Engine-driven desiccant-assisted hybrid air-conditioning system

Despite that in China gas cooling is becoming more attractive, absorption chiller has not been successfully utilized due to its lower efficiency and comparatively higher operation cost. The initial cost of engine-driven chiller seems to be an obstacle to its popularity. The gas/electricity price ratio in big cities does not favor gas cooling. In order to explore the margin within which gas cooling may defeat its electric counterpart, a hybrid air-conditioning system incorporating engine-driven chiller and desiccant dehumidification was configured out and experimentally tested. Sensible load was undertaken by chilled water from engine-driven chiller, while moisture load was undertaken by recovered waste heat. A test rig was set up to measure the performance of engine-driven chiller and dehumidification capacity. Comparison between theoretically predicted and measured values was presented. The waste heat recovered from engine-cooling system and exhaust was experimentally determined. Also measured was the performance improvement of chiller with higher temperature chilled water being capable of only sensible cooling. Economic benefits of hybrid air-conditioning system over conventional electric chiller wer