IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i11p2674-d362891.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparative Study of the Heat and Mass Transfer Characteristics between Counter-Flow and Cross-Flow Heat Source Towers

Author

Listed:
  • Yifei Lv

    (School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China)

  • Jun Lu

    (School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China)

  • Yongcai Li

    (School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China)

  • Ling Xie

    (School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China)

  • Lulu Yang

    (School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China)

  • Linlin Yuan

    (Commission for Discipline Inspection of Nankai District, Tianjin 300100, China)

Abstract

The heat source tower (HST), as a cleaner energy production, which can absorb the low-grade energy from ambient air to drive the heat pump unit without emissions has attracted more and more interest. In addition, HST has excellent economic applicability by using cooling tower equipment, which was idle in winter. However, there are few studies on comparative analysis of thermal behavior between counter-flow and cross-flow HST. A mathematical model suitable for both HST types was developed to identify the performance discrepancies between them. Then a parametric study was carried out in order to investigate the impact of solution and air as well as packing material properties on energy transfer of HSTs. Finally, the characteristics of solution dilution and dehumidification were investigated. As the inlet solution temperature increases, increases first, then decreases gradually, but a transition point occurs in the solution at −5 °C. Moreover, the transition section of moisture transfer direction for counter-flow HST was located in the 0.78 m and 0.26–1.56 m of packing material height, under the condition that the air relative humidity was 50%. In summary, this work intuitively indicates the thermal performance difference between counter-flow and cross-flow HST, also could assist the selection of proper operating conditions in HSTs.

Suggested Citation

  • Yifei Lv & Jun Lu & Yongcai Li & Ling Xie & Lulu Yang & Linlin Yuan, 2020. "Comparative Study of the Heat and Mass Transfer Characteristics between Counter-Flow and Cross-Flow Heat Source Towers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:11:p:2674-:d:362891
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/11/2674/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/11/2674/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Lun & Wei, Hongyang & Zhang, Xiaosong, 2017. "Theoretical analysis of heat and mass transfer characteristics of a counter-flow packing tower and liquid desiccant dehumidification systems based on entransy theory," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 661-672.
    2. Cui, Haijiao & Li, Nianping & Wang, Xinlei & Peng, Jinqing & Li, Yuan & Wu, Zhibin, 2017. "Optimization of reversibly used cooling tower with downward spraying," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 30-43.
    3. Song, Xia & Zhang, Lun & Zhang, Xiaosong, 2018. "NTUm-based optimization of heat or heat pump driven liquid desiccant dehumidification systems regenerated by fresh air or return air," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 269-280.
    4. Cui, Haijiao & Li, Nianping & Peng, Jinqing & Cheng, Jianlin & Li, Shengbing, 2016. "Study on the dynamic and thermal performances of a reversibly used cooling tower with upward spraying," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 268-277.
    5. Liu, X.H. & Jiang, Y. & Chang, X.M. & Yi, X.Q., 2007. "Experimental investigation of the heat and mass transfer between air and liquid desiccant in a cross-flow regenerator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1623-1636.
    6. Cui, Haijiao & Li, Nianping & Peng, Jinqing & Yin, Rongxin & Li, Jingming & Wu, Zhibin, 2018. "Investigation on the thermal performance of a novel spray tower with upward spraying and downward gas flow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 12-21.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Men, Yiyu & Liu, Xiaohua & Zhang, Tao, 2020. "Analytical solutions of heat and mass transfer process in combined gas-water heat exchanger applied for waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    2. Wen, Tao & Lu, Lin, 2019. "A review of correlations and enhancement approaches for heat and mass transfer in liquid desiccant dehumidification system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 757-784.
    3. Su, Wei & Lu, Zhifei & She, Xiaohui & Zhou, Junming & Wang, Feng & Sun, Bo & Zhang, Xiaosong, 2022. "Liquid desiccant regeneration for advanced air conditioning: A comprehensive review on desiccant materials, regenerators, systems and improvement technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    4. Qingqing Liu & Nianping Li & Yongga A & Jiaojiao Duan & Wenyun Yan, 2021. "The Evaluation of the Corrosion Rates of Alloys Applied to the Heating Tower Heat Pump (HTHP) by Machine Learning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Cui, Haijiao & Li, Nianping & Peng, Jinqing & Yin, Rongxin & Li, Jingming & Wu, Zhibin, 2018. "Investigation on the thermal performance of a novel spray tower with upward spraying and downward gas flow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 12-21.
    6. Ayoub, Ali & Gjorgiev, Blaže & Sansavini, Giovanni, 2018. "Cooling towers performance in a changing climate: Techno-economic modeling and design optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1133-1143.
    7. Cui, X. & Islam, M.R. & Mohan, B. & Chua, K.J., 2016. "Theoretical analysis of a liquid desiccant based indirect evaporative cooling system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 303-312.
    8. Yang, Zili & Zhang, Kaisheng & Hwang, Yunho & Lian, Zhiwei, 2016. "Performance investigation on the ultrasonic atomization liquid desiccant regeneration system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 12-25.
    9. Fekadu, Geleta & Subudhi, Sudhakar, 2018. "Renewable energy for liquid desiccants air conditioning system: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 364-379.
    10. Liang, Chenjiyu & Li, Xianting & Zheng, Gonghang, 2022. "Optimizing air conditioning systems by considering the grades of sensible and latent heat loads," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    11. Shih-Cheng Hu & Angus Shiue & Yi-Shiung Chiu & Archy Wang & Jacky Chen, 2016. "Simplified Heat and Mass Transfer Model for Cross-Flow and Countercurrent Flow Packed Bed Tower Dehumidifiers with a Liquid Desiccant System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Bai, Xiao-Shuai & Yang, Wei-Wei & Tang, Xin-Yuan & Yang, Fu-Sheng & Jiao, Yu-Hang & Yang, Yu, 2021. "Optimization of tree-shaped fin structures towards enhanced absorption performance of metal hydride hydrogen storage device: A numerical study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    13. Liu, Wei & Gong, Yanfeng & Niu, Xiaofeng & Shen, Junjie & Kosonen, Risto, 2019. "Dynamic modeling of liquid-desiccant regenerator based on a state–space method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 744-753.
    14. Lychnos, G. & Davies, P.A., 2012. "Modelling and experimental verification of a solar-powered liquid desiccant cooling system for greenhouse food production in hot climates," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 116-130.
    15. Yang, Zili & Tao, Ruiyang & Chen, Lu-An & Zhong, Ke & Chen, Bin, 2020. "Feasibility study on improving the performance of atomization liquid desiccant dehumidifier with standing-wave ultrasound," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    16. Su, Bosheng & Han, Wei & Qu, Wanjun & Liu, Changchun & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "A new hybrid photovoltaic/thermal and liquid desiccant system for trigeneration application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 808-818.
    17. Li, Hailong & Wang, Bin & Yan, Jinying & Salman, Chaudhary Awais & Thorin, Eva & Schwede, Sebastian, 2019. "Performance of flue gas quench and its influence on biomass fueled CHP," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 934-945.
    18. Giampieri, Alessandro & Ma, Zhiwei & Ling-Chin, Janie & Bao, Huashan & Smallbone, Andrew J. & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2022. "Liquid desiccant dehumidification and regeneration process: Advancing correlations for moisture and enthalpy effectiveness," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    19. Wang, Xinli & Cai, Wenjian & Lu, Jiangang & Sun, Youxian & Ding, Xudong, 2013. "A hybrid dehumidifier model for real-time performance monitoring, control and optimization in liquid desiccant dehumidification system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 449-455.
    20. Wu, Qiong & Cai, WenJian & Shen, Suping & Wang, Xinli & Ren, Haoren, 2017. "A regulation strategy of working concentration in the dehumidifier of liquid desiccant air conditioner," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 648-661.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:11:p:2674-:d:362891. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.