On-site performance investigation of a desiccant wheel deep-dehumidifkation system applied in lithium battery manufacturing plant

摘要

Desiccant wheel system is a feasible system to meet the deep-dehumidification demand of dehumidifying air to below 6 g/kg, which has been widely used in industrial environments. On-site performance can reflect real performance of the system in practical applications. However, limited studies have conducted measurements to reveal the on-site performance of the desiccant wheel deep-dehumidification (DWDD) system. Thus, in this study, measurements are conducted to reveal the on-site performance of a DWDD system applied in a lithium battery manufacturing plant, and then simulations are performed to improve the system performance. The test results reveal that the system coefficient of performance (COPsys) ranges 0.65-0.68 under the typical summer climate in Jiangsu Province of China. For equipment space and safety reasons, the electric heater is the only viable heating source type for regeneration in this plant. Accordingly, the dehumidificaiton cost of the desiccant wheel is significantly higher than that of the cooler, which limits the COPsys of the current system. Furthermore, a refined system is proposed to improve the system energy performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the COPsys can be improved from 0.65 to 0.68 to 0.76-0.79 by avoiding the secondary return air design. During the entire cooling season, an electricity saving rate of 8.4% can be achieved by the refined system. This study provides a reference for the DWDD system design under limitations in practical applications. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.