Influence of the atmospheric pressure on the mass transfer rate of desiccant wheels

The performance of a desiccant wheel is evaluated by modelling a representative channel. The hypothesis of negligible resistances to heat and mass transfer in the cross-direction is assumed in the thin porous desiccant wall of the channels and the airflow is treated as a bulk flow. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the atmospheric pressure decrease from 101,325 Pa to 60,000 Pa (0–4217 m of altitude) on the mass transfer rate of desiccant wheels considering distinct channel lengths and different inlet airflow rates, a large range of values of the rotation speed, as well as three alternative ways to specify the inlet conditions of the regeneration and of the process airflows. A procedure to derive correlations based on the numerical results is presented for the correction factor of the mass transfer rate when a desiccant wheel is operating at non-standard atmospheric conditions. Four parametric studies were performed, the derived correlations were tested and a good agreement was found between the estimated correction factor and the correction factor calculated after the numerical results.