Numerical investigations of novel hybrid solid desiccant cooling systems combined with passive radiative cooling panels

Passive radiative cooling (PRC) has been integrated with various air conditioning systems to improve system performance but not with solid desiccant cooling (SDC) systems. This study proposed a novel integration of traditional SDC systems with PRC panels to explore the potentials of such integration for air conditioning systems. The optimal installation location for PRC panels within traditional SDC systems, considering the multiple components involved, remains unknown, leading to uncertainty regarding the potential system performance improvement. Hence, a mathematical model was established and validated to determine the optimal location of PRC panels and quantify the system performance improvement. From the results of the cooling capacity and thermal coefficient of performance (TCOP), it was found that the optimal installation location of the PRC panels is after the sensible heat exchanger. For the case studied, results show that the supply air temperature of the optimal hybrid SDC system is 2.65 °C lower than that of the traditional SDC system. Also, the optimal hybrid SDC system demonstrates an improvement in cooling capacity and TCOP by 11.9% and 12.5% respectively compared with a traditional SDC system. Overall, this work offers a fundamental study of integrating the electricity-free PRC in traditional SDC systems for improved performance. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd