Dehumidification performance of unitary rooftop air conditioning systems: Kmart demonstration. Final report
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
- Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Joint Center for Energy Management
This tailored collaboration project brought together EPRI, Alabama Power Company, Mississippi Power Company, and Kmart Corporation to examine dehumidification options in a Kmart store in Long Beach, Mississippi. Finding optimal solutions for dehumidification in retail settings is especially crucial for stores that must increase ventilation to meet indoor air quality standards. Removing the extra humidity from increased ventilation tends to require larger installed HVAC equipment capacity, increase peak electrical demand, and raise energy consumption. The field demonstration confirmed that a department store in a very humid climate with a typical rooftop unitary HVAC system can maintain an acceptable humidity level--below 50%--by incorporating simple measures: use of heat pipe heat exchangers, low airflow rates, and low temperature air. Used alone, these measures improve dehumidification. However, combining the three features provided the best results, an increased moisture removal rate of nearly 37%. Performance improve still further when higher ventilation introduced greater amounts of outside humid air.
- Research Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA (United States); Joint Center for Energy Management, Boulder, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 270758
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-TR-106066; TRN: AHC29617%%90
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: May 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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