Anshul Gour

19210132
Group C
M.Tech 1st Year (Mechanical Engineering)

Academic Abstract
Keywords: - Air conditioning system, thermal comfort, Desiccant cooling system, conventional
vapor refrigeration cycle
Air Conditioning industry worldwide is facing critical environmental and regulatory challenges
such as reduced level of gaseous emissions, improved air quality, improving standards of
ventilation rate, phase-out of CFCs refrigerants, and peak electric demand. Researchers of Air
conditioning system are focusing on developing new and alternative means of air conditioning to
replace conventional vapor compression cycles. Desiccant cooling is the better alternative to
vapor compression systems. Desiccant technology is the most promising technology in a hot and
humid climate for thermal comfort. For cooling applications, it has many advantages over the
conventional vapor refrigeration system. For example, desiccant technology does not need
ozone-depleting refrigerants, and solar energy or low-grade heat sources can drive it. Desiccant
technology has the potential to reduce costs significantly and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Also, this technology improves air quality a lot with considerable savings in energy
consumptions. In this article, the working of the solar desiccant cooling system is explained
along with the performance comparison with a conventional air conditioning system for better
understanding.

General Abstract
The air conditioning market is currently dominated by the mechanical vapor refrigeration cycle.
This kind of cycle is fully established and has been in practical use for decades. The technology
presents many advantages like excellent stability in performance, low cost, long life cycle time,
high efficiency, and reasonably good energy performance. However, the major drawback of this
type of system is the burning of fossil fuel to generate electricity to power conventional air
conditioners. It releases a large number of pollutants into the atmosphere like CO2 and mercury.
And, most commonly used refrigerants R-134A, R-410, are active contributors to global
warming. Therefore, this type of system is neither sustainable nor eco-friendly. The cost of
energy, impact on the environment due to the release of ozone-depleting substances, and the
greenhouse effect due to the emission of CO2 has encouraged researchers to move onto
renewable means of air conditioning. One of the solutions is desiccant cooling technology,
which is both cost-effective and eco-friendly as no refrigerant is used in these systems. In this
article, our focus will be on the working of the desiccant cooling system and how this system
improves air quality with considerable savings in energy consumption.