Performance Investigation of Novel Desiccant Evaporative Cooling Systems Integrating with Shallow Geothermal Energy

This paper proposed a novel desiccant evaporative cooling system integrated with shallow geothermal energy with three different configurations. The first two configurations (I and II) employed shallow geothermal energy for precooling and post-cooling, respectively, while Configuration III utilised geothermal energy for both precooling and post-cooling. The performance of these systems was examined and compared to a benchmark system, a conventional solid desiccant M-cycle cooling system, under various operating conditions. Furthermore, a case study was conducted to evaluate the viability of these schemes under a hot and humid climate in Darwin, Australia. The results indicated that all three configurations outperformed the benchmark system regarding supply air conditions and required a lower regeneration temperature to achieve similar cooling performance. Configurations I and III could maintain the supply air humidity rate below 15 g/kg and contribute up to 30.46% of dehumidification performance through the condensation effect in humid conditions. Configuration III exhibited the highest energy efficiency, with a thermal COP up to 0.82 under different humidity levels, and this system also consumed 37.27% less water than the benchmark system.