Conference Papers

Authors: Shoumik Desai, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

The commercial and residential sector demands high cooling requirement, which is mostly achieved by using conventional cooling systems like split ACs, chillers or VRF. These systems currently produce 100 MT of CO2 per annum and hence contribute significantly to carbon emissions. To mitigate such environmental impacts,

using low energy cooling systems like an indirect-direct evaporative cooling system (IDEC) is an energy efficient alternative as it uses energy only for pumping water and blowing air. This study evaluates the cooling performance of IDECs. The wet bulb effectiveness (WBE %) was calculated from the hourly measured values of air temperature (Ta °C) and relative humidity (RH %). These parameters were measured at inlet and supply air. Energy consumption of the IDEC, air blower fan, and water pump were monitored every hour. Thermal comfort surveys were conducted to establish a relation between the effectiveness of IDECs, the cooling energy consumption and degree of occupants’ comfort. ∆Ta of 5- 6 °C and saturation deficit of as 30-35% was observed. During August-October WBE varied from 55-83% with an energy consumption range of 29-30 kWh. Whereas, for November-December, WBE varied from 41-67% with energy consumption range of 23-28 kWh.

Keyword: Indirect-direct evaporative cooling system, IDEC effectiveness, low energy cooling (LEC), energy consumption, thermal comfort
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2019, Heriot Watt University, Dubai

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