Solid desiccant dehumidification-based air-conditioning system for agricultural storage application: Theory and experiments

This study experimentally investigates desiccant dehumidification and indirect evaporative cooling for agricultural products' storage. Thermodynamic advantages of the proposed system are highlighted and compared to vapor compression systems. Significance of proposed system is discussed in relation to agricultural storage application. Factors affecting the postharvest quality of products are discussed, and consequently, the psychrometric zones are established for optimum storage. Hydrophilic polymeric sorbent-based desiccant units are used for the experimental investigation. An open-cycle experimental apparatus is setup by which desiccant dehumidification and regeneration processes are analyzed at various conditions. Thereby, a novel correlation is developed by which desiccant dehumidification process can be simulated precisely. The correlation is successfully validated against the experimental data of various conditions. Desiccant air-conditioning cycle is analyzed for two cases (i.e. case-A: dry-bulb temperature = 31 ℃, humidity-ratio = 6 g/kg-DA; and case-B: dry-bulb temperature = 13 ℃, humidity-ratio = 6 g/kg-DA) to investigate the proposed system's applicability for agricultural storage. The results show that the thermal coefficient of performance is highly influenced by ambient air conditions and decreases with the increase in regeneration temperature. The thermal coefficient of performance for case-A is higher as compared to case-B, and for both cases, it increases with the increase in wet-bulb effectiveness of the evaporative cooling unit.