Assessment of direct evaporative cooler performance with a cooling pad made from banana midrib and ramie fiber
Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
ISSN: 2046-6099
Article publication date: 28 September 2020
Issue publication date: 22 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to apply Buckingham Pi dimensional analysis method for assessing direct evaporative cooler performance with a cooling pad made of banana midrib and ramie fiber. The saturation efficiency acted as the indicator performance of the evaporative cooler.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes an experimental study of the direct evaporative cooler with a cooling pad made of banana midrib and rami fiber. There were six parameters in the experiment: absorbed water as a dependent variable was affected by independent parameters such as air velocity and temperature, cooling pad cross-section area and thickness. Based on these variables, we arranged three dimensionless numbers and their correlation.
Findings
The paper provides three calculated dimensionless numbers plotted on a curve with a specific correlation. The curve trends for 30 mm and 50 mm pad thickness were almost similar. The range of Reynolds number for 10 mm pad was narrower than other pad thicknesses. The thicker the cooling pad, the more extensive was the calculated Reynolds number range. A new curve exhibited the relationship between the evaporation rate with the μA/t number. The broader cooling pad cross-section, the thinner pad thickness, and the lower pad temperature were factors that increased the evaporation rate, even though the increase was less significant.
Originality/value
A new material in cooling pad from banana midrib fiber was tested and compared to ramie fiber and conventional cooling pad.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Pasundan Bandung, for providing the funding through the research grant of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Pasundan, Bandung.
Citation
Sonawan, H., Sofia, E. and Ramadhan, A. (2022), "Assessment of direct evaporative cooler performance with a cooling pad made from banana midrib and ramie fiber", Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 469-482. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-06-2020-0078
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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