The regeneration of various saturated solid and novel composite desiccant using Scheffler solar concentrator: an experimental investigation

ABSTRACT

In this article, the regeneration of various saturated desiccant (wet basis) such as silica gel, activated alumina, molecular sieve, and novel composite desiccant using Scheffler solar concentrator (SSC) has been proposed. The regeneration performance is greatly affected by solar radiation, surface temperature of desiccant, wind velocity, and initial moisture content. SSC having aperture area of 1.54 m² is used for regeneration of 0.620 kg sample of each desiccants. During the investigation, it has been found that silica gel has maximum moisture content (dry basis), i.e. 0.2944 followed by molecular sieve, novel composite, and activated alumina having moisture content 0.2205, 0.19, and 0.0671, respectively. The maximum regeneration rate of 0.07440 kg/hr is achieved in novel composite and maximum weight loss percentage of 22.74% is achieved in silica gel. Regeneration time taken by silica gel, activated alumina, molecular sieve, and novel composite desiccant are 160, 90, 140, and 110 min, respectively.

KEYWORDS:

• Solar energy
• Scheffler concentrator
• moisture content
• regeneration rate
• solid desiccant
• composite desiccant

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.