Solar Air Conditioning System Using Desiccant Wheel Technology

The electrical energy consumption in Malaysia has increased sharply in the past few years. Modern energy efficient technologies are desperately needed for the national energy policy. In this paper, a new design of desiccant cooling is being developed at the Solar Energy Research Institute, National University of Malaysia, Malaysia. The new conception of desiccant cooling can be an energy saving and permits to produce heat or cool by using solar energy without polluting the environment. Desiccant cooling systems have been used successfully in northern Europe and a number of studies have demonstrated that solar energy can be used to drive the system in this region. However, to date, desiccant cooling has not been used in Malaysia. This paper presents the results of a study, in which it solar desiccant cooling model will used to evaluate the potential for using solar power to drive a single-stage desiccant cooling system in Malaysia. The study demonstrates that solar desiccant cooling is feasible in Malaysia, provided that the latent heat gains experienced are not excessive. However, if the relative humidities experienced are too high then desiccant cooling becomes impracticable simply because the regeneration temperatures required are excessive.