Experimental Investigation of a Low-Cost Liquid Desiccant based Air Conditioning System for Tropical Climatic Conditions

Abstract Weather extremes are common in recent times due to the increase in global warming caused by climate change. Thus, thermal comfort applications require considerable amount of energy produced annually. While passive methods of thermal comfort provide correct direction towards sustainability, it cannot provide the complete solution for the problem. One such passive method is a liquid desiccant-based air conditioning system which is a well-known technique that can provide the AC effect, but inherent with corrosion and low efficiency issues. Hence, we propose a simple setup with low-cost polymer components designed and fabricated to overcome these problems. The calcium chloride desiccant solution is chosen because it is non-toxic and inexpensive. The system is able to provide air at about 25 °C and RH of 60% with input ambient air at 31 °C and RH of 70%, by consuming 126 W of electrical power for air and water circulation and 752 W for desiccant heating bringing the total energy usage to about 878 W. With the success of the project multistage setup with other working fluids will be tested.