Development of A Novel Passive Super Hygroscopic System for Indoor Humidity and Apparent Temperature Control

Description

In Hong Kong, the annual mean relative humidity could go as high as 80%. In indoor environments, such high humidity can induce and accelerate the growth of microbes, mold, giving rise to allergies and respiratory infection. In addition, the typical high level of indoor moisture leads to a high apparent temperature in indoor environments, thereby trigger thermal discomfort and consequently the so-called ‘thermal stress’. For the first time, we attempt to build an intelligent super-hygroscopic system that can be used to: 1)effectively control the indoor humidity; 2) efficiently reduce the indoor apparent temperature; 3) fast deactivation of coronavirus and many other viruses/bacteria. This system aims to manage indoor humidity by using the novel harvesting super-hygroscopicmaterials, and it is expected that our system is much more efficient than the conventional dehumidifiers for a wide range of temperatures. In particular, our system can reduce the relative humidity from a relatively high RH (e.g. 85%) to a relatively low RH (e.g. 55%), leading to a massive reduction in apparent temperature, by approximately 10oC. This will in turn allow us to save s certain amount of energy required for indoor cooling. This objective of this project is perfectly in line with Hong Kong’s Energy Saving Plan – by 2025, 40% reduction in energy intensity is achieved. Most importantly, the special antiviral feature of the super-gyroscopic material can be used for rapid inactivation of coronavirus in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is expected that our prototype can be very useful for indoor infection control in Hong Kong. In summary, our R&D project can bring immediate social benefit by creating prototypes/products to address important Hong Kong indoor energy, environment and health issues.