| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 環境工程學系 === 103 === The modern society has been experiencing a dependency on the use of air conditioner. Thus, air conditioner becomes an inseparable part of the modern society which makes the air conditioner as one of basic needs. Energy consumption issues risen from space cooling will increase drastically if there is no new technology innovation, especially in humid regions. In humid regions, the latent heat carried by the moisture in the air contributes high portion of enthalpy and must be removed from the indoor environment for efficient cooling. Conventional air conditioning system removes moisture by cooling the outdoor-air to lower than its dew point, which is so-called condensation method. New desiccant dehumidification air conditioning technology absorbs moisture from the out-door air before cooling down the temperature, which claims to save more energy, and is considered as a promising energy/cost saving technology. To better understand the environmental benefits obtained from such new technology under different climate conditions, this study develops a modeling framework for the evaluation of 1) energy saving, 2) cost saving, and 3) greenhouse gas emissions reduction potentials of the desiccant dehumidification air conditioning technology. Energy consumption scenario which consist of different locations, coefficient of performance (COP), temperature, and humidity are analyzed using the developed model.
By comparing the result of energy consumption of conventional and desiccant air conditioner, the result of energy saving is obtained. Based on the calculated-energy saving, the reductions in operational cost and GHGs emission from the application of desiccant air conditioning technology are evaluated. First, the reductions in operational cost is assessed using electricity price data collected from different countries. Second, the GHGs emission is computed based on the energy consumption, and air conditioner materials deriving from life cycle assessment approach which considers refrigerant leakage of manufacturing phase, operation phase, and disposal and recycling phase of air conditioner. Additionally, the reduction in GHGs emission from non-refrigerant desiccant air conditioner is discussed.
Generally, the desiccant air conditioner is significantly better than conventional conditioner in all comparison conditions, including energy consumption, GHG emission and operational cost. Specifically, because of the warmer and humid climate, the potential energy saving and GHGs reduction in Southeast Asia were higher than that in India, Mainland China, and Taiwan. Overall, the Mindanao Province of Philippines has the highest potential of energy saving and GHG-reduction among the studied regions. Based on an assumption that the solar energy in Southeast Asia region and the heat release from the adsorption of water can fully cover the energy used by an internal heating fan to regenerate the saturated desiccant, desiccant dehumidification air conditioning technology in humid regions can reduce electricity consumption up to 90% compare to conventional air conditioner. Because of the highest number of population lived in humid and tropical climatic region, India has the highest potential of energy saving and GHG-reduction in total population when desiccant dehumidification air conditioning technology is applied. The potential reduction of greenhouse gas emission will be higher if refrigerant is not used in the desiccant air conditioning systems. This study encourages the use of desiccant air conditioning technology for saving energy and reductions in GHG emission.
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