Study of the experimental performance of dew point evaporative cooling arrangement for modified fluid flow passages

Abstract

The satisfactory performance of indirect evaporative cooling techniques (IEC) is governed significantly by the structural and design arrangement of heat and mass exchange devices. The experimental performance of the dew point evaporative cooler has been investigated in the present work with the geometrically modified flow passages for air and water. Conventionally, these passages are formed by either flat or corrugated plates. The trapezoidal corrugated plate has been used to form these passages for air and water. The laboratory trials were conducted for the different combinations of intake air temperature, specific humidity, and air velocity. The performance in terms of dew point and wet bulb efficiency is presented based on laboratory trials. The experimental results achieved dew point and wet bulb efficiencies ranging between 52% and 82% and 74% and 126%, respectively. The geometrically modified flow passages increase the heat exchange area for the same volume of a similar heat exchange device and achieve an increased thermal performance of the proposed cooler.