Parametric analysis of heat and mass transfer regenerators using a generalized effectiveness-NTU method

Abstract A parametric analysis of heat and mass transfer in regenerative exchangers that employ sorbent materials has been performed. The adopted methodology is based on the effectiveness-NTU (number of transfer units) approach, traditionally employed for analyzing sensible heat exchangers. However, a generalization was developed to account for the effects of coupled heat and mass transfer, matrix diffusion, as well as physical adsorption. The generalized approach was applied to a unified mathematical formulation for this class of exchangers and the potential of the methodology was demonstrated through an analysis of the influence of several dimensionless parameters on regenerator performance.

[1]  J. Niu,et al.  Effects of wall thickness on the heat and moisture transfers in desiccant wheels for air dehumidification and enthalpy recovery , 2002 .

[2]  L. A. Sphaier,et al.  Comparisons between 2-D and 1-D Formulations of Heat and Mass Transfer in Rotary Regenerators , 2006 .

[3]  William M. Worek,et al.  NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF COMBINED HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER PROCESSES IN A ROTARY DEHUMIDIFIER , 1993 .

[4]  Carey J. Simonson,et al.  Heat and Moisture Transfer in Desiccant Coated Rotary Energy Exchangers: Part I. Numerical Model , 1997 .

[5]  William M. Worek,et al.  INFLUENCE OF ELEVATED PRESSURE ON SORPTION IN DESICCANT WHEELS , 2004 .

[6]  P. Banks,et al.  Coupled heat and mass transfer in regenerators—prediction using an analogy with heat transfer , 1972 .

[7]  L. A. Sphaier,et al.  The effect of axial diffusion in desiccant and enthalpy wheels , 2006 .

[8]  John W. Mitchell,et al.  Analysis of regenerative enthalpy exchangers , 1990 .

[9]  J. Costa,et al.  On the validity of lumped capacitance approaches for the numerical prediction of heat and mass transfer in desiccant airflow systems , 2008 .

[10]  W. Worek,et al.  Effect of adsorbent heat and mass transfer resistances on performace of an open-cycle adiabatic desiccant cooling system , 1988 .

[11]  William M. Worek,et al.  Analysis of heat and mass transfer in porous sorbents used in rotary regenerators , 2004 .

[12]  John W. Mitchell,et al.  Design theory for rotary heat and mass exchangers—I. Wave analysis of rotary heat and mass exchangers with infinite transfer coefficients , 1985 .

[13]  William M. Worek,et al.  Evaluation of rotary dehumidifier performance with and without heated purge , 2007 .

[14]  Z. Lavan,et al.  Performance Predictions for Adiabatic Desiccant Dehumidifiers Using Linear Solutions , 1980 .

[15]  P. J. Banks.  Prediction of Heat and Mass Regenerator Performance Using Nonlinear Analogy Method: Part 1—Basis , 1985 .

[16]  Roy B. Holmberg,et al.  Combined Heat and Mass Transfer in Regenerators with Hygroscopic Materials , 1979 .

[17]  José J. Costa,et al.  Analysis of Simplifying Assumptions for the Numerical Modeling of the Heat and Mass Transfer in a Porous Desiccant Medium , 2006 .

[18]  J. Niu,et al.  Performance comparisons of desiccant wheels for air dehumidification and enthalpy recovery , 2002 .

[19]  R. Besant,et al.  Energy wheel effectiveness: part I—development of dimensionless groups , 1999 .

[20]  A. London,et al.  Compact heat exchangers , 1960 .

[21]  D. P. Sekulic,et al.  Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger Design , 2003 .

[22]  Zhiming Gao,et al.  Theoretical analysis of dehumidification process in a desiccant wheel , 2005 .

[23]  John W. Mitchell,et al.  Performance of Rotary Heat and Mass Exchangers , 1995 .

[24]  J. J. Jurinak,et al.  Effect of Matrix Properties on the Performance of a Counterflow Rotary Dehumidifier , 1984 .

[25]  Pradip Majumdar,et al.  Heat and mass transfer in composite desiccant pore structures for dehumidification , 1998 .