Evaporative and Desiccant Air-Conditioning Systems for Wet Markets

The air conditions inside wet markets may affect the human health, and the quality of food products. Humid conditions promote the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms that lead towards certain human diseases and loss of products’ qualitative and nutritional attributes. It highlights the importance of air-conditioning to sustain environmental health in wet markets. Two energy-efficient air-conditioning/cooling systems, i.e., standalone Maisotsenko evaporative cooling system (S-1) and desiccant air-conditioning system (S-2), were proposed in this study. These systems were investigated for their applicability in wet markets under ambient conditions of Punjab, Pakistan. The study area was divided into three climatic zones due to the spatio-temporal variations. The results revealed that the proposed system S-1 was applicable during April and May, while S-2 was suitable in critical months (June, July, August, and September) in all the climatic zones. The system (S-2) performance was further evaluated based on thermal coefficient of performance, wet-bulb, and dew-point effectiveness.