Abstract

In this paper, the size and performance of a dehumidification tower were studied by simulating varying operating conditions. Based on the experimental results, this study presents the performance of a packed tower absorber for a lithium chloride desiccant dehumidification system. The effects of the main variables - airflow rate, liquid desiccant flow rate, and inlet air temperature on the rate of dehumidification were reported. It was found that the influence of these variables could be assumed to be linear. A finite difference model was developed to determine the packing height of the dehumidification towers. This model was worked out in MATLAB code, which is a suitable model for measuring the optimum height of a tower. The validity of this model was compared with published experimental data and our data. Comparisons between the simulated packing height and the actual packing heights used by experimental studies illustrated that our finite difference model is acceptable. With this model, we predict the packing height for every condition, and then we constructed the dehumidifier based on the results of our finite difference model.

Key words: Dehumidification, finite difference, liquid desiccant, measurement device, packing height.