| In many areas, summer typically results in high outdoor humidity as well as high solar irradiation and temperatures. Resulting indoor humidity, particularly in basements with cool floors, can create comfort problems as well as causing mildew and wood decay. The high latent heat load also places a burden on dehumidifiers, air conditioners and the electric grid. Desiccant dehumidification is an alternative, thermally driven process that is free of harmful chlorofluorocarbons and uses a fraction of the electricity consumed by conventional dehumidifiers. Presented in this thesis is a design for a rotary desiccant dehumidification system powered by excess solar heat, the construction of a prototype and analysis of its performance. The prototype dehumidifier was integrated with an existing residential solar hot water system. During preliminary testing the system achieved a maximum overall efficiency of 44%, and can be expected to achieve higher efficiency under conditions of heavy dehumidification load. |
