Desiccant Dehumidification Cooling System for Poultry Houses in Multan (Pakistan)

Poultry industries play a major role in Pakistan’s economy as well as developing countries. Poultry birds are sensitive to slight variation in ambient air temperature and humidity. Therefore, temperature-humidity control system is principally required for optimum growth of the birds. Conventionally, vapor-compression-based air-conditioning systems are used in poultry houses to control temperature and humidity. These systems degrade the environment and consume huge amount of primary energy. In this regard, the present study investigates energy-efficient thermally driven desiccant dehumidification-based evaporative cooling system for monthly basis climatic conditions of Multan (Pakistan). The present study explored standalone desiccant air-conditioning system (S-DAC) and Maisotsenko cycle assisted DAC system (M-DAC) using silica-gel and hydrophilic polymeric-sorbent desiccant materials from the viewpoints of slope of dehumidification line, dehumidification capacity, cooling capacity, and coefficient of performance (COP). In addition, the study explored surface temperature, surface area, total sensible heat loss, evaporative heat loss, total heat loss, and temperature-humidity index (THI) of the poultry birds. The results showed that the polymer-based M-DAC system was feasible in terms of maximum dehumidification capacity, cooling capacity, and COP (i.e., 4.3 g/kg-DA, 14.9 kJ/kg, and 0.5, respectively) and achieved thermal comfort (THI < 30℃) of poultry birds throughout the year.