Simplified models for the performance evaluation of desiccant wheel dehumidification

In the present communication, simple models have been presented to evaluate the performance of rotary \ndesiccant wheels based on different kind of solid desiccants e.g. silica gel and LiCl. The first part of the \npaper presents ‘Model 54’ which is developed for silica gel desiccant rotor. The model has been derived \nfrom the interpolation of experimental data obtained from the industry and the correlations have been \ndeveloped for predicting outlet temperature and absolute humidity. The ‘Model 54’ consists of 54 \ncoefficients corresponding to each correlation for outlet absolute humidity and temperature and it is found \nthat the model predicts very well the performance of silica gel desiccant rotor (Type-I). In the second part \nof the paper, a psychrometric model has been presented to obtain relatively simple correlations for outlet \ntemperature and absolute humidity. The developed psychometric model is based on the correlations \nbetween the relative humidity and enthalpy of supply and regeneration air streams. The model is used to \npredict the performance of three type of desiccant rotors manufactured by using different kind of solid \ndesiccants (Type I, II and III). The model is tested corresponding to a wide range of measurement data. \nThe developed psychometric model is simple in nature and able to predict very well the performance of \ndifferent kind of desiccant rotors.