using the simple model are compared with the predictions from the detailed analysis along with another existing model which is available in the literature. The simple model is in excellent agreement with the predictions of other two models.