Experimental Investigation of a Direct Evaporative Cooling System for Year-Round Thermal Management with Solar-Assisted Dryer

Joint Authors

Abaranji, Sujatha
Panchabikesan, Karthik
Ramalingam, Velraj

Source

International Journal of Photoenergy

Issue

Vol. 2020, Issue 2020 (31 Dec. 2020), pp.1-24, 24 p.

Publisher

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Publication Date

2020-12-19

Country of Publication

Egypt

No. of Pages

24

Main Subjects

Chemistry

Abstract EN

Building cooling is achieved by the extensive use of air conditioners.

These mechanically driven devices provide thermal comfort by deteriorating the environment with increased energy consumption.

To alleviate environmental degradation, the need for energy-efficient and eco-friendly systems for building cooling becomes essential.

Evaporative cooling, a typical passive cooling technique, could meet the energy demand and global climatic issues.

In conventional direct evaporative cooling, the sensible cooling of air is achieved by continuous water circulation over the cooling pad.

Despite its simple operation, the problem of the pad material and water stagnation in the sump limits its usage.

Moreover, the continuous pump operation increases the electrical energy consumption.

In the present work, a porous material is used as the water storage medium eliminating the pump and sump.

An experimental investigation is performed on the developed setup, and experiments are conducted for three different RH conditions (low, medium, and high) to assess the porous material’s ability as a cooling medium.

Cooling capacity, effectiveness, and water evaporation rate are determined to evaluate the direct evaporative cooling system’s performance.

The material that replaces the pump and sump is vermicompost due to its excellent water retention characteristics.

There is no necessity to change material each time.

However, the vermicompost is regenerated at the end of the experiment using a solar dryer.

The passing of hot air over the vermicompost also avoids mould spores’ transmission, if any, present through the air.

The results show that vermicompost produces an average temperature drop of 9.5°C during low RH conditions.

Besides, vermicompost helps with the energy savings of 21.7% by eliminating the pump.

Hence, vermicompost could be an alternate energy-efficient material to replace the pad-pump-sump of the conventional evaporative cooling system.

Further, if this direct evaporative cooling system is integrated with solar-assisted drying of vermicompost, it is possible to provide a clean and sustainable indoor environment.

This system could pave the way for year-round thermal management of building cooling applications with environmental safety.

American Psychological Association (APA)

Abaranji, Sujatha& Panchabikesan, Karthik& Ramalingam, Velraj. 2020. Experimental Investigation of a Direct Evaporative Cooling System for Year-Round Thermal Management with Solar-Assisted Dryer. International Journal of Photoenergy،Vol. 2020, no. 2020, pp.1-24.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1173190

Modern Language Association (MLA)

Abaranji, Sujatha…[et al.]. Experimental Investigation of a Direct Evaporative Cooling System for Year-Round Thermal Management with Solar-Assisted Dryer. International Journal of Photoenergy No. 2020 (2020), pp.1-24.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1173190

American Medical Association (AMA)

Abaranji, Sujatha& Panchabikesan, Karthik& Ramalingam, Velraj. Experimental Investigation of a Direct Evaporative Cooling System for Year-Round Thermal Management with Solar-Assisted Dryer. International Journal of Photoenergy. 2020. Vol. 2020, no. 2020, pp.1-24.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1173190

Data Type

Journal Articles

Language

English

Notes

Includes bibliographical references

Record ID

BIM-1173190