Experimental Investigation of Solar-Driven Hollow Fiber Membrane Liquid Dehumidification System

Abstract

The hollow fiber membrane modules act as dehumidifiers and regenerators to avoid gas–liquid entrainment problems in direct-contact dehumidification systems. A solar-driven hollow fiber membrane dehumidification experimental rig was designed to investigate its performance from July to September in Guilin, China. The dehumidification, regeneration, and cooling performance of the system between 8:30 and 17:30 are analyzed. The energy utilization of the solar collector and system is investigated. The results show that solar radiation has a significant influence on the system. The hourly regeneration of the system has the same trend as the temperature of solar hot water, which ranges from 0.13 g/s to 0.36 g/s. The regeneration capacity of the dehumidification system is always larger than the dehumidification capacity after 10:30, which increases the solution concentration and the dehumidification performance. Further, it ensures stable system operation when the solar radiation is lower (15:30–17:50). In addition, the hourly dehumidification capacity and efficiency of the system ranges from 0.15 g/s to 0.23 g/s and 52.4 to 71.3%, respectively, with good dehumidification performance. The COP of the system and solar collector have the same trend, in which their maximum values are 0.874 and 0.634, respectively, with high energy utilization efficiency. The solar-driven hollow fiber membrane liquid dehumidification system performs better in regions with larger solar radiation.