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Experimental investigation of the dehumidification performance of silica gel coated aluminum foams.

Number: pap. n. 118

Author(s) : SPILLMANN T., FINN N., WHITE S. D., et al.

Summary

Simultaneous mass transfer and removal of the heat of adsorption has been shown to increase dehumidification and thereby augment the performance of desiccant cooling systems. New designs are being explored for effective heat and mass transfer from air that is being dehumidified as it flows through a channel. The incorporation of passive heat transfer augmentation devices, such as surface area enhancing structures, can contribute to more effective removal of adsorptive heat in the dehumidification process. Passing air through a channel filled with highly porous open-cell metal foam has high potential for such applications. The metal foam increases the area of interaction between the fluid and the solid heat transferring walls. The tube insert extends into the channel core region with high effective thermal conductivity and high surface area to volume ratios. This can lead to effective heat removal with only a limited increase in thermal mass and pressure drop penalties. For the study at hand, three metal foams of different pore sizes and same nominal porosity were brazed into an aluminum tube and coated with Silica Gel. The tubes were experimentally assessed on their dehumidification performance. The test rig consists of a single water-cooled channel that is exposed to two alternating air streams, emulating the batch-wise dehumidification and regeneration stages in a desiccant bed. Initial experimental results show a dependence of dehumidification and moisture removal rate on air flow rate and desiccant weight, but only a minor impact of pore size. This suggests that even the largest pore structure provides more than sufficient surface area to rapidly remove the adsorption heat.

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Pages: 5 p.

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Details

  • Original title: Experimental investigation of the dehumidification performance of silica gel coated aluminum foams.
  • Record ID : 30013715
  • Languages: English
  • Source: International sorption heat pump conference (ISHPC2014), College Park, United States, March 31-April 2, 2014.
  • Publication date: 2014/03/02

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