ON THE USE OF THE PARABOLIC CONCENTRATION PROFILE ASSUMPTION FOR A ROTARY DESICCANT DEHUMIDIFIER

The current work describes a model for a desiccant dehumidifier which uses a parabolic concentration profile assumption to model the diffusi on resistance inside the desiccant particle. The relative merits of th e parabolic concentration profile model compared with widely utilized rotary desiccant wheel models are discussed, The periodic steady-state parabolic concentration profile model developed is efficient and can accommodate a variety of materials, These features make it an excellen t tool for design studies requiring repetitive desiccant wheel simulat ions. A quartic concentration profile assumption was also investigated which yielded a 2.8 percent average improvement in prediction error o ver the parabolic model.