Liquid Desiccant-Polymeric Membrane Dehumidification System for Improved Cooling Efficiency in Built Environments

We have recently demonstrated a new type of moisture absorber using a silicone-based liquid desiccant and a nonporous hydrophilic membrane. The setup consists of a core-shell structure where the desiccant flows inside the hydrophilic membrane (core) surrounded with humid air and confined inside a larger diameter tube (shell). In this work, we propose to extend the capabilities of this moisture absorber prototype by addressing two additional characteristics in order to fully validate its capabilities in the built environment. In the first section of this study, we developed a new setup to demonstrate the regeneration process of the liquid desiccant. The regeneration process takes into account the following parameters: (i) air temperature and relative humidity level, (ii) desiccant temperature and water saturation amount, (iii) air/desiccant contact length, (iv) air and liquid desiccant flow rates. In the second part of this paper, we extend our earlier work with this absorber and propose to further improve its performance. We investigate in detail the water absorption kinetics to favor water access to the bulk liquid desiccant surface through efficient mixing inside a confined volume