Three years experimental comparative analysis of a desiccant based air conditioning system for a flower greenhouse: Assessment of different desiccants

Comparative analysis was carried out for three years using three different desiccants in the VLHC: H2O/LiCl in 2010, H2O/KCOOH in 2011 and H2O/LiBr in 2012. The greenhouse equipped with a sorption unit exhibits an energy saving of 9.6% in 2010, 11.7% in 2011, and 15.1% energy saving in 2012. The comparative analysis gives the opportunity for the assessment of the hygroscopic salt solutions currently used as desiccants. Although H2O/LiBr desiccant exhibits the best performance, the solution H2O/KCOOH seems to be very promising as “desiccant of the future”.