Research on Double-Stage and Multi-Stage Capacitive Deionization Absorption Air-Conditioning System

Abstract

An absorption air-conditioning system is a good choice for green buildings. It has the superiority in the utilization of renewable energy and the refrigerant is environment-friendly. However, the performance of the traditional absorption system has been restricted by the energy waste in the thermal regeneration process. Capacitive deionization (CDI) regeneration is proposed as a potential method to improve system efficiency. In the new method-based air-conditioning system, strong absorbent solutions and pure water are acquired with the joint work of two CDI units. Nevertheless, the practical CDI device is composed of a lot of CDI units, which is quite different from the theoretical model. To reveal the performance of multiple CDI units, the model of the double/multi-stage CDI system has been developed. Analysis has been made to expose the influence of some key parameters. The results show the double-stage system has better performance than the single-stage system under certain conditions. The coefficient of performance (COP) could exceed 4.5, which is higher than the traditional thermal energy-driven system, or even as competitive as the vapor compression system. More stages with proper voltage distribution better the performance. It also provides the optimization method for the multi-stage CDI system.