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Optimal cold sink temperature for thermoelectric dehumidifiers

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Abstract

We propose an optimal cold sink temperature for thermoelectric dehumidifiers based on theoretical and experimental investigations. We show that the optimal condition is such that the latent heat absorption rate per unit power supplied to the dehumidifier is maximized. In consideration of the cooling ability of Peltier pellet and the heat exchange characteristics of the cold sink, we estimate the condensation rate as a function of the cold sink temperature. The theoretical predictions are compared with the results of experiments by using a prototype dehumidifier. We emphasize that the cold sink temperature is a critical parameter that determines the performance of dehumidification. Our study may provide an important insight to the thermoelectric dehumidification system and to designing a cold sink for thermoelectric dehumidifiers with improved energy efficiency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea

    Joonoh Kim, Keunhwan Park & Ho-Young Kim

  2. Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea

    Keunhwan Park

  3. Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon, 34103, Korea

    Duck-Gyu Lee

  4. School of Mechanical Engineering, Kookmin University, Seoul, 02707, Korea

    Young Soo Chang

  5. Big Data Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea

    Ho-Young Kim

Authors
  1. Joonoh Kim
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  2. Keunhwan Park
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  3. Duck-Gyu Lee
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  4. Young Soo Chang
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  5. Ho-Young Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ho-Young Kim.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Jae Dong Chung

Joonoh Kim received his B.S. degree from Korea University in mechanical engineering. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University. His research interests include multiphase flows and spray dynamics.

Keunhwan Park received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Seoul National University all in mechanical engineering. He is now a postdoc of physics at Technical University of Denmark. His research activities involve the domains of biological physics, evolutionary biology, cell biology, fluid dynamics and applied mathematics.

Ho-Young Kim received his B.S. degree from Seoul National University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT all in mechanical engineering. He is now a Professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University. His research activities revolve around microfluid mechanics, biomimetics, and soft matter physics.

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Kim, J., Park, K., Lee, DG. et al. Optimal cold sink temperature for thermoelectric dehumidifiers. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 885–895 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0139-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0139-8

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