Condenser performance in a cylindrical humidification and dehumidification (HDH) system

Abstract

AbstractIn recent years, humidification and dehumidification (HDH) systems have garnered significant attention due to their enhanced effectiveness with packed beds, particularly for high‐salinity waters. The direct‐contact packed beds HDH system offers a more convenient and efficient installation compared with conventional HDH systems. This paper introduces a novel, compact cylindrical crossflow HDH system design that is easily constructed and scalable for industrial and residential applications. The compact crossflow‐packed bed condenser employs perforated air tubes to distribute humidified air radially while cooling water drips vertically through the packed bed, coming into direct contact with the humidified air. To evaluate the system's performance, two‐dimensional steady‐state energy, and mass conservation equations were developed solving enthalpies instead of temperatures as dependents. The coupled partial differential equations were numerically solved to predict water temperature, air/vapor temperature, humidity ratio, and condenser effectiveness. Multiple designs were proposed, demonstrating that the proposed configuration can achieve effectiveness above 0.80 and a water production rate of 3.85 g/s under ideal operating conditions.