A study on the regeneration performance characteristics of an internally heated regenerator in a liquid desiccant system

This paper presents a study on the regeneration performance characteristics of an internally heated regenerator applicable to a liquid desiccant system. The internally heated regenerator used in this study was designed and manufactured to provide better regeneration performance. An experimental setup was established to examine the regeneration performance. LiCl aqueous solution was used as working fluid. Variables to evaluate regeneration performance characteristics of the internally heated regenerator were dry bulb temperature, relative humidity and velocity of regeneration air, mass flow rate, temperature and concentration of the LiCl aqueous solution. The experimental conditions were chosen by using a 1/2 fractional factorial DOE. Regeneration rate and regeneration effectiveness were taken as results. From the results, solution concentration and regeneration air relative humidity have strong effects on the regeneration rate. The regeneration effectiveness was affected mostly by regeneration air velocity.