On the Study of a Hybrid Indirect Evaporative Pre-Cooling System for Various Climates

• Main Authors: Xin Cui, Le Sun, Sicong Zhang, and Liwen Jin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: air-conditioning; heat exchanger; indirect evaporative cooling; cooling load; energy consumption
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/23/4419

A hybrid air-conditioning system has been proposed by integrating an indirect evaporative pre-cooling unit. In the proposed system, the room exhaust air is employed in the indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) to pre-condition the ambient intake air. The mathematical formulation has been judiciously established for the pre-cooling IEC. The validation of the numerical model has been conducted by comparing the simulated results with the experimental data in terms of the outlet temperature and the heat flux along the heat exchanger surface. The pre-cooling performance of the IEC is theoretically investigated for the climate in representative cities selected from five different climate zones. The psychrometric illustration of the air conditioning variation has indicated that the ambient air can be pre-cooled and pre-dehumidified through the IEC. The possibility of water vapor condensation depends on the humidity ratio of the ambient intake air. The simulation result demonstrates the capability of the pre-cooling IEC to fulfill part of the cooling load of the ambient intake air resulting in a marked energy saving potential.