Performance analysis of desiccant cooling system using polyacrylic acid sodium salt desiccant wheel

The adsorbent material has an important role in the improvement of desiccant cooling system performance. Super Desiccant Polymer (SDP) is chosen in this work as a sophisticated desiccant material characterized by excellent adsorption capacity and durability. The mathematical correlations of adsorption isotherm on SDP surface, adsorption heat and water diffusivity coefficient are used to model the SDP desiccant wheel by means of Comsol software. Modeling results are validated by an experimental data base. They serve as a base for the determination of the SDP wheel effectivenesses ԑ1 and ԑ1 which are equal to 0.02 and 0.83, respectively. The application of desiccant cooling system performance with SDP desiccant wheel in a hot and dry weather of the region of Gabes (south-eastern Tunisia) leads to a coefficient performance (COP) value equal to 1.1. This result is better than the COPs of other air conditioning desiccant systems which use zeolites and silica gel wheels. Moreover, the COP of desiccant cooling system with SDP desiccant wheel is the best for a wide range of operating conditions.