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Development of a performance enhancer for a dehumidifier

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Abstract

In this study, performance enhancers (PEs) for dehumidifiers (DHs) were developed, and the PEs were installed on the return air side of the dehumidifier to test and evaluate the performance of the dehumidifier. The PEs were aluminum plates with different pore size distributions that were based on the return air distributions of an evaporator. The pore size was inversely proportional to the airflow resistance to improve the uniformity of the return air through the evaporator for achieving better heat exchange and condensation performance of the evaporator. The PEs used in this study were divided into 3 (PE1), 6 (PE2), and 11 (PE3) grades based on the return air velocity. The dehumidifier performance test was performed based on the CNS 12492 standard under standard and overload environmental conditions. The experimental results revealed that the dehumidifiers with PEs can improve the dehumidification capacity and energy factor (EF) of the dehumidifier under most experimental conditions, and the dehumidifiers with PEs exhibited higher performance enhancement under the overload environmental condition than under the standard environmental condition. The highest EF values of dehumidifiers with PEs can be increased by 5.46 % for PE1 and by 5.84 % for PE3 compared with the original dehumidifier under the same experimental parameters, respectively. Based on the average experimental results of standard and overload environmental conditions, PE1 exhibited the highest improvement up to 4.76 % in the EF of a dehumidifier.

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Abbreviations

EC :

Total electricity consumption (kWh/24 h)

EF :

Energy factor (L/kWh)

e :

Deviation (%)

G :

Volume flow rate (m3/s)

m :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

RH :

Relative humidity (%)

T :

Temperature (°C)

VD RA :

Distribution of the return-air velocity (%)

v :

Specific volume (m3/kg)

W DH :

Dehumidification capacity (L/d)

w :

Humidity ratio (g/kg dry air)

DB :

Dry-bulb

RA :

Return air

SA :

Supply air

WB :

Wet-bulb

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of Republic of China (Taiwan) for their financial support to this research under Contract no. MOST 106-2221- E-003-024-MY3.

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Correspondence to Tun-Ping Teng.

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Recommended by Editor Yong Tae Kang

Ting-Chiang Hsiao received the M.S. degree in Department of Industrial Education, National Taiwan Normal University in 2018. His major research fields were in nano-materials, HVAC&R engineering, and energy-saving technique.

Tun-Ping Teng received the Ph.D. degree in Graduate Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology in 2007. His major research fields were in nanomaterials, HVAC&R engineering, renewable energy, energy-saving technique, and heat dissipation system. He is currently an excellent Professor in Undergraduate Program of Vehicle and Energy Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.

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Hsiao, TC., Teng, TP. Development of a performance enhancer for a dehumidifier. J Mech Sci Technol 34, 1775–1784 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0339-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0339-5

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