Prof. M.V. Rane and his team of Department of Mechanical Engineering have
formulated a process for the energy efficient conditioning of air using liquid
desiccant (CAULD). The device which comes in contact with the air can function
as an exchanger that has no loss or gain of heat to the surrounding, or even
a loss or gain thermodynamically. The contacting device (device which comes
in contact with the air) can function as humidifiers, dehumidifiers or; direct,
indirect Evaporative Coolers (EC). The system is devised such that the liquid
desiccant can be regenerated by multi or single stages. This ensures that
the conditioned air by the process does not contain any desiccant in it.
Compared to conventional VCRS, electrical power consumption is significantly
reduced in the present invention. The system using CAULD is modular and can
be scaled up / down to meet any air conditioning load. It operates with lower
pressure drops and low desiccant flow rates compared to conventional desiccant
cooling systems.The main advantages of the CAULD is that the outgoing air
stream is free of desiccant as compared to the conventional liquid dessicant
based air conditioning, uses low grade heat sources and has possibility of
recovering water. This is possible by the appropriate design of the dehumidifier,
regenerator, liquid-liquid heat exchanger air-air heat exchangers and other
components of CAULD. Significant reduction in weight and cost can be achieved
with the use of alternate materials such as plastics and problems due to
corrosion of the dehumidifier/regenerator as in conventional systems is eliminated.
The system is compact, low weight and techno-economically viable for air-conditioning.
Indian patent application no. 272/MUM/2003 Patent grant no. 206320
Inventors: M V Rane, S V Kota Reddy, and Roshini R Easow
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