Manufacturing and Experimental Analysis of Evaporative Cooling Pads with Lattice Geometry
摘要
Currently, the majority of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are based on conventional vapor compression cycles, which require high energy demands. Specifically, HVAC systems in buildings, in developed countries, account for up to 40% of total energy consumption. Given this context, new and more efficient technologies are being developed, as evaporative cooling systems, which do not use refrigerants to cool air. The main objective of this study was to manufacture and evaluate evaporative cooling capacity of evaporative cooling pads with lattice geometry. For this purpose, six cooling pads were manufactured by Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique and materials composed of polylactic acid and pine wood. Experimental tests were carried out under constant inlet air conditions, evaluating parameters such as outlet air dry bulb temperature, outlet air dew point temperature, pressure difference, and wet bulb effectiveness for each pad. The outlet air dry bulb temperature varied depending on the lattice geometry. The highest dry bulb temperature reduction achieved was 19.7 °C. For this system, the maximum wet bulb effectiveness was reached up to 0.92. These results indicate that evaporative cooling pads with lattice geometry could improve the efficiency and water savings of this technology.