Distributed polygeneration: desiccant-based air handling units interacting with microcogeneration systems

Distributed Polygeneration (DP) systems are small size energy conversion devices able to efficiently supply two or moreenergy outputs (electric, cooling and heating) to the end-user, rather than the simple single-output equipments. In manyapplications in tertiary and residential sectors, they allow to achieve energy, economic and environmental benefits. In abarely analyzed layout of a DP system, thermal energy from a microcogenerator is used to regenerate a desiccant wheel(DW) in a hybrid air handling unit (AHU), in which a chiller is used to meet the room sensible load. The main advantagesof this unit, with respect to conventional systems, are: sensible and latent loads can be separately controlled; the coolingmachine can operate with a higher chilled water temperature, achieving a higher COP and consistent energy savings; abetter IAQ can be obtained, due to sanitizing effects of desiccants.The aim of this chapter is to review the researches carried out to evaluate the performance of systems in which amicrocogenerator (MCHP) interacts with a desiccant-based HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) unit.Furthermore, experimental and numerical analysis are described to evaluate the performance of the MCHP/HVAC-DWinstalled at Department of Engineering, University of Sannio (Italy), as a function of various operating conditions andparameters, in order to establish its effectiveness, compared to a conventional HVAC system.