On the Study of a Hybrid Indirect Evaporative Pre-Cooling System for Various Climates

Abstract

A hybrid air-conditioning system has been proposed by integrating an indirect evaporative pre-cooling unit. In the proposed system, the room exhaust air is employed in the indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) to pre-condition the ambient intake air. The mathematical formulation has been judiciously established for the pre-cooling IEC. The validation of the numerical model has been conducted by comparing the simulated results with the experimental data in terms of the outlet temperature and the heat flux along the heat exchanger surface. The pre-cooling performance of the IEC is theoretically investigated for the climate in representative cities selected from five different climate zones. The psychrometric illustration of the air conditioning variation has indicated that the ambient air can be pre-cooled and pre-dehumidified through the IEC. The possibility of water vapor condensation depends on the humidity ratio of the ambient intake air. The simulation result demonstrates the capability of the pre-cooling IEC to fulfill part of the cooling load of the ambient intake air resulting in a marked energy saving potential.

Indirect evaporative cooling for buildings: A comprehensive patents review

“…other systems, such as DEC device [43], desiccant wheel (DW) [44], conventional ACs [45], water desalination cycle [17], inverted Brayton cycle [46], and others.…”

Hybrid Indirect Evaporative Cooling-Mechanical Vapor Compression System: A Mini-Review

“…Cui et al [60] theoretically evaluated the energy-saving potential of IEC-MVC under the design conditions of five cities, as summarized in Figure 12. Hourly simulations demonstrated significant energy savings for the hybrid system when treating outdoor air: 38% for Singapore, 49% for Cairo, 47% for Florence, 45% for Athens, and 35% for Xi'an.…”

Experimental investigation of a hybrid configuration of solar thermal collectors and desiccant indirect evaporative cooling system

“…In terms of coefficient of performance (COP), M-CYCLEbased desiccant air conditioning systems are 60%-65% more efficient than conventional air conditioning systems providing the same inlet conditions (Kashif Shahzad et al, 2018). The main advantage of this solution is that it can provide the required comfort level with comparatively less effective dehumidification (Cui et al, 2019). When discussing these air conditioning systems the factors air inlet temperature, regeneration air temperature, and humidity are important.…”