Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations
Due to modern comfort demands and global warming, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are widely used in many homes and buildings. However, HVAC based on the Vapor Compression System (VCS) is a major energy consumer, accounting for 20–50% of a building’s energy consumption and...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Thermo |
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| author | Mario García-González Guanggui Cheng Duc Thuan Bui Josué Aarón López-Leyva |
| author_facet | Mario García-González Guanggui Cheng Duc Thuan Bui Josué Aarón López-Leyva |
| author_sort | Mario García-González |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Due to modern comfort demands and global warming, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are widely used in many homes and buildings. However, HVAC based on the Vapor Compression System (VCS) is a major energy consumer, accounting for 20–50% of a building’s energy consumption and responsible for 29% of the world’s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Dew-point evaporative coolers offer a sustainable alternative yet face challenges, e.g., dew point and wet bulb effectiveness. Given the above, dew point evaporative cooling systems may find a place to dethrone conventional air conditioning systems. This research aims to design a dew point evaporative cooler system with better performance in terms of dew point and wet bulb effectiveness. In terms of methodology, a heat exchanger as part of a counter-flow dew point cooling system was designed and analyzed using COMSOL simulations under different representative climatic, geometric, and dimensional conditions, taking into account turbulent flow. Next, our model was compared with other cooling systems. The results show that our model performs similarly to other cooling systems, with an error of around 6.89% in the output temperature at low relative humidity (0–21%). In comparison, our system is more sensitive to humidity in the climate, whereas heat pumps can operate in high humidity. The average dew point and wet bulb effectiveness were also higher than reported in the literature, at 91.38% and 147.84%, respectively. In addition, there are some potential limitations of the simulations in terms of the assumptions made about atmospheric conditions. For this reason, the results cannot be generalized but must be considered as a starting point for future research and technology development projects. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df6e6cdb3a5b45a7ac3573e67249450f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-7264 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Thermo |
| spelling | doaj-art-df6e6cdb3a5b45a7ac3573e67249450f2024-12-27T14:56:20ZengMDPI AGThermo2673-72642024-11-014447548910.3390/thermo4040026Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL SimulationsMario García-González0Guanggui Cheng1Duc Thuan Bui2Josué Aarón López-Leyva3Engineering School, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaEngineering School, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaEngineering School, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, ChinaEscuela de Ingeniería, CETyS Universidad, 22860 Ensenada, Baja California, MexicoDue to modern comfort demands and global warming, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are widely used in many homes and buildings. However, HVAC based on the Vapor Compression System (VCS) is a major energy consumer, accounting for 20–50% of a building’s energy consumption and responsible for 29% of the world’s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Dew-point evaporative coolers offer a sustainable alternative yet face challenges, e.g., dew point and wet bulb effectiveness. Given the above, dew point evaporative cooling systems may find a place to dethrone conventional air conditioning systems. This research aims to design a dew point evaporative cooler system with better performance in terms of dew point and wet bulb effectiveness. In terms of methodology, a heat exchanger as part of a counter-flow dew point cooling system was designed and analyzed using COMSOL simulations under different representative climatic, geometric, and dimensional conditions, taking into account turbulent flow. Next, our model was compared with other cooling systems. The results show that our model performs similarly to other cooling systems, with an error of around 6.89% in the output temperature at low relative humidity (0–21%). In comparison, our system is more sensitive to humidity in the climate, whereas heat pumps can operate in high humidity. The average dew point and wet bulb effectiveness were also higher than reported in the literature, at 91.38% and 147.84%, respectively. In addition, there are some potential limitations of the simulations in terms of the assumptions made about atmospheric conditions. For this reason, the results cannot be generalized but must be considered as a starting point for future research and technology development projects.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7264/4/4/26dew point evaporative coolercounter-flowheat exchanger |
| spellingShingle | Mario García-González Guanggui Cheng Duc Thuan Bui Josué Aarón López-Leyva Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations Thermo dew point evaporative cooler counter-flow heat exchanger |
| title | Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations |
| title_full | Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations |
| title_fullStr | Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations |
| title_short | Heat Exchanger Improvement of a Counter-Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler Through COMSOL Simulations |
| title_sort | heat exchanger improvement of a counter flow dew point evaporative cooler through comsol simulations |
| topic | dew point evaporative cooler counter-flow heat exchanger |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7264/4/4/26 |
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