CONCLUSION The main conclusion that emerge from this study are summarized as follows:

1. It is technically possible to have comfort air conditioning, even under hot, humid

weather conditions, using desiccant-augmented evaporative cooling systems. However, the size requirement of these units is likely to be much larger than that of vapour compression refrigeration systems used for this purpose.
2. The COP values obtained under conditions of high humidity, however, are quite low (up

to 0.4) even in comparison with other heat operated systems such as absorption refrigeration based air conditioning machines (with a COP of about 1). There is however, considerable scope for an increase in COP. To achieve this objective, further research and development work into he following areas is recommended. (a) Development of new desiccants, enabling efficiency rapid regeneration even at lower temperature, which may also permit regeneration with solar energy. (b) Reduction in the cost of the dehumidifier and the heat recovery wheels through advancement in technology. (c) Development of new media most appropriate for such systems. (d) Development of newer configurations to achieve higher COPs. So far as the last recommendation is concerned, numerous possibilities exist. For example, the COP of the new proposed cycle for Delhi monsoon conditions can be easily increased to 0.41 by incorporation of another heat recovery wheel

between the cool air leaving at state point 10 (fig.7) and the warm air leaving then heat wheel at state point 3. Further increase in COP is possible by using better desiccants, which can be regenerated at lower temperatures. Thus if the regeneration temperature is reduced to 1000C, the COP is increased to 0.65, and if this temperature is 800C, the COP becomes 1.06. The system COP can also be increased by employing heat exchanger of higher effectiveness. If effectiveness values of 0.9 are achieved in all the heat exchangers, the COP is increased (by another 15%) to about 1.22. Further increase in COP could also be achieved by employing staged regeneration, as suggested by Waughman et al. and by optimizing the ration of process air to regeneration airflow rate.

REFERENCES

1. Watt .J.R and Brown W.K (1997), Evaporative Air Conditioning Handbook, Third Edition, The Fairmont Press Inc. USA. 2. Maclaine-Cross I.L., and Banks P.J (1981), A General theory of Wet surface heat exchangers and its application to regenerative evporaive cooling, ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, vol.-103, np.-3, pp-579-585. 3. NREL (2000),Advanced desiccant cooling and dehumidification program, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, http:/www..nrel.gov/desiccantcool/intro.htm (at1.00 pm on 1st October 2002) 4. Jain Sanjeev, Dhar PL., and Kaushik SC (2000a) Experimental studies on Dehumidifier and Regenerator of a liquid Desiccant cooling system, Journal of Applied Thermal Engineering, vol-20, n0-3, pp-253-267. 5. Collier R.K (1989), Desiccant properties and thir effect on cooling system performance, ASHRAE Transaction, vol-95, no-1, pp-823-827. 6. Jain Sanjeev, Dhar PL, and Kaushik SC (1994) Evaluation of liquid Desiccant based evaporative cooling cylces for typical hot and humid climates, International Journal of Heat Recovery Systems and CHP, vol.-14, no.-16,pp-621-632.

7. Jain Sanjeev, Dhar PL, and Kaushik SC (2000a) Optimal design of liquid desiccant cooling systems, presented at ASHRAE winter meeting, Feb 2000. 8. Jain Sanjeev, Dhar PL, Kaushik SC, Pahwa Deepak, and Kumar Ravinder (1995) Thermodynamic analysis of Desiccant augmented evaporative cooling cycles for Indian Conditons, ASHRAE Transscations, vol.-101, no.-3, pp-121-126. 9. H.M. Henning, T.Erpenbeck, C.Hinderburg, and I.S Santamaria (2001), The Potential of solar energy use in desiccant cooling cyles, International Journal of Refrigeration, vol.-24, no.-5, pp-220-229. 10. Collier R.K, (1989) Desiccant properties and their effect on cooling system performance, ASHRAE Transaction, vol-95, no-1, pp-823-827 11. Lof. G.O.G. (1995) Cooling with Solar Energy, Proceedings of the Congress of Solar energy, Tucson, Arizona, pp-171-189. 12. Handbook at Air conditioning and Refrigeration by Shan K. Wang (2000). 13. Jain Sanjeev, Dhar P.L. and Kaushik S.C. (1995) Evaluation of solid desiccant based evaporative cooling systems for typical hot and humid climates, International Journal of Refrigeration, vol-18, no.-5, pp-287-296