Abstract
Microwave irradiation has a feature of direct and rapid heating of a material. Based on the advantages of microwave heating, we have proposed the combined microwave and hot-air heating for regeneration of desiccant unit. Combined heating is expected to improve regeneration efficiency of conventional desiccant air conditioning system. In this study, experiments for regeneration of silica gel desiccant unit were performed under various microwave powers (200-800 W) and hot-air temperatures (40-100 oC). As a result, combined heating improved regeneration ratio in the equilibrium state and initial regeneration rate of desiccant unit, because it leveled non-uniform temperature distribution in the desiccant unit caused by microwave irradiation. It was also found that microwave irradiation was effective for regeneration of unit in the initial period. In addition, microwave and combined heating had a potential to reduce energy consumption for regeneration compared to conventional electric hot-air heating.
