Dew-Point Evaporative Cooling Systems

Abstract

Maisotsenko cycle (M-cycle) is a promising air-cooling technique that can reduce the temperature of airflow to approaching dew-point condition, which was not possible either with direct contact techniques or indirect evaporative methods. M-cycle systems have been employed previously on gas turbines, air-conditioning systems, cooling towers, electronic cooling, etc. Due to the wide application of air conditioning systems, this chapter focuses on the application of M-cycle specifically for air conditioning purpose. Researchers have evaluated the M-cycle cooling characteristics via different methods including analytical solutions, numerical simulations, statistical design methods, and experimental techniques. The salient aspects of these methods are systematically discussed and compared in this chapter. In addition, the current status of the applying the dew-point evaporative cooling systems to meet industrial needs is summarized and some of the future research directions are also identified.