New Method of Air-Conditioning for Hot & Humid Climate
By Gio Mendoza
Air conditioning is often times construed as "cooling". It's not. Air conditioning is controlling also humidity, air cleanliness or quality and flow of air into a room or space. The typical air conditioner or what we call "aircon" has indeed a filter to clean the air, a fan to move the air, a compressor and cooling coil to bring the temperature down, sort of cool the air. Cooling the air this way can also lower the moisture that the air contains, we call it humidity, to make it less damp and therefore a bit dry for comfort. That's why you see water dripping at the back of your aircon. However, in Philippines, humidity is more of a problem than temperature and there are many humid days that the aircon can't cope up. You see evidence of mold growth in your house walls and fabric or wooden fixtures that smells like fungus. That's humidity's bad effects.
Now, a new paradigm which makes use of desiccants or adsorbents ( e.g. Silica Gel, Metal Silicate) to absorb moisture in air..making it dry. It gets more than half the work done by a typical basic aircon. Considering the Philippine environment and the almost year-round rains that is drenching the country, we need a more humidity-centric solution instead of relying on the old ways that may not work well in the changing climate oft he future. This new air-conditioning method can also make use of solar heat to move the refrigerant instead of or aside from the compressor to assist it in the process. Cooling using solar heat may not be enough if the cooling coil has to remove humidity all by itself, it needs an active compression system and solar power alone may not yield the ideal result especially in humid days. Therefore this tandem of desiccant system and aircon ( whether solar-assisted or not) will be the more efficient way of achieving comfort cooling or maintaining indoor conditions no matter what the outside weather is. Solar power also can assist the regeneration of the desiccant, i.e. it will be used to heat up the desiccant so it could remove the moisture adsorbed by it and throw it to outside. Cooling dry air is much easier than wet air, this paradigm is slowly changing the way buildings systems are selected and designed. 4
Now, a new paradigm which makes use of desiccants or adsorbents ( e.g. Silica Gel, Metal Silicate) to absorb moisture in air..making it dry. It gets more than half the work done by a typical basic aircon. Considering the Philippine environment and the almost year-round rains that is drenching the country, we need a more humidity-centric solution instead of relying on the old ways that may not work well in the changing climate oft he future. This new air-conditioning method can also make use of solar heat to move the refrigerant instead of or aside from the compressor to assist it in the process. Cooling using solar heat may not be enough if the cooling coil has to remove humidity all by itself, it needs an active compression system and solar power alone may not yield the ideal result especially in humid days. Therefore this tandem of desiccant system and aircon ( whether solar-assisted or not) will be the more efficient way of achieving comfort cooling or maintaining indoor conditions no matter what the outside weather is. Solar power also can assist the regeneration of the desiccant, i.e. it will be used to heat up the desiccant so it could remove the moisture adsorbed by it and throw it to outside. Cooling dry air is much easier than wet air, this paradigm is slowly changing the way buildings systems are selected and designed. 4
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