Comparative review of membrane-based desalination technologies for energy-efficient regeneration in liquid desiccant air conditioning of greenhouses

Pasqualin, Paris; Lefers, Ryan; Mahmoud, Saad; Davies, Philip A.

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111815

Cited by 31 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 227 publications

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“…However, it costs nearly 64% of the initial capital of the greenhouse. 22 Solar-assisted liquid desiccants have been reported effective in dehumidification and temperature reduction for 5−7.5 °C. 24 Nevertheless, its applicability is constrained to regions with abundant solar radiation.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart Glazing for Energy- and Cost-Efficient Greenhouse Humidity Regulation

Weng,

Khater,

Paley

et al. 2024

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Global food shortage demands significant progress in crop production. Greenhouses offer a solution for higher crop production by providing a controllable environment. Excess levels of humidity, however, encourage pests and diseases, drastically reducing crop yields. Traditional humidity control methods for greenhouses are expensive and energy-intensive. In addition to this, nonbiodegradable plastic covers cause massive white pollution. To tackle these concerns, we present smart glazing and sensors for greenhouse humidity regulation through both passive and active paths. We created biodegradable humidity-sensitive films by blending poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with cellulose acetate (CA). PEG/CA covers can automatically open for air circulation at high humidity, successfully demonstrating repeatable greenhouse humidity regulation to as low as 60% relative humidity. PEG/CA-based humidity sensors can actively accelerate air circulation and humidity reduction with repeated cycles at an even higher efficiency. Overall, our research introduces a low-cost, all-in-one, sustainable, and environmentally conscious solution for addressing the greenhouse humidity control challenges. Approximately, this solution can potentially achieve annual energy savings of up to 56.6 GWh for the U.S. if fully applied.

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Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart Glazing for Energy- and Cost-Efficient Greenhouse Humidity Regulation

Weng,

Khater,

Paley

et al. 2024

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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“…Traditionally, greenhouse operators have relied on various methods to control humidity, including ventilation, misting systems, and evaporative cooling. However, these approaches often lack precision and effi ciency, leading to suboptimal growing conditions and resource wastage [1][2][3][4]. In recent years, packed bed systems have emerged as promising solutions for humidity management in greenhouse applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance assessment of packed bed systems for humidity control in greenhouse applications: An experimental-based AI modeling approach

Mrinal

2024

Int J Agric Sc Food Technol

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Optimal humidity control is essential for enhancing crop yields and ensuring favorable growth conditions in greenhouse agriculture. Packed bed systems have emerged as effective tools for regulating humidity levels, yet accurately assessing their performance remains unexplored, especially for temperate oceanic climates. This paper presents a packed-bed system with water as the working fluid to increase the humidity level during the winter for greenhouse cultivation. Accordingly, an experimental setup is developed, and a detailed parametric study is conducted. Further, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based modeling approach is developed for evaluating the performance of packed bed systems for greenhouse applications under varying environmental conditions with various inlet air flowrates, such as 176 m³/hr, 286 m³/hr, 383 m³/hr, and 428 m³/hr. Operating with water at an average temperature of 15.7 °C and a flow rate of 12.8 kg/min, the system achieves a significant 50% increase in humidity ratio, transitioning from an inlet humidity ratio of 6 g/kgda to an outlet ratio of 9 g/kgda, indicating its efficiency in elevating air humidity levels. The multi-layer perceptron neural network, trained with 112 non-repeated datasets and employing a 2-10-10-1 topology, demonstrates high accuracy and resilience in estimating Δωa values for the packed bed system, with predictions closely aligning with experimental data and exhibiting a maximum discrepancy within ± 2.5%. This research contributes to the advancement of precision agriculture practices by providing a comprehensive framework for assessing and improving humidity control in greenhouse environments.

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“…[35] To date, several hygroscopic liquid desiccants including ionic liquids (ILs), organic, and inorganic desiccants have been utilized in various industrial and laboratory applications. [36], [37] Organic desiccants such as diethylene glycol and triethylene glycol [38], [39] were mostly used in air conditioning applications but limited by volatility due to low surface vapor pressure which lead to desiccant losses and equipment contamination. [39] ILs, which are essentially organic salts, often referred to as "target specific" solvents, could serve a wide range of applications due to their structural diversity and highly tunable properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-economic analysis of atmospheric water generation by hybrid nanofluids to mitigate global water scarcity

Kode

Stuckenberg

Went

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Globally, multiple efforts are made to develop active atmospheric water generation (AWG) or atmospheric water extraction (AWE) systems, particularly using direct-air cooling technology to produce water from ambient air. However, this legacy technique is highly energy-intensive, it can only be operated when the local dew point is above the freezing point of water, allows bacteria to grow within the system, and does not scale to create enough water to offer solutions for most industries, services, or agriculture. Liquid desiccant-based AWG methods show promising performance advantages and offer a versatile approach to help address the thermodynamic, health risks, and geographic constraints currently encountered by conventional active AWG systems. In this study, we performed a techno-economic analysis of a liquid desiccant-based AWG system with a continuous operating style. An energy balance was performed on a single design point of AWG system configuration while using LiCl liquid desiccant loaded with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). We showed that the MWCNTs can be doped in LiCl for effective heat transfer during water desorption, resulting in a lowering of the sensible heat load by ≈ 49% on the AWG system. We demonstrated that the specific energy consumption (SEC) can currently be obtained as low as 0.67 kWh/gal while changing the inlet desiccant stream concentration of MWCNTs-doped LiCl at given conditions. While the production cost of water (COW) showed a significant dependency over the region, the economic analysis revealed that the cost of water can be produced at a minimum selling price of $0.085 per gallon based on the 2021 annual average wholesale electricity cost of $0.125 per kWh in the U.S., thereby, providing a strong foundation for future research to meet the desirable and competitive water costs by 2026 but before 2031.

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Comparative review of membrane-based desalination technologies for energy-efficient regeneration in liquid desiccant air conditioning of greenhouses

Cited by 31 publications

References 227 publications

Smart Glazing for Energy- and Cost-Efficient Greenhouse Humidity Regulation

Smart Glazing for Energy- and Cost-Efficient Greenhouse Humidity Regulation

Performance assessment of packed bed systems for humidity control in greenhouse applications: An experimental-based AI modeling approach

Techno-economic analysis of atmospheric water generation by hybrid nanofluids to mitigate global water scarcity

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