Comparison study of air mixing modes in liquid desiccant based all-air air conditioning systems

Liquid desiccant is an energy-saving, environmentally friendly and healthy means of air dehumidification. A liquid desiccant-based all-air air conditioning system is studied by simulation. Two different modes of air mixing between the return air and the fresh air are compared, that is mixing before and mixing after the liquid desiccant dehumidifier, respectively. System performance and total energy consumption of the two modes under different operation conditions are obtained. The results show that mixing air after dehumidification consumes less energy than mixing air before dehumidification. Coefficient of performance (COP) of the all-air system with air mixing after dehumidification is higher. The differences of COP and energy consumption between the two air mixing modes increase when the outdoor air temperature and relative humidity increase.

Practical application: Liquid desiccant based all-air system is quite suitable for museums, libraries and computer centres where water is not allowed to enter the space for property safety and strict thermal-hygrometric control is necessary. The results of this paper provide guidelines on the selection of air mixing modes in liquid desiccant-based all-air systems, considering energy consumption and system COP.