Performance of integrative air-conditioning (A/C) and humidification–dehumidification desalination systems
proposed for hot and dry climatic regions is theoretically investigated. The proposed systems aim to
energy saving and systems utilization in fresh water production. Four systems with evaporative cooler
and heat recovery units located at different locations are proposed, analyzed and evaluated at different
operating parameters (fresh air ratio, supply air temperature and outside air wet bulb temperature).
Other two basic systems are used as reference systems in proposed systems assessment. Fresh water production
rate, A/C cooling capacity, A/C electrical power consumption, saving in power consumptions and
total cost saving (TCS) parameters are used for systems evaluations and comparisons. The results show
that (i) the fresh water production rates of the proposed systems increase with increasing fresh air ratio,
supply air temperature and outdoor wet bulb temperature, (ii) powers saving of the proposed systems
increase with increasing fresh air ratio and supply air temperature and decreasing of the outdoor air
wet bulb temperature, (iii) locating the evaporative cooling after the fresh air mixing remarkably increases water production rate, and (vi) incorporating heat recovery in the air conditioning systems with
evaporative cooling may adversely affect both of the water production rate and the total cost saving of
the system. Comparison study has been presented to identify systems configurations that have the highest
fresh water production rate, highest power saving and highest total cost saving. Numerical correlations
for fresh water production rate and total system energy consumption are developed and presented in terms of the controlling parameters. |
