Design of highly compact indirect evaporative coolers

Francisco Comino a, Jesús Castillo-González b, Francisco J. Navas-Martos b, Pablo E. Romero a, Manuel Ruiz
de Adana c
aDepartamento de Mecánica, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, Antigua
Carretera Nacional IV, km 396, 14071 Córdoba, España, email address: [email protected]; [email protected].
bCentro Tecnologico del Plastico Andaltec, Pol. Ind. Cañada de la Fuente, Calle Vílches, s/n, 23600, Martos, Jaén, España,
email address: [email protected]; [email protected].
cDepartamento de Química-Física y Termodinámica Aplicada, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Córdoba,
Campus de Rabanales, Antigua Carretera Nacional IV, km 396, 14071 Córdoba, España, email address:
[email protected].

Abstract. Evaporative cooling units are an effective alternative to conventional air conditioning
technologies, due to their high efficiency and reduced primary energy consumption. There are
two main types of evaporative cooling systems: the direct evaporative cooling (DEC) system, and
the indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) system. DEC is based on direct contact between air and
water, while IEC is based on heat and mass transfer between two flows of air, separated by a heat
transfer surface with a dry side, where only air is cooled, and a wet side, where water is
evaporated into air. The main objective of the present work was to design and manufacture a
highly compact indirect evaporative cooler. Firstly, a mathematical model based on ε-NTU
numerical method to determine the optimal geometrical and operating parameters of an IEC
system was developed. The mathematical model allowed to obtain the temperature, enthalpy and
humidity distributions of the air inside the exchanger. Then, the air-cooling system was
manufactured. The device consisted of a compact heat and mass exchanger, a water distributing
system and an outer casing. Finally, the IEC system was studied experimentally. An experimental
facility was designed to study these air-cooling systems. The cooling unit performance indicators
were the cooling capacity per unit volume and per unit airflow rate. The experimental results
showed that the cooling capacity per unit volume of the device was 177 kW/m3, and the cooling
capacity per unit airflow rate was 10.9 kW/(m3/s). These results suggested that highly compact
indirect evaporative coolers can achieve air-cooling processes with a low energy consumption
and a low environmental impact.

Keywords. air-cooling system, heat and mass exchanger, evaporative cooler, cooling capacity,
manufacturing.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34641/clima.2022.182

1. Introduction Another air-cooling technology is evaporative

cooling. The evaporative cooling units are based on
European Union directives reinforced the objective heat and mass transfer between air and cool water
of reducing primary energy consumption and the [3]. There are two main types of evaporative cooling
integration of renewable energies in buildings, systems: the direct evaporative cooling, DEC, system
instead of using fossil fuels [1]. A large percentage of and the indirect evaporative cooling, IEC, system.
current energy consumption and CO2 emissions are DEC is based on direct contact between air and
due to heating, ventilating and air conditioning, water, while IEC is based on heat and mass transfer
HVAC, systems. between two flows of air, separated by a heat
transfer surface with a dry side, where only air is
A traditional method widely used in air cooling is that cooling, and a wet side, where water is evaporated
of conventional HVAC systems based on direct into air [4]. In addition, there are different types of
expansion units [2]. However, direct expansion IEC [4]: conventional IEC, which supply air between
systems typically use refrigerant gases, which could the dry bulb temperature and the wet bulb
emit polluting gases into the atmosphere, and in temperature; dew-point evaporative cooler (DIEC),
addition, they depend mainly on electrical energy. including single-stage counter-flow, and finally,
Maisotsenko-cycle (MIEC), including multi-stage

Copyright ©2022 by the authors. This conference paper is published under a CC-BY-4.0 license. 1 of 6
cross-flow. The last two supply air between the dry indicators were the cooling capacity per unit volume
bulb temperature and the dew point temperature. and per unit airflow rate. Firstly, a mathematical
model based on modified ε-NTU numerical method
One of the most effective indirect evaporative cooling to determine the operating parameters and optimal
solutions are the dew-point counter-flow cycles, geometrical of an IEC was developed. Then, the air-
DIEC, [5]. The DIEC systems have been studied for cooling system was manufactured.
many applications [6]. A DIEC with a direct
expansion system applied to a residential building in 2. Materials and methods
China showed high potential for energy savings [7],
up to 39% compared to a direct expansion system. The steps followed to develop the IEC system were as
DIEC systems were combined with desiccant systems follows: (i) an IEC design was carried out and the ε-
[8–10], managing to control temperature and NTU mathematical model was applied to the IEC
humidity independently. design; (ii). the numerical results were analysed; and
(iii) the IEC system was manufactured.
IEC systems have been widely analysed by many
authors in the available literature [11,12], in 2.1 Description of the indirect evaporative
particular focusing on the analysis of influential cooler
parameters on outlet air conditions, such as inlet air
temperature, inlet air humidity. The coefficient of In the present work was designed an IEC system to
performance of IEC systems was analysed for handle air in small spaces. The air-cooling device
different operating conditions, evaluating the effect consisted of a compact heat and mass exchanger, a
of variable inlet air velocities [13]. The amount of water distributing system and an outer casing.
water flow rate was also analysed [14], which has a
significant effect on system performance. The The heat and mass exchanger was designed with a
influence of the exchanger material was studied in counter-flow configuration. The air handling
other works [15]. process consisted of an inlet air flow, which
circulates through dry channels, exchanging heat
The design of IEC systems was also analysed in with the attached channels, see Fig. 1. The inlet air
recent works to improve their thermal behaviour. stream was divided into two air streams at the end
The cooling power of a DIEC system with different of the device, one air stream was recirculated in
number of perforations between the dry and wet the inverse direction through wet channels,
channels was analysed [16]. The results showed that
exchanging heat and mass between air and water,
the configuration with a single air passage increased
and another stream was supplied, see Fig. 1. Water
the cooling power compared to configurations with
only enters wet channels, so the supply air stream
four air passages. In another work, a mathematical
model of DIEC was developed with different was cooled without varying its moisture content.
numbers of air passages. [17]. Two DIEC systems
with cross flow configuration, one with fins and one
without fins, were developed and analysed under
different inlet air conditions [18]. The DIEC system
with fins improved thermal performance up to 40%
compared to the same system without fins. An
optimization study of a DIEC unit with counter-flow
configuration was developed [19]. The goal of the
study was to increase the performance of the system
by varying the air speed, the flow rate and the length
Fig. 1 - Diagram of the air flows of an IEC system.
and height of the channels. A DIEC with counter-flow
configuration was manufactured from the results
obtained of an optimal design with a mathematical 2.2 Mathematical model of the indirect
model [20]. The energy performance of this system evaporative cooler
increased up to 19 %.
A mathematical model of IEC systems was developed
to study the energy performance of an IEC system.
Therefore, managing air with an efficient air-cooling
This model was based on ε-NTU numerical method.
unit, such as IEC systems, which does not depend
The main equations of the model are expressed by
mainly on electrical energy and does not use any
refrigerant, could be an interesting alternative to
(1)-(3).
conventional air-cooling units based on vapor-
compression cycles. The main advantages of 𝑁𝑇𝑈 = 𝑈 ∗ 𝑑𝐴/𝐶𝑚𝑖𝑛,𝑖 (1)
evaporative coolers are their constructive simplicity
and high efficiency. −1
1 𝛿 𝛿𝑤 1
𝑈 ∗ 𝑑𝐴 = (𝑎 [ + + ]+ ) 𝑁𝑐ℎ 𝑊𝑑𝑥 (2)
The main objective of the present work was to design 𝛼𝑑,𝑖 𝐾 𝐾𝑤 𝛽𝑖
and manufacture a highly compact indirect
evaporative cooler. The cooling unit performance

2 of 6
𝜀 = 𝑓(𝑁𝑇𝑈, 𝐶𝑟,𝑖 ) (3)

Where 𝑁𝑇𝑈 is number of transfer units; 𝑈 is overall

heat transfer coefficient [W m-2 K-1]; 𝐴 is area [m2]; C
is heat capacity rate [kg s-1]; 𝑎 is slope of the
temperature-enthalpy saturation line [kJ kg-1 K-1]; 𝛿
is thickness of plates [m]; 𝛿𝑤 is thickness of water
film [m]; 𝛼𝑑,𝑖 is ; 𝐾 is thermal conductivity of wall [W
m-1 K-1]; 𝐾𝑤 is thermal conductivity of water film [W
m-1 K-1]; 𝛽𝑖 is mass transfer coefficient for water
vapor [kg s-1 m-2]; 𝑁𝑐ℎ is number of channels; 𝑊 is Fig. 3 - Design of the dry channels.
width of the exchanger [m]; 𝑥 is distance of sub-heat
exchanger [m]; 𝜀 is effectiveness. The thickness of the walls was 0.9 mm. These
channels were composed of 6 perforations with a
The IEC mathematical model developed allows to diameter of 5 mm. In addition, the wet channels were
determine the optimal geometrical and operating covered with a thin layer of cotton in order to retain
parameters. The IEC mathematical model was the maximum amount of water.
implemented in Engineering Equation Solver (EES)
software.
2.4 Evaluation indexes of the indirect
evaporative cooler
2.3 Manufacturing of the indirect evaporative
cooler The performance of the IEC system designed was
evaluated under the following ratios:
The heat and mass exchanger of the IEC system was
manufactured by using 3D printing techniques. 3D • Cooling capacity per unit volume of the IEC
printing can be used to manufacture complex design system, see Eq. (4).
prototypes at a low economical cost. However, the
main limitation of this manufacturing technique 𝐶𝑉 = 𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 /𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (4)
could be the size of the prototypes.
• Cooling capacity per unit airflow rate of the IEC
A design of the manufactured IEC system is shown in system, see Eq. (5).
Fig. 2. It can be observed the heat and mass
̇
𝐶𝑅 = 𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 /𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 (5)
exchanger, a reservoir for water and adapter parts
for testing the IEC system. The water distribution
was carried out through perforations in the upper Where 𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 was computed with energy balance
part of the device. The driven water came from the on the dry-side fluid, see Eq. (6).
network. The exchanger was made up of 12 dry
𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝑚̇ · (ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 − ℎ𝑖𝑛 ) (5)
channels and 11 wet channels. The dimensions of the
exchanger were 130 mm high, 140 mm long and 116
Some commercial IEC systems obtained values of CV
mm wide, and the material used to make the
and CR of 5.1 kW/m3 and 23.5 kW/(m3/s),
exchanger was resin [21].
respectively [22].

A test facility was used to analyse the experimental

performance of the IEC system under different inlet
air temperatures, from 27 °C to 46 °C, and different
inlet air flow rate, from 100 m3/h to 190 m3/h. The
supply air flow rates were 75 m3/h for the inlet air
flow rate of 100 m3/h and 115 m3/h for the inlet air
flow rate of 190 m3/h. The value of inlet humidity
ratio remained constant, 10 g/kg.

All the experimental tests were carried out under

steady-state conditions. The sampling time was 3
seconds, and the values are averaged every 30 min.
The accuracy of the measuring devices used was
±0.12 °C for the temperature sensors, ±0.15 °C for the
Fig. 2 - Design of the IEC system. dew-point temperature sensors and ±0.5 % for the
differential pressure transmitters.
The design of a dry channel of the IEC system is
shown in Fig. 3. The energy consumption of a fan to overcome the
pressure losses of the heat exchanger was calculated
with the values of friction losses and minor losses.

3 of 6
3. Results air temperature was raised, see Fig. 6. The IEC
system also improved the CV value when the inlet air
The numerical and experimental results of the flow rate increased from 100 m3/h to 190 m3/h, as
manufactured IEC system are shown in this section. shown in Fig. 6. The maximum CV value was 177
kW/m3 for an inlet air temperature of 46 °C and an
3.1 Results of numerical modelling inlet air flow rate of 190 m3/h. However, the
minimum CV value was 45 kW/m3 for an inlet air
The mathematical model can be individually applied temperature of 27 °C and an inlet air flow rate of 100
to n sub-heat exchangers of an IEC system. For the m3/h. Therefore, the air-cooling device increased its
present work, 60 sub-heat exchangers were cooling capacity for hot inlet air conditions and
considered. As an example, the air conditions of the higher air flow rate.
dry and wet air streams for each computational
element of the exchanger are shown in Fig. 4. This The CV values obtained in the present work were
model allowed to obtain the temperature, enthalpy, significantly higher than those obtained by
and humidity distributions of the air inside the commercial IEC systems, shown in section 2.4.
exchanger. Moreover, this mathematical model could Therefore, the device was designed and
be used to obtain the length of the heat and mass manufactured with high compactness.
exchanger from pre-established inlet and outlet air
conditions.

Fig. 6 – Results of cooling capacity per unit volume of

the IEC system.

Fig. 4 – Psychrometric chart with the dry and wet air Regarding CR, similar trends to those obtained for CV
streams for each computational element. were found when the inlet air temperature
increased. That is, the higher the air temperature, the
3.2 Experimental results higher the CR value, as shown in Fig. 7. However, CR
decreased when the inlet air flow rate increased. The
The result of the manufacture of the heat and mass
maximum CR value was 14.51 kW/(m3/s) for an inlet
exchanger of the IEC system is shown in Fig. 5. It can
air temperature of 46 °C and an inlet air flow rate of
be observed that the exchanger was stacked using
100 m3/h, and the minimum CR value was 5
dry and wet channels. The wet channels were
kW/(m3/s) for an inlet air temperature of 27 °C and
covered with a thin layer of cotton in order to retain
an inlet air flow rate of 190 m3/h. For this ratio, the
water, which was supplied from the top.
CR values obtained in the present work were lower
than those obtained by commercial IEC systems,
shown in section 2.4. Therefore, the device needed to
supply less flow to cool air.

Fig. 5 – Heat and mass exchanger of the IEC system.

Fig. 7 – Results of cooling capacity per unit airflow rate
The experimental results of CV and CR for each case of the IEC system.
study are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. It can be
observed than the CV values increased when the inlet

4 of 6
4. Conclusions doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.08.004.

In the present work, the geometric design and [3] B. Porumb, P. Ungureşan, L.F. Tutunaru, A.
manufacture of an indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) Şerban, M. BǍlan, A Review of Indirect
system was carried out. Evaporative Cooling Operating Conditions
and Performances, Energy Procedia. 85
The design of the IEC system was achieved from (2016) 452–460.
numerical results obtained with a mathematical doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2015.12.226.
model based on ε-NTU numerical method. Moreover,
this model allowed to obtain the temperature, [4] B. Porumb, P. Ungureşan, L.F. Tutunaru, A.
enthalpy, and humidity distributions of the air inside
Şerban, M. BǍlan, A Review of Indirect
the IEC system.
Evaporative Cooling Technology, Energy
Procedia. 85 (2016) 461–471.
The experimental performance of the air-cooling
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2015.12.228.
device was evaluated under two ratios: cooling
capacity per unit volume (CV) and cooling capacity
per unit airflow rate (CR). The results showed high CV [5] H. Sadighi Dizaji, E.J. Hu, L. Chen, A
values, up to 177 kW/m3, mainly for high inlet air comprehensive review of the
temperatures and inlet air flow rates. The CR results Maisotsenko-cycle based air conditioning
were higher for high inlet air temperatures and low systems, Energy. 156 (2018) 725–749.
inlet air flow rates, with a maximum value of 10.9 doi:10.1016/j.energy.2018.05.086.
kW/(m3/s).
[6] M.H. Mahmood, M. Sultan, T. Miyazaki, S.
These results suggested that highly compact indirect Koyama, V.S. Maisotsenko, Overview of the
evaporative coolers can achieve air-cooling Maisotsenko cycle – A way towards dew
processes with a low energy consumption and a low point evaporative cooling, Renew. Sustain.
environmental impact. Energy Rev. 66 (2016) 537–555.
doi:10.1016/j.rser.2016.08.022.
Acknowledgement
[7] Z. Duan, X. Zhao, J. Liu, Q. Zhang, Dynamic
The authors acknowledge the financial support simulation of a hybrid dew point
received by the European Regional Development evaporative cooler and vapour
Fund and the Andalusian Economy, Knowledge, compression refrigerated system for a
Enterprise and University Council, Spain, through the building using EnergyPlus, J. Build. Eng. 21
research project HICOOL, reference 1263034, and by
(2019) 287–301.
European Union's Horizon 2020 research and
doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2018.10.028.
innovation programme, through the research project
WEDISTRICT, reference H2020-WIDESPREAD2018-
03-857801. The present work has also been [8] S. Delfani, M. Karami, Transient simulation
conducted as a part of the CLIMASEE project of solar desiccant/M-Cycle cooling
12020113 funded by Diputación Provincial de Jaén. systems in three different climatic
conditions, J. Build. Eng. 29 (2020)
101152. doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2019.101152.
Data Statement
The datasets generated during and/or analysed [9] F. Comino, J. Castillo González, F.J. Navas-
during the current study are not available because Martos, M. Ruiz de Adana, Experimental
the authors continue to investigate the air-cooling energy performance assessment of a solar
system, but the authors will make every reasonable desiccant cooling system in Southern
effort to publish them in near future. Europe climates, Appl. Therm. Eng. 165
(2020) 114579.
5. References doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.1145
79.
[1] European Parliament, European Directive
2010/31/EU on the Energy Performance [10] F. Comino, M. Ruiz de Adana, F. Peci,
of Buildings, 2010. Energy saving potential of a hybrid HVAC
doi:doi:10.3000/17252555.L_2010.153.e system with a desiccant wheel activated at
ng. low temperatures and an indirect
evaporative cooler in handling air in
[2] P. Sun, J.Y. Wu, R.Z. Wang, Y.X. Xu, Analysis buildings with high latent loads, Appl.
of indoor environmental conditions and Therm. Eng. 131 (2018) 412–427.
heat pump energy supply systems in doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.12.00
indoor swimming pools, Energy Build. 43 4.
(2011) 1071–1080.

5 of 6
[11] D. Pandelidis, S. Anisimov, P. Drag, [19] J. Lin, R. Wang, C. Li, S. Wang, J. Long, K.J.
Performance comparison between Chua, Towards a thermodynamically
selected evaporative air coolers, Energies. favorable dew point evaporative cooler via
10 (2017) 1–20. optimization, Energy Convers. Manag. 203
doi:10.3390/en10040577. (2020) 112224.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2019.112224.
[12] F. Comino, S. Milani, S. De Antonellis, C.M.
Joppolo, M. Ruiz de Adana, Simplified [20] Z. Duan, X. Zhao, J. Li, Design, fabrication
performance correlation of an indirect and performance evaluation of a compact
evaporative cooling system: development regenerative evaporative cooler: Towards
and validation, Int. J. Refrig. 88 (2018) low energy cooling for buildings, Energy.
307–317. 140 (2017) 506–519.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2018.02.002. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.08.110.

[13] A. Ahmad, S. Rehman, L.M. Al-Hadhrami, [21] Formlabs,

Performance evaluation of an indirect https://formlabs.com/materials/,
evaporative cooler under controlled (Accessed 10.12.21). (2021).
environmental conditions, Energy Build.
62 (2013) 278–285. [22] Climate Wizard by Seeley International,
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.03.013. Indirect Evaporative Air Conditioning,
(2021).
[14] S. De Antonellis, C.M. Joppolo, P. Liberati, S.
Milani, L. Molinaroli, Experimental
analysis of a cross flow indirect
evaporative cooling system, Energy Build.
121 (2016) 130–138.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.03.076.

[15] A. Tejero-González, M. Andrés-Chicote, E.

Velasco-Gómez, F.J. Rey-Martínez,
Influence of constructive parameters on
the performance of two indirect
evaporative cooler prototypes, Appl.
Therm. Eng. 51 (2013) 1017–1025.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2012.10.05
4.

[16] S.J. Oh, M.W. Shahzad, M. Burhan, W. Chun,

C. Kian Jon, M. KumJa, K.C. Ng, Approaches
to energy efficiency in air conditioning: A
comparative study on purge
configurations for indirect evaporative
cooling, Energy. 168 (2019) 505–515.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2018.11.077.

[17] H. Sadighi Dizaji, E.J. Hu, L. Chen, S.

Pourhedayat, Development and validation
of an analytical model for perforated
(multi-stage) regenerative M-cycle air
cooler, Appl. Energy. 228 (2018) 2176–
2194.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.07.018.

[18] M. Ali, W. Ahmad, N.A. Sheikh, H. Ali, R.

Kousar, T. ur Rashid, Performance
enhancement of a cross flow dew point
indirect evaporative cooler with circular
finned channel geometry, J. Build. Eng.
(2020) 101980.
doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101980.

6 of 6