Optimized Operation of a Solar-Driven Thermoelectric Dehumidification System for Fresh Water Production
Optimized Operation of a Solar-Driven Thermoelectric Dehumidification System for Fresh Water Production作者机构:Department of Mechanical Engineering American University of Beirut Beirut 1107-2020 Lebanon
出 版 物:《Journal of Energy and Power Engineering》 (能源与动力工程(美国大卫英文))
年 卷 期:2012年第6卷第6期
页 面:878-891页
学科分类:080705[工学-制冷及低温工程] 08[工学] 0807[工学-动力工程及工程热物理] 0815[工学-水利工程]
主 题:Thermoelectric cooling humidification/dehumidification process solar energy water production design and optimization.
摘 要:The work presents a parametric analysis of the performance of a solar-driven thermoelectric system to dehumidify air and produce fresh water. The system is combined with a solar distiller humidifying ambient air to enhance distillate output to meet the specified fresh water needs for a residential application. The presented system is a totally renewable energy-based system taking advantage of the clean solar energy. A model is developed to simulate the air dehumidification process using TEC (thermoelectrically cooled) channels. An optimization problem for setting system operational parameters is formulated to meet the fresh water requirement of 10 liters per day for a typical residential application in the Lebanese coastal humid climate. Using five TEC channels of length of 1.2 m and area of 0.07 - 0.05 m^2 integrated with 1.2 m^2 solar distiller is capable of meeting the water demand, where the air mass flow rate introduced to each TEC channel is optimally set at 0.0155 kg/s. The optimal electrical current input to the TEC modules from the photovoltaic solar panels varied depending on the month and is set at 2.2 A in June, 2.1 A in July and 2.0 A in August, September and October per each TEC module.