Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 12;7:40437. doi: 10.1038/srep40437.
Comfortable, efficient, and affordable heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in buildings are highly desirable due to the demands of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. Traditional vapor-compression air conditioners exhibit a lower coefficient of performance (COP) (typically 2.8-3.8) owing to the cooling-based dehumidification methods that handle both sensible and latent loads together. Temperature- and humidity-independent control or desiccant systems have been proposed to overcome these challenges; however, the COP of current desiccant systems is quite small and additional heat sources are usually needed. Here, we report on a desiccant-enhanced, direct expansion heat pump based on a water-sorbing heat exchanger with a desiccant coating that exhibits an ultrahigh COP value of more than 7 without sacrificing any comfort or compactness. The pump's efficiency is doubled compared to that of pumps currently used in conventional room air conditioners, which is a revolutionary HVAC breakthrough. Our proposed water-sorbing heat exchanger can independently handle sensible and latent loads at the same time. The desiccants adsorb moisture almost isothermally and can be regenerated by condensation heat. This new approach opens up the possibility of achieving ultrahigh efficiency for a broad range of temperature- and humidity-control applications.
建筑中舒适、高效且经济实惠的供暖、通风和空调系统是人们所期望的，因为它们需要满足能源效率和环保的要求。传统的蒸气压缩式空调由于采用冷却式除湿方法，同时处理显热和潜热负荷，因此其性能系数 (COP) 较低（通常为 2.8-3.8）。为了克服这些挑战，已经提出了温度和湿度独立控制或干燥剂系统；然而，目前干燥剂系统的 COP 相当低，通常需要额外的热源。在这里，我们报告了一种基于吸水热交换器的干燥剂增强型直接膨胀热泵，该热交换器具有干燥剂涂层，具有超过 7 的超高 COP 值，同时不会牺牲任何舒适性或紧凑性。与目前用于传统房间空调器的泵相比，该泵的效率提高了一倍，这是 HVAC 的一项革命性突破。我们提出的吸水热交换器可以独立地同时处理显热和潜热负荷。干燥剂几乎等温吸附水分，并可以通过冷凝热再生。这种新方法为广泛的温度和湿度控制应用实现超高效率提供了可能性。
