Abstract
This paper presents real time performance analysis of a silica gel based desiccant wheel dehumidifier. Thermodynamic model is also validated through comparison under a wide range of operating conditions for subtropical climate conditions. Initially, a mathematical model is developed by using various set of equations for desiccant wheel dehumidifier in engineering equation solver. Afterwards, a parametric analysis of the system is performed including various design and climate parameters such as: inlet air humidity ratio, inlet air temperature, regeneration inlet humidity ratio, regeneration temperature, and rotation speed of the wheel. Then, an experimental set-up of the system is established in Taxila Pakistan for the real-time performance assessment. The results revealed that the optimal rotation speed of desiccant wheel ranged from 15-17 rph. The maximum model based and experimental effectiveness is 0.45 and 0.43, respectively at regeneration temperature of 80 degrees C. The maximum and minimum root mean square error values for effectiveness are 3.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Thus, the comparison between experimental and model results showed a good agreement.