Simulation and energy saving analysis of high temperature heat pump coupling to desiccant wheel air conditioning system

The objective of this work is to investigate the energy saving potential of HTHP&DW (high temperature heat pump coupling to desiccant wheel) system by means of comparative analysis based on reference technologies. A complete numerical model of HTHP&DW system is established and the iterative algorithm is successfully applied and tested. The energy consumption, COP (coefficient of performance) and energy saving rate of HTHP&DW system are simulated under the different outdoor climates and indoor design conditions. The results show that energy saving rate of proposed system is 45.6% compared to CVC (conventional vapor compression) system and 30.5% compared to advanced HDC (hybrid desiccant cooling) system under the AHRI (Air-conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute) design conditions. The impact of outside air humidity ratio is significant on the performance of HTHP&DW system. When the humidity is lower than 11 g/kg, the energy saving rate is up to 65% compared to CVC system. The lower indoor design temperature and higher indoor design humidity ratio are in favor of the energy saving of HTHP&DW system. Especially the energy consumption will decrease 20% when the indoor design humidity ratio increases 1.0 g/kg.