Energy Efficient Buildings
Air conditioning systems that combine cooling of air and dehumidification are generally inefficient. Hybrid liquid desiccant systems control these two factors separately, but have a number of issues that have stopped them from penetrating the market. The nanoCOOL project has now created a system that has resolved these issues and is more energy efficient than other solutions, which is why the partners think it is poised to hit the market by storm
An innovative and energy efficient air conditioning system
Buildings account for 40 per cent of energy consumption globally and are a significant source of CO2
generally emissions.
Currently, space heating and cooling as well as hot water are estimated to account for roughly half of global energy consumption in buildings. “The use of air conditioning has increased a lot in recent years,” explains Petra Novotna of the nanoCOOL project. “People expect to be able to control their indoor environment to a greater degree than ever before.” Air conditioning therefore represents a
significant opportunity to reduce energy consumption, improve energy security and reduce CO2
emissions due to the fact that
space and water-heating provision is dominated by fossil fuels while cooling demand is growing rapidly in countries with very carbon-intensive electricity systems. Most air conditioning (AC) systems use
the same mechanism to reduce the temperature of ambient air as they do to remove humidity. However such combined air-conditioning/dehumidification
is 40 inefficient. Hybrid liquid
desiccant (HLD) systems, in which the latent load (humidity) is controlled by a liquid desiccant dehumidifier, while the sensible load (heat) is controlled by a conventional
vapour
refrigerator, could be the way forward. These systems do have some problems,
however. The liquid desiccant is regenerated using heat, which requires
prevented HLD systems from penetrating the market. The nanoCOOL project is aiming to solve
compression
these problems through the development of an innovative HLD system that can be cost effectively operated both in residential and commercial buildings. Waste heat from the condenser unit it used to regenerate the desiccants, meaning that no external heat sources are needed for regeneration. This
“The humid environment of a swimming pool in a country such as Taiwan is where the nanoCOOL system works best”
power, which at the moment is provided by outer sources like natural gas or solar collectors.
Furthermore, the most
effective liquid desiccants corrode almost all metal alloys. These issues have so far
mechanism greatly enhances the total efficiency of the system, running on around 55 per cent of the energy needed for previous iterations. The main components in the system are
Insight Publishers | Projects
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