This paper presents the preliminary investigation of the application of a novel thermal evaporative cooling tower integrated with thermoelectric devices (TECs) and a mop fan to provide a comfortable indoor climate. The mop fan functions by reducing air temperature and increasing relative humidity with the use of water for evaporative cooling. This pre-treated airflow then passed through a TEC unit, which further reduced air temperature and increased the relative humidity. Results from the experiments have shown that comfortable conditions could be obtained by utilising appropriate water spray temperatures and water spray flow rates. The performance of the TECs played an important role during the lab work to control the comfort conditions. The experimental work also showed that the TEC's limited cooling capacity needed to be improved by increasing input current. The system utilizes no environmentally harmful working fluids. It is quiet in operation and relatively maintenance free. The system utilizes DC power making it appropriate for integration with photovoltaic panels.
Keywords. Direct Evaporative Cooling; Thermoelectric; Mop Fan
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How to cite this article
Kimsunthorn, J., Jiang, L., Gillott, M. and Riffat, S. (2007). 'Investigation of a novel Thermoelectric Evaporative Cooling Tower System'. SET Proceedings, 6(1), pp. 262-267. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2007.043
