Liquid desiccant based two-stage evaporative cooling system using reverse osmosis (RO) process for regeneration

This paper presents preliminary findings of the energy analysis of a cooling system with two-stage evaporative coolers using liquid desiccant dehumidifier between the stages. The proposed evaporative cooling system utilizes air humidity for cooling in humid areas and requires no additional water supply. The major energy requirement associated with this cooling system is the energy for regenerating the weak liquid desiccant. Reverse osmosis process is considered for regeneration by mechanical energy and MFI zeolite membrane is proposed for separation of water from the weak desiccant solution. Energy analysis has been carried out for the proposed cooling system. The COP of the proposed cooling system is defined as the cooling effect by the mass rate of water evaporated in the system divided by the amount of energy supplied to the system, that is, the COP is independent of the energy source.