PERFORMANCE OF A DESICCANT DEHUMIDIFIER BED WITH MIXED INERT AND DESICCANT MATERIALS

We present a study of the performance of desiccant felt with inert mat erials. An effective thermal conductivity model that accounts for the inert materials, the moisture sorbed in pores, and the effect of poros ity and water content is incorporated into a heat- and mass-transfer m odel to study the sorption processes of water vapor in a desiccant deh umidifier. The dehumidifier consists of parallel flow channels. Result s are presented for different fractions and different ratios of therma l conductivities and capacitances of inert and desiccant materials.