Performance Evaluation of Different Desiccant Matrix Materials Coated with Silica Gel

Excessive cooling of air is required in conventional air conditioning systems to reduce the humidity, leading to the development of desiccant wheel-based air conditioning systems. The desiccant wheel consists of desiccant material which is deposited on matrix material. In this study, aluminum, magnesium alloy, Teflon, and fiberglass have been considered matrix materials of the desiccant wheel. A one-dimensional mathematical model has been developed to evaluate the effect of these matrix materials. The results show that fiberglass can be selected as a suitable matrix material for drying applications because it has maximum moisture removal (MR; 1.92 g/kg) and temperature difference (4.72 °C) at optimal rotational speed, which are desirable for drying. While aluminum can be selected as a suitable matrix material for air conditioning applications because, at the optimal rotational speed, it has lower maximum MR (1.26 g/kg) and temperature difference (3.14 °C) as compared to other matrix materials. As moderate maximum MR and lower temperature difference are the requirements for air conditioning. A similar trend of results has been also obtained for other parameters (volume ratio, regeneration velocity, regeneration temperature, etc.) of this study.