Feasibility analysis of desiccant evaporative cooling technologies in various climate conditions: Present and future potential

Due to global warming, air conditioning in indoor spaces is responsible for the growing energy demand in buildings worldwide. Evaporative cooling technologies, potentially coupled with desiccant dehumidification, offer an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional air-conditioning methods. However, the performance of these techniques strongly depends on outdoor climate conditions. To deepen the knowledge of evaporative cooling technologies and assess their potential worldwide, the International Energy Agency has launched the Annex 85 project on indirect evaporative cooling. It is in this context that this work proposes a new approach allowing the building designers to decide on the relevance of desiccant evaporative cooling system configurations by obtaining the expected number of hours of operation of each component. The authors propose a generic system configuration and develop a systematic methodology based on a combination of performance indicators for each component. The resulting feasibility analysis methodology is applied to ten climate zones using current and projected meteorological data. Although active cooling systems dominate the market nowadays, it is demonstrated that there is a potential to use desiccant evaporative cooling systems in almost all climate zones, both now and in the future. Finally, general recommendations are provided regarding the implementation of desiccant evaporative cooling technologies worldwide.