A technical review on use of liquid-desiccant dehumidification for air-conditioning application

Liquid-desiccant dehumidification has been proved to be an effective method to extract the moisture of air with relatively less energy consumption, especially compared with conventional vapour compression system. To date, the conventional dehumidification mode with desiccant solution has been improved or replaced by newly emerged energy-saving systems with better performance. This paper gives a detailed account of the general features of the major desiccant dehumidification techniques and configurations of the related systems; meanwhile, attention has been paid to both technological and theoretical development of regenerator, which is an indispensable component of the liquid-desiccant dehumidification system. Moreover, a summary of the experimental and analytical studies to optimize the system performance has been made. Some new hybrid systems that greatly expand the desiccant dehumidification technique in industrial and residential applications, as well as effectively promoting the single system's performance, are also introduced. Finally, future study and application for liquid-desiccant dehumidification techniques are concluded. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.