EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF MATRIX FRAMEWORK IN A ROTARY HEAT REGENERATOR FOR DESICCANT COOLING CYCLES

This paper reports a rotary heat regenerator used for desiccant cooling cycles. It has a matrix made of polyethylene terephalate films configured into parallel plate passages. It allows for high heat transfer rate at low pressure drop. The aluminium spacers have been used for forming these passages. By analysing characteristic parameters retrieved from experimental data, these spacers have been found to conduct heat undesirably in longitudinal direction and reduce the regenerator performance. On the other hand, the spacers have been found to increase the matrix thermal capacity and enhance the regenerator performance. Empirical expressions have been determined for these two aspects.