Energy 80 (2015) 452e464

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Numerical study and optimization of the combined indirect

evaporative air cooler for air-conditioning systems
Sergey Anisimov a, b, *, Demis Pandelidis a, Jan Danielewicz a
a
Department of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Technology, 27 Wyspian
ski St., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
b
Department of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services, Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, 2-nd
Krasnoarmeiskaya St. 4, 190005 St. Petersburg, Russia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper investigates a mathematical simulation and optimization of the heat and mass transfer
Received 13 October 2014 processes in the indirect evaporative air cooler. The heat exchanger uses a novel combined parallel and
Received in revised form regenerative counter-flow arrangement. A two-dimensional heat and mass transfer model is developed
23 November 2014
to perform the thermal calculations of the indirect evaporative cooling process. Mathematical model was
Accepted 30 November 2014
Available online 19 December 2014
validated against existing experimental data. The results obtained from the simulation reveal the high
effectiveness of the presented unit. The exchanger was compared with the conventional regenerative
unit. The results of comparison show, that the presented unit is characterized by higher effectiveness.
Keywords:
Indirect evaporative cooling
The impact of the selected unitless operating factors on the performance of the investigated heat
Mathematical model exchanger was established. The conducted multi-criteria optimization allowed to establish Pareto-
Heat and mass exchanger optimal operating conditions and preferable climatic zones for the presented heat exchanger.
Optimization © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction wet bulb temperature evaporative cooling. There are several

The refrigeration and air-conditioning systems use almost 15%
of the total electricity produced today [1]. Refrigeration market
nowadays is based mostly on the mechanical compression systems,
which consume a lot of electrical energy and often operate with low
efficiency in hot climates. The energy policies of many countries
worldwide focus on reducing the electrical energy consumption
and implementing new technologies, which are considered as
environmental friendly [1]. Hence, interest in novel and effective
technologies, such as indirect evaporative air cooling is constantly
growing [1].
Direct evaporative air coolers operate on a simple principle. The
water is evaporated into the passing air stream. As a result, the air
stream delivered to the conditioned spaces is moist, which may be
unpleasant to the occupants. Theoretically, the ultimate tempera-
ture for the direct evaporative cooling process is the ambient air
wet-bulb temperature, however this temperature is not easy
reached [2]. One of the novel solutions to this limitation is the sub-
* Corresponding author. Department of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw

ski St., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
University of Technology, 27 Wyspian
E-mail address: sergey.anisimov@pwr.edu.pl (S. Anisimov).
studies on achieving sub-wet bulb temperatures by evaporative
cooling.
Riangvilaikul and Kumar [3,4] carried out experimental study
of the regenerative HMX. Their results indicated that the wet bulb
effectiveness achieved by the HMX was 0.92e1.14. Hasan [2]
presented the analysis of sub-wet bulb indirect evaporative air
cooler with modified ε-NTU method. Achieved wet-bulb effec-
tiveness were up to 1.20. In another study [5] Hasan numerically
simulated various configurations of indirect evaporative coolers.
The results showed that the performance of the system could be
improved by manipulating the air flow by branching the working
air from the product air, which is indirectly pre-cooled. Gillan [6]
presented the analysis of the unit with the M-Сycle (Maisotsenko
cycle). The M-Cycle is one of the most effective cycles in indirect
evaporative air cooling. The wet bulb effectiveness achievable by
M-Cycle HMXes is up to 1.8 [6e12]. Cui et al. [13] developed an
analytical model for indirect evaporative heat exchangers via a
modified LMTD (log mean temperature difference) method
designed for sensible heat exchangers. The model has been
demonstrated to be a practical method to provide an accurate
result with a short computational time. Rogdakis et al. [14] pre-
sented experimental and numerical study of the M-Cycle HMX.
The obtained results indicated that the M-Cycle HMXes can

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.11.086
0360-5442/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464
Nomenclature
cp specific heat capacity of moist air, [J/(kg K)]
COP theoretical energy efficiency of the system. COP ¼ Q1/P,
[e]
f fluid fraction, [e]
F surface, [m2]
h height, [m]
G moist air mass flow rate, [kg/s]
lX streamwise length of the cooler, [m]
lY channel width, [m]
N theoretical fan power, [W]
q heat flux, [W/m2]
ro heat of water evaporation, [kJ/kg]
Q rate of heat transfer, [W]
Qb specific cooling capacity per cubic meter of the heat
exchanger's structure, Qb ¼ Q1/VHMX, [kW/m3]
RH relative humidity, [%]
t temperature, [ C]
v velocity, [m/s]
VHMX volume of the HMX structure VHMX ¼ 2(h þ dplt)lXlY,
[m3]
W heat capacity rate of the fluid, [W/K]
x humidity ratio, [kg/kg]
X coordinate along primary air flow direction, [m]
Y coordinate perpendicular to X coordinate, [m]
Dp pressure drop, [Pa]
Special characters
a convective heat transfer coefficient, [W/(m2 K)]
b mass transfer coefficient, [kg/(m2 s)]
d thickness, [m]
l thermal conductivity, [W/(m K)]
ε effectiveness, [e]
operate with high efficiency in the hot and dry Mediterranean
climate, thus they can satisfy the necessary cooling power
required for air conditioning. Kanzari et al. [15] analyzed the sub-
wet bulb temperature air cooling unit with a numerical methods.
The exchanger used the ceramic porous material for the plate
construction. The wet-bulb effectiveness obtained by this unit
was 1.17. Crum et al. [16] indicated that wet-bulb temperature can
be obtained with multistage indirect evaporative air cooling
process and with the combination of cooling towers and HMXes.
Their study showed, that the cooling tower-heat exchanger
combination has the highest thermal potential for air-
conditioning purposes. El-Agouz and Kabeel [17] analyzed per-
formance of desiccant air conditioning system with geothermal
energy. The highest obtained COP of the desiccant air condition-
ing system was 1.03 while the lowest COP was 0.15. Heidarinejad
et al. [18,19] presented a hybrid system of nocturnal radiative
cooling, cooling coil, and direct evaporative cooling in Tehran. The
results obtained demonstrate that overall effectiveness of hybrid
system is more than 100%. Khalajzadeh et al. [20] analyzed a novel
integrated system of ground heat exchanger and indirect evapo-
rative cooler. The obtained results showed that novel hybrid
system significantly decreases the air temperature below the
ambient wet-bulb temperature.
Based on the literary review in this paper, it can be seen, that
finding new and more effective ways of indirect evaporative air
cooling, which would be an alternative to the conventional vapor-
453
εDP DP ), [e]
dew-point effectiveness, εDP ¼ (t1i  t1o)/(t1i  t1i
s surface wettability factor, s 2 (0.0e1.0), [e]
Non dimensional coordinates
Le Lewis factor Le ¼ a=ðbcp Þ, [e]
NTU number of transfer units NTU ¼ aF=ðGcp Þ, [e]
X X ¼ X/lX e relative X coordinate, [e]
Y Y ¼ Y/lY e relative Y coordinate, [e]
Subscripts
1 main (primary) air flow
2 working (secondary) air in parallel-flow part
3 working (secondary) air in counter-flow part
Cond heat transfer by thermal conduction
DP dew-point temperature
g water vapor
h referenced to the height of the channel
heat heat transfer
i inlet
l latent heat flow
mass mass transfer
o outlet
p plate surface
parallel referenced to the parallel working air flow channel
plt channel plate
product referenced to the product air flow
reg referenced to the regenerative working air-flow
channel
w water film
work referenced to the working air flow
X streamwise in the dry channel
0 conditions at the air/plate interface temperature
 referenced to the elementary surface
compression systems is a matter of great importance. In order to
compete with the conventional systems, the novel indirect
evaporative air coolers must be characterized by high tempera-
ture effectiveness to provide comfort for the system users. In this
regard the objective of this paper is to study theoretically a novel
dew point indirect evaporative air cooler based on the combined
parallel and regenerative air-flow scheme. In the case of parallel
flow and regenerative indirect evaporative air coolers the primary
air passes over the dry side of the plate of heat exchanger, and the
working air over the opposite wet side of the exchanger (Fig. 1(a)).
However, the intake suction branch for working air flow are
placed in the opposite sides of both coolers (Fig. 1(a)): the
working and primary air stream in the parallel-flow HMX are
delivered at the same side of the exchanger, while in the regen-
erative HMX working and primary air stream (main stream) flow
together along the dry channel and they are separated at the end.
This results in different cooling efficiency along the primary air
channel in considered units (Fig. 1(b, c)). In typical parallel-flow
indirect evaporative air coolers the lowest water film tempera-
ture and the highest cooling effectiveness take place only at the
inlet area of the heat exchanger (Fig. 1(b, c)), while for the
regenerative heat exchangers the lowest temperature of the water
film and highest cooling effectiveness are achieved at the outlet
part of the units (Fig. 1(b, c); [21e23]). The key idea of the novel
solution is achieving high effectiveness of heat and mass ex-
change over the whole surface of the channels. As can be seen in
454 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464

Fig. 1. Parallel-flow and regenerative indirect evaporative air cooler [21e23]: (a) general scheme of considered devices; (b) cooling effectiveness along channels: temperature of the
water film along the main air-flow direction; (c) cooling effectiveness along channels: dew point effectiveness along the main air-flow direction.

Fig. 1, the combination of parallel flow and counter flow allows
achieving high heat and mass transfer efficiency over the whole
surface of the channels and, as a result, obtaining higher cooling
effectiveness than conventional indirect evaporative air coolers
[21e23]. Thus, the presented exchanger has a potential to over-
come the effectiveness of vapor-compression systems in different
air conditioning applications (Fig. 2). The study will be conducted
on the basis of the original mathematical model. The analyzed
exchanger will be compared with the conventional regenerative
unit [2,3,9] to establish which of considered units achieves higher
efficiency.
The air cooler works as follows (Fig. 2): ambient air enters the
HMX (1 in. Fig. 2(b)) through the suction branch 3 and then is
divided on parallel secondary air flow II and the main air flow I.
The water is delivered from the tank 2. Parallel secondary air flow
is passing through the wet channels 8. At the end of parallel
channel, moist air is discharged through downstream fairing 5 to
the atmosphere. The primary stream I is cooled in the dry channel
7, made of the impervious plate 6. At the exit part of the dry
channel 7, the main air stream is divided into the primary air flow
IV and the secondary regenerative air flow III. The primary air flow
IV is delivered to conditioned space, while the air flow III is
delivered to the wet channel through branch 4 and it realizes
evaporative air cooling process in the wet channel 9. Parallel
and counter-flow channel are separated with impenetrable wall
10.
2. Methods
The model developed for the description of the novel heat and
mass exchanger is based on the modified ε-NTU method [2,7e9].
From the standpoint of calculating algorithm the considered heat
exchanger can be divided into two main parts: parallel air-flow
section and the regenerative air-flow part (Figs. 1 and 3), in
which heat and mass transfer processes are realized in different
ways (Fig. 4). The assumptions for the presented model are listed in
Table 1.
From the above assumptions the energy and mass conservation
balance equations can be written for the air streams passing
through control volume in the concurrent air-flow section and
regenerative part of the HMX (see Fig. 4). The character of these
elementary equations is analogous to the balance equations, which
were presented in detail by authors in Refs. [7e9]. In this regard,
only the final form of differential equations will be presented, while
the intermediate conversions of the balance equations will be
omitted. The final set of the differential equations governing the
heat and mass transfer in the dry and wet channels can be
described as (index 1 refers to the main air flow in dry channel,
 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464 455

index 2 refers to working air flow in parallel wet channels, index 3 air flow in parallel wet channels, index 3 refers to working air flow
refers to working air flow in regenerative wet channels) in regenerative wet channels):

8
> dt  
>
> 1 ¼ NTU1 t 0 p1  t1
>
>
>
> dX
>
>  
>
> dt   cg dx2  0 
>
> 2 ¼ NTU2 t 0 p2  t2 þ t p2  t2 ; if X  lparallel
>
>
>
> dX c p 2 dX
>
>  
>
>   cg dx3  0 
>
> dt3 0
>
> ¼ NTU3 tp3  t3 þ tp3  t3 ; if X > lparallel
>
> dX cp 3 dX
>
>
>
< dx  
2
¼ ðNTU=LeÞ2 x0p2  x2 ; if X  lparallel (1)
> dX
>
>
>
>
> dx3  
>
>
>
> ¼ ðNTU=LeÞ3 x0p3  x3 ; if X > lparallel
> dX
>
>
>    o   
>
> 
> dt1
> W2 dt2 dx2 r cg 0
>
> þ þ  tp2  t2 ¼ 0; if X  lparallel
>
> dX W1 dX dX cp 2 cp 2
>
>
>
>    o   
>
> dt1 W3 dt3 dx3 r cg 
>
>  þ  0
 t3 ¼ 0 ; if X > lparallel
: tp3
dX W1 dX dX c p 3 c p 3

To complete the set of simultaneous differential Eq. (1) the non-   

 ¼ t1i  ¼ x1i  ¼ t2i ¼ t1i
linear empirical relation between humidity ratio of saturated air t1  ; x1  ; t2  ;
over liquid film and its temperature [7] is needed. The boundary X¼0 X¼0 X¼0
   (2)
conditions for the mathematical model are listed below (index 1  ¼ x2i ¼ x1i  ¼ t3i ¼ t1o  ¼ x3i ¼ x1i
x2  ; t3  ; x3  :
refers to the main air flow in dry channel, index 2 refers to working X¼0 X¼1 X¼1

Fig. 2. General scheme of analyzed indirect evaporative air cooler [21]: (a) general scheme; (b) top view of the exchanger; (c) side view of the exchanger.
456 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464

Fig. 3. Air flow distribution in the dry and wet channels of investigated HMX.

The convection heat transfer coefficients for the air flow in the
primary and working passages are calculated on the basis of the
Nusselt number with the uniform heat flux for both thermal
entrance region and fully developed flow [24,25]. Air flow is
assumed to be laminar [7e9]. The channel shape for the Nusselt
number calculation is assumed to be flat. Mass transfer coefficient
is obtained from the Lewis relationship [26].
Four main efficiency factors were selected to analyze the novel
heat exchanger:

 the outlet temperature of the product air flow t1o ;

 the dew point effectiveness [7e9]

t1i  t1o
εDP ¼ (3)
t1i  t1i
DP

 the specific cooling capacity respected to the cubic meter of the

unit's structure

b ¼ Q =V
Q (4)
1 HMX

where:

 Q1 ¼ G1 cp1 ðt1i  t1o Þ is the cooling capacity,

 VHMX is the volume of the exchanger structure
(VHMX ¼ 2(h þ dplt)lXlY, m3).
 the heat exchanger's energy efficiency factor COP is calculated
from the ratio of obtained cooling capacity to required electrical
energy for a fan to operate [10e12]:

COP ¼ Q1 =N (5)

where:

 N is the fan power: N ¼ DpworkVwork þ DpproductVproduct.
The pressure drops are calculated on the basis of air flow friction
loses along the channels [10e12]. The fluid friction coefficient for
laminar flow in rectangular channels is obtained using relationship
(6).
f ¼ 96/Re
Fig. 4. Schematic of heat and mass transfer in differential control volumes in the dry
and wet channels of investigated HMX for the parallel air flow and regenerative parts
of the unit.
The water consumed by the air cooler was omitted, due to its
low costs comparing to the costs of consumed electricity [10e12].
The values COP factor presented in this study are assumed as ideal
(6) values. They are based on the assumption of theoretical energy
 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464 457

Table 1 parallel air-flow section in this model was assumed equal to 0. The
Assumptions for the mathematical model. measurement station was using the air handling unit, the evapo-
Problem Assumption rative air cooler and the measurement devices (see Fig. 5). The
Heat exchange with the Assumed as neglectable
parameters of the regenerative exchanger are listed below:
surroundings
 length: 1200 mm;
Operation Steady state
Airflow physical properties Ideal and incompressible gas  plate thickness: 0.5 mm;
Water rate consumption Used for evaporation and for keeping  channel height: 5 mm;
the plate surface in saturated state. Air  channel width: 80 mm.
flow heat capacity is much larger than
that of the water (i.e., W2 [Ww and W3 [Ww )
Mechanism of mass Absolute humidity gradient (gradient of The parameters measured included: the air-flow rate (G) and the
transfer partial pressure of the water vapor) dry and wet-bulb temperatures (DB and WB in Fig. 5).
Kinetic properties of air Constant and assumed as equal to bulk The model was set to the same operating conditions as for
stream and water average values experimental cases, including the exchanger geometry and inlet
Other important The temperature of the water film, the
air-flow conditions. The validation of the mathematical model is
assumptions sensible heat transfer coefficient a and
the Lewis factor depend on the operating presented in Fig. 6(a) (constant inlet temperature and humidity
conditions [7e9] ratio, variable air flow velocity) and (b) (constant air flow velocity,
variable inlet temperature and humidity ratio). For the first case
(Fig. 6(a), the differences in obtained supply air temperature was at
consumption. In practice the energy used for a fan to operate can be most 4%, the correlation between experiment and model was 0.998.
higher [10e12]. However this factors are only used to make the For the second case, discrepancies between the model and exper-
comparison easier. This method of calculation was assumed in iment are at most 2%, the correlation is equal 0.999. It can be seen,
other studies connected with indirect evaporative air cooling in- that the experimental and simulation results has shown satisfac-
vestigations [10e12]. tory agreement and the model can be used to simulate the per-
formance of the real indirect evaporative air cooler.

3. Validation of mathematical model against existing

experimental data 4. Results

The mathematical model presented in this article was validated The assumed dimensions of analyzed exchanger are:
against existing experimental data published by Riangvilaikul and
Kumar [3]. The study [3] concerned the typical regenerative heat  height: 500 mm;
exchanger, therefore for the purpose of validation the length of the  length: 500 mm;

Fig. 5. Scheme of the testing bench used in Ref. [3].

458 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464
Fig. 6. Validation of the ε-NTU method results with experimental measurements data
from Ref. [3]. (a) Outlet product air temperature at variable velocity v1 and constant
inlet air parameters. (b) Outlet product air temperature at variable inlet air tempera-
ture t1i and constant velocity v1.
 width: 500 mm;
 channel height: 3 mm;
 plate thickness: 0.52 mm.
4.1. Overall results
It can be seen in Fig. 7 that combined heat and mass transfer
process runs differently in the parallel air-flow section and regen-
erative part of considered exchanger. It is obvious that the pro-
portion between these areas have a significant influence on the
cooling efficiency. The processes in the first parallel air-flow zone
are characterized by the constant drop in working air temperature
combined with the fast growth of its humidity ratio (Fig. 7). The
process in the regenerative section requires additional discussion.
The temperature distributions in the wet channels of the regener-
ative part are characterized by two different heat and mass transfer
zones (3i/U and U/3o in Fig. 7). At the inlet part of the wet
channels in the regenerative section (3i/ U) evaporation of the
water film results in fast reduction of working airflow 3 tempera-
ture and in increase of its humidity ratio (Fig. 7). However the
temperature of water on the plate surface (tp3) raise due to the
almost constant sensible heat flux delivered from the main flow 1,
under decreasing specific humidity gradient conditions, which
compensates the cooling effect caused by evaporation of the water.
At point U temperatures of the water film and the working flow 3
(t3) become equal (Fig. 7(b)). At the exit part of the wet channels in
the regenerative section the water film temperature t0 p3 is higher
than the working air-stream temperature (t3). As a result the
temperature of the secondary air flow is raising at the exit part of
the working air-flow channels in the regenerative section
(Fig. 7(b)). At the same time the mass flux direction remains the
same (Fig. 7(c)).
4.2. Comparison with the typical regenerative air cooler
The typical regenerative exchanger [2e4] doesn't have parallel
air-flow part, therefore in its case the parallel air flow rate (i.e. G2) is
equal to zero. The whole working air stream flows counter-
currently to the primary air stream (lreg ¼ lX ¼ 1.0). Both
compared exchangers have the same geometrical dimensions
(mentioned at the beginning of 4.1. section). The assumed ratio of
counter-flow working air to the primary air flow (i.e. G1) is equal
0.5. The results of comparison are visible in Fig. 8, the simulations
were presented for two hypothetical conditions: constant inlet
humidity ratio and velocity, variable inlet temperature (Fig. 8(aec))
and constant inlet humidity ratio and inlet temperature, variable
velocity (Fig. 8(def)).
It can be seen that the novel heat exchanger achieves lower
outlet temperatures than the typical regenerative device (Fig. 8(a)).
It is also characterized by the higher cooling capacity (Fig. 8(b)).
However, for higher parallel working air flow rates the novel unit
obtains lower COP values, due to the higher pressure loss. The
differences in fan power are from 0.5 to 13 W, while the differences
in obtained cooling capacity are from 127 to 171 W, which shows
that the novel device allows for more energetic benefits than the
typical unit. The same trend can be observed for the variable air
flow velocity (Fig. 8(def)): the novel exchanger obtains lower outlet
temperatures and higher cooling capacity, but it's characterized by
the lower COP for the higher parallel working air flow rates
(Fig. 8(f)). This shows, that the working parallel air flow rate
shouldn't be too high in order to reduce the pressure drop inside
the working air channel.
4.3. Optimization of the novel indirect evaporative cooler
performance
The results obtained in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 lead to the conclu-
sion, that the processes in the novel indirect evaporative air cooler
are characterized by the presence of two different active coupled
heat and mass transfer zones (see Fig. 7). The analysis of heat and
mass transfer process in these zones gives the possibility to raise
thermodynamic perfection of investigated unit at the expense of
efficient phase change heat recovery.
Complexity and labor-consuming character of comprehensive
research of coupled heat and mass transfer in the channels of
investigated unit (Figs. 7 and 8), as well as a large number of the
influence factors and wide range of their initial values variations,
require using multivariate quality optimization methods. One of
the main conditions of successful realization of these methods is
the selecting of characteristic effectiveness indexes, such as: dew
point thermal effectiveness εDP , specific cooling capacity per cubic
meter of the HMX structure Q b and theoretical energy efficiency of
the system COP.
Independent inlet air-flow parameters and operating conditions
for the fixed volume of the exchanger matrix, establishing the
values of selected indexes in the unique fashion, can be proposed as
follows:
 the inlet temperature of the primary air flow 1 and the sec-
ondary air flow 2 (t1i ¼ t2i, C),
 the inlet humidity ratio of the primary air flow 1 and the sec-
ondary air flow 2 (x1i ¼ x2i, g/kg),
 the velocity of the primary air flow 1 (v1, m/s),
 length of the parallel air-flow part (lparallel ),
 the heat capacity ratio W2/W1 and W3/W1, W/K.
 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464 459

Fig. 7. Distribution of thermodynamic parameters of air flows and water film in the channels of the novel HMX: (a) processes on the psychrometric chart; (b) temperature dis-
tribution along the X axis; (c) humidity ratio distribution along the X axis.

The influence factors variations were assumed in the range of
t1i ¼ (20e40) C, x1i ¼ (6.0e12.0)g/kg, v1 ¼ (1.0e5.0) m/s, W2/
W1 ¼ (0.2e1.0), W3/W1 ¼ (0.1e0.5), lparallel ¼ (0e1.0).
In order to obtain more complete information about heat and
mass transfer processes occurring in investigated unit, analysis of
the heat exchanger performance were carried out separately for
each individual quality criterion. The selected results of this study,
based on design of experiment methods, are presented in Fig. 9.
The received relationships indicate that it is possible to obtain
high efficiency of investigated heat exchanger and offer scope for
estimation of variation range of the HMX optimum operating
conditions. It should be noted, that a single-parameter optimization
led us to unsatisfactory results, connected with a discrepancy of
selected characteristic effectiveness indexes extremum (see
Fig. 9(a, d) and Table 2), which naturally necessitated using multi-
objective optimization methods on the base of developing a global
quality index. Such methods give an opportunity to convert a multi-
criteria optimization problem into a univariate one leading to an
unambiguous solution (see Table 3).
Different functions may be used for mathematical description of
relationship between this kind of univariate global quality index
and individual quality criteria. The generalization of the whole
complex of contradictory individual optimization functions was
carried out by means of combining individual desirability indexes
Fig. 8. Comparison between novel HMX and typical regenerative unit: (a) outlet temperatures e variable inlet temperature, constant humidity ratio and velocity. (b) specific cooling
capacity e variable inlet temperature, constant humidity ratio and velocity. (c) COP e variable inlet temperature, constant humidity ratio and velocity. (d) outlet temperatures e
variable velocity, constant humidity ratio and inlet temperature. (e) specific cooling capacity evariable velocity, constant humidity ratio and inlet temperature. (f) COP e variable
velocity, constant humidity ratio and inlet temperature.
 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464 461

Fig. 9. Influence of selected unitless operating factors on the exchanger's effectiveness: (a) influence of the NTU number on the dew-point effectiveness at different levels of W3 =W1
ratio; (b) influence of the W2 =W1 ratio on the specific cooling capacity at different levels of NTU number; (c) influence of the length of the parallel air-flow part on the specific
cooling capacity at different levels of W3 =W1 ratio; (d) influence of the W2 =W1 ratio on the specific cooling capacity at different levels of NTU number; (e) influence of the W2 =W1
ratio on the specific cooling capacity at different levels of W3 =W1 ratio; (f) influence of the length of the parallel air-flow part on the specific cooling capacity at different levels of
W2 =W1 ratio.
462 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464

Table 2
The results of single-parameter optimization for selected individual quality criteria (for inlet air-flow conditions: t1i ¼ 30  C; x1i ¼ 9.0 g/kg).

Individual quality criteria Optimal operating conditions (on the base of single-parameter optimization)

(NTU1)opt (W2/W1)opt (W3/W1)opt ðlparallel Þopt

Dew point thermal effectiveness εDP 7.9 0.76 0.5 0.13

Specific cooling capacity per cubic meter of the 1.5 1.0 0.1 0.45
HMX structure Q b
Theoretical energy efficiency of the system COP 7.9 0.52 0.5 0.70

Table 3
The expert's preferences specification for two values of individual quality indexes Yi and corresponding values of di in the Harrington's scale of desirability.

Individual quality indexes Dimension Values of individual Values of individual Coefficients of linear transformation in Eq. (9)
indexes related to di ¼ 0.37 indexes related to di ¼ 0.63
bi ci

Dew point thermal  0.42 0.52 3.27 7.75

effectiveness εDP
b
Specific cooling capacity Q kW/m3 12.9 20.5 1.31 0.11
COP  97 193 0.77 0.008

into one overall unitless value via Harrington's Desirability Func- where Yi0  the code values of the individual quality indexes,
tion [27]. determined by a linear transformation.

Y
n Yi0 ¼ bi þ ci Yi (9)
D¼ dki i (7)
i¼1 The kurtosis of the Gompertz-curves (Fig. 10) is determined
from Eq. (9) on the base of the expert's preferences specification for
where di e desirability indexes of selected individual quality two values of Yi and related values of di [28], which are presented in
criteria mapped to the interval [0,1]; ki e weights of individual Table 2.
quality criteria, the sum of which is equal to 1.0. Optimization of the considered air cooler requires corrective
The transformation of the individual quality indexes to the procedure of individual quality criteria weights estimation.
Harrington unitless scale of desirability in the case of the one-sided Weights and individual quality indexes Yi are chosen on the basis of
specification is realized with a special form of the Gompertz-curve opinion given by experts. Experts are carefully chosen scientists,
[27,28]. who specialize in the field of indirect evaporative air cooling. In
case of presented study, twenty experts gave their opinion about
 
di ¼ exp  exp Yi0 (8) weights of quality indexes. In the case of analysis of experts'
opinion we gave preference to the method of stochastic quality
measurements [29]. This method gives a possibility of using
different (very often contradictory) information and controlling
quality of received information on the base of carried out exami-
nation results. Processing the information received according to all
the possible ratios of weights, was carried out with help of com-
puter program created with above-mentioned methodology. As a
result, the weights of selected individual quality criteria were
received: kεDP ¼ ð0:25±0:02Þ, k _ ¼ ð0:64±0:05Þ,
Q
kCOP ¼ ð0:11±0:01Þ.
Computer simulations, carried out on the base of experiment
methods design, allowed determining Pareto-optimal performance
characteristics of investigated HMX [28], which were scored on the
Harrington scale of desirability (see Fig. 11), and generalize them in
unitless form (Fig. 12(aec)). It should be noted, that change of the
parallel air-flow part length during the heat exchanger operation
process is almost impossible. In this regard, preliminary optimi-
zation simulations were carried out to select the unchangeable
length of the parallel air-flow part for all the range of inlet air-flow
parameters. The calculations showed, that the optimal value of
lparallel were almost constant and equaled to 0.5, and only at the low
values of the inlet air-flow temperatures (t1i ¼ 20e24  C)
ðlparallel Þopt z 0.3. Assuming a low probability of the heat exchanger
operation under low inlet temperature conditions, the value of
lparallel was chosen constant and equal to 0.5.
The received results of multi-criteria optimization gave a pos-
sibility to estimate optimum operating conditions (Fig. 12) and
Fig. 10. The unitless scales of desirability for individual efficiency indexes. preferable climatic zones for the novel HMX (Fig. 13). As a result, we
 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464
Fig. 11. Topography of the Desirability Index D in the vicinity of the optimum oper-
ating conditions under inlet air-flow conditions t1i ¼ 30  C and x1i ¼ 9.0 g/kg: (a) at the
fixed levels of the (NTU1)opt number and (W3/W1)opt ratio; (b) at the fixed levels of the
(NTU1)opt number and (W3/W1)opt ratio; (c) at the fixed levels of the (NTU1)opt number
and the length of the parallel air-flow part ðlparallel Þopt .
present the range of optimal operating conditions, specified in
Table 4, which were scored on the Harrington scale of desirability
and preference [27e29].
5. Summary and conclusions
This study presents the theoretical analyses of the indirect
evaporative air cooler with combined air flow scheme. Considered
unit uses parallel air-flow part at the entrance of the exchanger and
the regenerative counter-flow part at the exit part of the exchanger.
Modified ε-NTU-model based on the accurate assumptions was
463
Fig. 12. Optimal values of operating factors under different climatic conditions for
investigated HMX: (a) optimal NTU values; (b) optimal W2 =W1 ratio values; (c) optimal
W3 =W1 ratio values.
proposed for the mathematical analysis of the heat and mass
transfer processes inside the unit. The model was validated against
the experimental data presented by Riangvilaikul and Kumar. The
operating conditions were varied to understand their influence on
the cooling performance of the HMX. The novel heat exchanger was
compared with the typical regenerative unit. The results of nu-
merical simulations lead to the following conclusions:
464 S. Anisimov et al. / Energy 80 (2015) 452e464
Fig. 13. Climatic zones of preferable application of the novel HMX.
Table 4
Variation range of optimal operating conditions for the novel air cooler.
Factor Optimal range of values [29]
(NTU1)opt 1.5e2.8
opt
ðW2 =W1 Þ 0.8e1.0
ðW3 =W1 Þopt 0.14e0.27
ðlparallel Þopt 0.5
 The proposed exchanger obtains lower outlet air temperatures
and higher cooling capacity than the typical regenerative unit.
However, for higher parallel air flow rated it may achieve lower
COP.
 The impact of the operating factors (NTU1, W2 =W1 , W3 =W1 and
lparallel .) on the energy efficiency of the considered HMX was
established.
 The optimization study allowed to establish the Pareto-optimal
performance of the novel HMX.
 The proposed optimal design of the novel heat exchanger is a
compromise solution obtained from the analysis of selected
individual quality criterion: dew point thermal effectiveness
εDP ,specific cooling capacity per cubic meter of the HMX struc-
ture Q b and theoretical energy efficiency of the system COP.
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