Host: The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan
Thermosensitive water vapor adsorbent for the desiccant air conditioning was developed by the immobilization of the thermosensitive gel onto the silica gel. The numerical study on heat and mass transfer (water vapor) in a thermosensitive adsorbent packed within a bed column was carried out. A part of dehumidified air was recycled through a heat exchanger into the packed bed column to increase the capacity of the adsorbent for water vapor. The effects of recycle ratio on both temperature rising within the packed bed column and efficiency of dehumidification were investigated numerically. It was confirmed that the rise of temperature within the packed bed column was reduced by introducing the recycle process, and the dehumidified effect increased with increasing the recycle ratio. The amount of water vapor adsorbed onto the thermosensitive adsorbent before breakthrough of humidity drastically increased with this recycle operation, resulting in an increase of dehumidified amount of air.
