This book highlights key recent developments in air conditioning technologies for cooling and dehumidification with the specific objectives to improve energy efficiency and to minimize environmental impact. Today, air conditioning, comprising cooling and dehumidification, is a necessity in commercial and residential buildings and even in many industrial processes. This book provides key update on recent developments in air conditioning systems, cooling cycles and innovative cooling/dehumidification technologies. Key technologies related to cooling include heat-driven absorption and adsorption cooling and water-based dew point evaporative cooling. Technologies connected with dehumidification involve new generations of adsorbent-desiccant dehumidifiers, liquid-based desiccants and membranes that sieve out water vapor from air. Losses in cooling cycles and thermo-economic analysis for a sustainable economy are also judiciously documented.

This book highlights key recent developments in air conditioning technologies for cooling and dehumidification with the specific objectives to improve energy efficiency and to minimize environmental impact. Today, air conditioning, comprising cooling and dehumidification, is a necessity in commercial and residential buildings and even in many industrial processes. This book provides key update on recent developments in air conditioning systems, cooling cycles and innovative cooling/dehumidification technologies. Key technologies related to cooling include heat-driven absorption and adsorption cooling and water-based dew point evaporative cooling. Technologies connected with dehumidification involve new generations of adsorbent-desiccant dehumidifiers, liquid-based desiccants and membranes that sieve out water vapor from air. Losses in cooling cycles and thermo-economic analysis for a sustainable economy are also judiciously documented.

Membrane Dehumidification and Cooling: Fundamentals and Applications presents the state-of-the-art on membrane dehumidifiers, highlighting their most recent advancements and providing key insights into global R&D interests. With a strong focus on applications, the book offers characterization techniques to evaluate the potential of hygroscopic materials, as well as experimental methods to study the dehumidifiers’ performance. The book begins by highlighting the demerits of conventional cooling systems and then reviews electrically driven alternative cooling solutions. A comparative study between different dehumidification techniques is also given, along with sections on fundamental transport mechanisms and thermodynamic modeling. Finally, scaling, heat transfer and thermodynamic analysis are presented, along with a review of hybrid membrane-based air-conditioners. This book is a one-stop resource for recent advancements in membrane dehumidification and cooling applications. It is an essential read for students, researchers and engineers interested in thermal engineering, heat and mass transfer, alternative cooling, energy materials and dehumidification.