Investigating the performance of a hybrid desiccant cooling system and trombe wall and optimizing wall area in a stable condition

This study focuses mainly on employing trombe wall systems to provide the heat required for restoring the desiccant wheel and investigating the optimal surface area of the wall for attaining air conditioning comfort. In this study, a solar desiccant wheel was modeled that receives the thermal energy required for regeneration from a trombe wall. In this system, first, the components of the desiccant wheel, the trombe wall, and the insolation were separately modeled in MATLAB and then assembled. The integrated system may be examined in all humid weather conditions around the globe. The results of the model are compared with the experimental results and have acceptable agreement with each other. The model had been developed for cooling the building in July in Rasht city by using the ground heat exchanger. A ground coil was incorporated in this system to pre-cool the process air. The optimal surface area of the trombe wall was extracted as a function of the parameters of the desiccant wheel. For a wall output temperature of 66 °C, the comfort temperature was found to be 24 °C, the humidity ratio to be 12 gw/kgra, and the optimal wall surface area to be around 52 m2.