Study of the thermal performance of a novel dew point evaporative cooler

Evaporative cooling has been proven to have higher efficiency than does mechanical vapor compression refrigeration. It has great energy saving potential, and it is also an environmentally friendly solution for air cooling systems. To improve its performance, a small size counter-cross-flow cooler coated with nylon fibers on the wet channel surface was proposed. Then, the impacts of the operating parameters on its thermal performance were analyzed. The results showed that the cooler coated with nylon fibers demonstrated better cooling performance. The dew point effectiveness of the polystyrene + nylon fiber (PS + NL) varied from 46.7% to 78.6%. Compared with previous studies, the effectiveness of the counter-cross-flow PS + NL evaporative cooler was close to that of counter-flow evaporative coolers and higher than that of cross-flow evaporative coolers. In addition, the counter cross-flow PS + NL evaporative cooler may reduce the size and weight of the cooler while providing the same air flow rate. It would be a good solution for residential building precooling or air conditioning, improving the energy efficiency of the cooling system.