Desiccant cooling: State-of-the-art assessment

The objectives of this document are to present an overview of the work accomplished to date on desiccant cooling to provide assessment of the state of the art of desiccant cooling technology in the field of desiccant material dehumidifier components, desiccant systems, and models. The report also discusses the factors that affect the widespread acceptance of desiccant cooling technology. This report is organized as follows. First, a basic description and historical overview of desiccant cooling technology is provided. Then, the recent research and development (R D) program history (focusing on DOE's funded efforts) is discussed. The status of the technology elements (materials, components, systems) is discussed in detail and a preliminary study on the energy impact of desiccant technology is presented. R D needs for advancing the technology in the market are identified. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's unique desiccant test facilities and their typical outputs are described briefly. Finally, the results of a comprehensive literature search on desiccant cooling are presented in a bibliography. The bibliography contains approximately 900 citations on desiccant cooling