Performance of evaporative cooling systems with chilled water

Abstract

Many climatic records indicate that the average temperature of many countries have increased at least by one degree and also have changed the rainfall pattern to a certain extent. These have made the conditions in warm humid tropical countries somewhat undesirable. With improved economic conditions in many countries in the Asian region, a shift to air conditioning can be seen in office buildings, factories and houses. An energy efficient alternative to air conditioning is the use of evaporative cooling. However, its performance in months with higher moisture content that results in higher relative humidity cannot be efficient and hence there is a barrier for its popularization. One option available is the use of chilled water for improved performance. This research highlights the thermal performance that can be achieved with chilled water and the responses that have been obtained from the workers of a large factory complex located in Sri Lanka where the humidity ratio can reach 0.018 during some months.