A Novel Heat and Mass Transfer Model for Membrane-based Ionic Liquid Desiccant Air Dehumidifier

Abstract

A numerical model is developed to predict and analyze the heat and mass transfer process of the membrane-based dehumidifier using liquid desiccant. Several mass transfer mechanisms of water vapor across the membrane are accounted for in this model to calculate the amount of permeated water vapor under various operating conditions based on the physical properties of the membrane and the liquid desiccant. This model is validated against experimental data available from the literature. The maximum discrepancy between the model-predicted results and the experimental data for air outlet temperature, solution outlet temperature, air outlet humidity ratio, and latent effectiveness are 3.38%, 2.7%, 4.3%, and 6.5%, respectively. It indicates that this model can be used to guide the design of the membrane-based dehumidifier to improve its performance.