Recent advancements in liquid desiccant dehumidification technology

Liquid desiccant dehumidification technology is becoming increasingly attractive due to its high efficient utilization of low-grade heat and its effectiveness in dehumidification. Using this technology, energy-efficient air conditioning systems have been developed, which demonstrated superiority over the traditional vapor compression type system by allowing both temperature and humidity to be controlled independently. This paper presented a state-of-the-art review of the research and development in this field, covering the topics of heat and mass transfer models, performance evaluation of liquid desiccant dehumidification and regeneration, and technology development of dehumidifiers and regenerators as the most important components of liquid desiccant systems. Meanwhile, many detailed systems using solar energy in desiccant cooling was reported, and some new applications of liquid desiccant dehumidification were also introduced. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.