Investigation of conjugate heat and mass transfer in a sleeve-type hollow fiber membrane for liquid desiccant dehumidification

In adiabatic conditions, the dehumidification capacity of hollow fibre membranes decreases as solution temperature rises. To address this limitation, this study proposed a novel approach based on sleeve-type hollow fibre membranes. The study focused on three distinct fluid streams and the sleeve-type hollow fibre membrane tube. A three-dimensional model of the dehumidifier was created, and the dehumidifier's heat transfer, mass transfer, and fluid flow characteristics were thoroughly analyzed and experimentally validated. The results showed that the average values of the Sherwood number and Nusselt number on the air side are significantly influenced by the Reynolds number. On the solution side of the sleeve-type hollow membrane, the average Nusselt number and Sherwood number are approximately 4.0 and 4.6, respectively. According to the research, 76 % of the resistance is accounted for by the mass transfer resistance on the membrane side. The study's conclusions provide insightful information for improving the design of sleeve-type hollow fibre membrane dehumidifiers.