Electro-osmotic regeneration and its behavior in a dehumidification application

Based on the electro-osmotic regeneration of solid desiccants, this paper proposes an improved dehumidification fin with a silica gel-based composite and internal cooling fins to investigate the potential for the application of air dehumidification. In order to solve the problems existed in the current literature, such as the poor structural stability of the hygroscopic sheet, the effect of Joule heat and the operation modes, series tests were present in this study to provide foundation for the reasonable design of the dehumidifying fins and the determination of the suitable working conditions. This paper first introduced the fabrication method and basic performance tests, including adsorption and stability tests. Based on the behavior of adsorption and the stability of the structure, the types of composites and relevant contents were optimally selected to fabricate a hygroscopic sheet and dehumidification fin. Subsequently, electro-osmotic tests were applied to the hygroscopic sheet to investigate the main factors that affect the electro-osmotic procedures in the sample sheet. The results indicated the hygroscopic sheet with particle sizes of 0.1-0.2 mm and a voidage of 60.75% exhibited the best performance when an electric field with an intensity of 3.92 V/mm. Dehumidification tests were further applied to the optimal selected sample fin installed in the air duct for the effects of dehumidification rate, Joule heat effect, operation modes, and energy consumption. Results show that under the two different conditions set, the dehumidification rate of the dehumidification fin with the above structure can reach 974.19 and 950.24 g/m(2).h, respectively, and the corresponding energy consumption is 770.35 and 726.93 kg/m(2).kWh, respectively. The theoretical specific moisture extraction rate (SMER) of the proposed fin could be more than twice that of other dehumidification methods.