Showing posts with label dehumidification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dehumidification. Show all posts

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Thinking About Radiant Cooling & De-humidification

It appears that geothermal technology is already being used in Thailand, and using radiant cooling through pipes in the floor/walls/ceiling is one way to complete the system. The water supply from geothermal pipes can also be connected into a more standard HVAC system. This Wikipedia article on heat pumps has a good summary.

A problem with radiant cooling is surface condensation. It is not clear if this has been addressed in the systems cited above. This house, which uses radiant floor heating and cooling, also closely regulates the floor temperature and uses "dry air delivered along its floors at ~68 degrees f all year-round (cf.: displacement ventilation). It uses a dehumidification coil and reheat coil in summer, and a heating coil in winter. In summer, the flow rate is sized for adequate dehumidification and fresh air" Are there less intensive ways to control condensation and humidity that would be viable in Thailand?

There are currently 2 ways to dehumidify air in buildings 1.)
condense the moisture onto a cold surface (the same process that presents a problem with radiant cooling!) This is how air conditioning systems and small free standing dehumidifiers work...and the collected water can be re-used on site. 2.) machines that use desiccants (solid or liquid) to remove water vapor from the air--these are the same substances found in those little packets you find in your shoebox.

This is a simplified explanation. The following links are helpful:

HPAC Engineering

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