Dehumidify OR cool?? TB - what's this?

[tedkidd]

desiccant-enhanced evaporative (DEVap) air conditioning

DEVap air conditioning solves the most vexing problem for air condition engineers by efficiently separating latent (dehumidification) from sensible (temperature) loads. Unlike a conventional system that must cool to dehumidify, DEVap air conditioning can do one or the other, or both. In other words, dehumidify without cooling and cool without dehumidifying, allowing you to set individual thresholds for latent and sensible loads without compromising efficiency for comfort. In some climates, such as Seattle, building owners could benefit from combining dehumidification with heating, explains Jason Woods, a lead researcher on DEVap air conditioning with NREL.

http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/green...l-warming.aspx

[ADillon]

I think they call that a reheat unit... basicly just redirects dischrage gas to a coil downstream of the evap for dehumidification or out to the condensing coil for air conditioning. Nothing new...

[teddy bear]

http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/green...l-warming.aspx

http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/hvac/target-hvac.aspx

Well it is a little of both. The arrid parts of the west coast are trying the evap cooling idea. The spray water into one side of a heat exchanger while a separate air stream passes through the other side of the heat exchanger. Unlike an evaporative cooler, the cooled air is not loaded with moisture like the evapative cooler. This works good with low dew point air that does not need dehumidification.
The idea of removing moisture is with a cool liquid dessicant has been used in the middle east and special drying applications here in the U.S.. The moisture loaded dessicant is heated to drive the moisture of the liquid. Some of these units were imported but had mechanical/technical problems. The combination of these two seperate system does show promise.
Currently a simple high efficiency a/c and whole house dehumidifier are the most practical methods to deal with the problem. The investment is reasonable and cost of operation is low. An most importanly, they are very reliable. The liquid dessicant system were not durable and evaporative cooling is only effective when the outdoor dew points are low. These are ineffective at anything near +80%RH, which common in the green grass climate every night and many days.
Regards TB

[tedkidd]

Thanks. So, a very young technology worth watching.

Not ready for prime time unless you have $ and like being an early adopter.

[Nate Adams]

Interesting find. Always good to watch for potential new tools for the toolbox. Doesn't sound like a good fit for climate zone 5, though, where I live.