International Journal of Sustainable Engineering

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Performance evaluation of an indirect-direct evaporative

cooler using biomass-based packing material

Arunkumar HS, Madhwesh N, Shankar Shenoy & Shiva Kumar

To cite this article: Arunkumar HS, Madhwesh N, Shankar Shenoy & Shiva Kumar (2024)
Performance evaluation of an indirect-direct evaporative cooler using biomass-based
packing material, International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 17:1, 469-480, DOI:
10.1080/19397038.2024.2360451

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2024.2360451

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING
2024, VOL. 17, NO. 1, 469–480
https://doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2024.2360451

Performance evaluation of an indirect-direct evaporative cooler using biomass-based

packing material
Arunkumar HS, Madhwesh N, Shankar Shenoy and Shiva Kumar
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

To overcome the drawbacks of a single-stage evaporative cooler, an indirect-direct type evaporative Received 5 September 2023
cooler was proposed and fabricated. An alternative arrangement of mild steel plates wherein unmixed Accepted 22 May 2024
heat transfer occurs between air and water to form an indirect evaporative cooler. This is followed by KEYWORDS
a packing arrangement made of biomass-based coconut coir that forms a direct evaporative cooler. Indirect-direct; coconut coir;
Experiments were conducted by varying the air and water flow rates, and the performance of the coconut biomass; wet bulb efficiency;
coir was compared with that of a commercially available celdek packing. Experimental results indicated energy consumption
that a combination of an indirect-direct evaporative cooler helped cool air without an appreciable
increase in air-specific humidity. The performance of the coconut coir is slightly lower than that of the
Celdek coir in terms of the drop in DBT and wet-bulb effectiveness. A maximum wet bulb effectiveness of
0.78 and 0.63 was achieved for the celdek and coconut coir packings, respectively. The maximum
performance was attained at an air velocity of 6 m/s and a water flow rate of 3 LPM. Owing to the
different advantages of coconut coir over celdek packings, it is recommended to use coconut coir as an
alternative packing in indirect-direct evaporative coolers.

1. Introduction
relative humidity (RH) reaching nearly the saturation condi­
The temperature of the environment is rising day by day as tion. Even though the single-stage evaporative cooling
a result of global warming. The indoor air temperature and mechanism offers advantages such as cost-effectiveness and
relative humidity are critical factors in determining the human low maintenance, it has several limitations, such as excessive
comfort zone. The term ‘comfortable zone’ refers to a space water consumption, poor suitability for hot and humid cli­
with a temperature of 25°C at room temperature and relative mates, low humidification efficiency, and limited temperature
humidity of 55% according to ASHRAE standards. The use of drop. To enhance the performance of coolers, researchers have
mechanical vapour compression-centred air-conditioning sys­ modified the basic design by adding more stages.
tems consumes more power, and the use of refrigerants con­ Two-stage evaporative cooling units consisting of an indir­
tributes to environmental pollution (Tejero-González and ect evaporative cooling (IDEC) and a direct evaporative cool­
Franco-Salas 2021). To overcome these problems, evaporative ing unit (DEC) are used by some of the investigators
cooling has been adopted recently because it is energy efficient. (Heidarinejad et al. 2009). They revealed that this system offers
The advantage of using the evaporative cooling technique is an effectiveness of about 55 to 61%. The studies where two and
that it uses water as a refrigerant to cool air, making it envir­ three-stage evaporative cooling units were incorporated, and
onmentally friendly. When warm air comes in contact with the investigators found that the humidification efficiency
water, it loses its density, as its ability to contain moisture improved by 10% for the three-stage unit (Al-Juwayhel et al.
increases with temperature. Hence, water evaporates by taking 2004). Zamen, Soufari and Amidpour (2011) studied multi-
energy from the air for evaporation. This cools the air simul­ stage humidification, dehumidification (HDH), and desalina­
taneously, making it more humid. This evaporative cooler is tion units. The multi-stage showed better performance than
known as a direct evaporative cooler. The critical design para­ the single-stage in terms of the drop in the temperature values.
meters influencing the process include the pad material, Even though the cooling performance increases in multi-
dimensions, and configurations. The operating parameters stage systems, it also has drawbacks such as increased water
include air and water flow characteristics, surrounding tem­ consumption, higher pressure drops, and exit air near the
perature, and humidity conditions. Several researchers have saturation state. Highly humid air is prone to microbial growth
conducted comprehensive experiments using Celdek, and may cause respiratory infections in humans. Hence, the exit
a commercially available packing material, and have achieved humidity must be maintained in line with the thermal comfort
good cooling performance (Jain and Hindoliya 2011; Malli conditions, keeping the exit temperature at its lowest as accord­
et al. 2011; Mujahid Rafique et al. 2015; Xu, Xie, and Xiao ing to ASHRAE 55 standards (Salins et al. 2023). Because both
2017). The cooling efficiency was on the order of 50–85%, with are interrelated, this is difficult to achieve in the case of simple

CONTACT Shiva Kumar [email protected] Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy
of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the
posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
470 A. HS ET AL.

single-stage or multi-stage direct evaporative coolers. Hence, Although several studies have been conducted using
some modifications to the basic principle of direct evaporative a combination of indirect and direct evaporative coolers, the
cooling have been focused on for several years. Few studies have increase in performance has not been satisfactory. Further,
been conducted worldwide on this topic. owing to the addition of various critical components, the initial
Tripathi and Kumar (2023) used an energy-efficient and eco investment also increased. Hence, to make them cost-effective,
friendly indirect cooler consisting of an wet channel to cool the a simple mechanism that can reduce the exit temperature to
air using solar energy in a cross-flow heat exchanger. The low a considerable value without appreciably increasing air humid­
temperature water is used to cool air stream without increasing ity is required. Hence, there is vast scope for improving the
the exit humidity. They observed the cooling capacity in the design of direct evaporative coolers.
range of 124.3 to 1032 W and the wet bulb efficiency of 59–90%. Furthermore, most packing materials used by researchers
In order to reduce pumping energy required for pumping water are celdek packing materials, which are uneconomical, costly,
in an Indirect evaporative cooler Shi et al. (2022) developed and unavailable in rural regions. To make evaporative coolers
a system consisting of a porous layer in the secondary air environmentally friendly, biomass-based filling materials have
channel. The result showed that supply air temperature could been in focus for the last 4 to 5 years. Several researchers have
be maintained for 2105 seconds without the requirement of conducted experiments using different biomass-based packing
spray water that reduced 95% of operating time. In addition, materials in single-stage direct-evaporative coolers.
COP was also increased by 117.5%. E De Antonellis et al. (2016) Abohorlu et al. (2019) used eucalyptus fibres as an alter­
carried out comprehensive tests on an indirect evaporative native packing material for evaporative cooling. Experiments
cooler under varied operating and nozzle conditions. Results were conducted in a wind tunnel. They noticed a maximum
concluded that performance of an indirect evaporative cooler is cooling efficiency of 71% when the air flow rate was main­
strongly dependent on the water flow rate and is least dependent tained at 0.1 m/s. Gunhan, Demir and Yagcioglu (2007) eval­
on the nozzle size and number of nozzles. Counter flow per­ uated the sustainability of pad materials used as cooling pads
formed better than the cross-flow type with the wet bulb effec­ for direct evaporative cooling. Here, pumice stone (coarse),
tiveness ranging from 50–85%. Nie et al. (2018) developed an pumice stone (fine), and volcanic tuff were used as the cooling
indirect flash evaporative cooler combined with ultrasonic ato­ pad materials. Their performance was compared with cellulose
miser for building ventilation. The exit air is oversaturated by pad (Celdek) packing and was found to be marginally less than
using ultrasonic atomiser which in turn is used to cool the that of Celdek.
incoming air. Temperature recovery ratio was in between 102– Jain and Hindoliya (2011) used palash, khus fibres and Aspen
146% and latent heat recovery in between 42–56%. The heat as the packing material in a direct evaporative cooling set up.
recovery efficacy was in the range of 61–71%. Palash gave a higher cooling efficiency over aspen and khus fibres
Zhou et al. (2021) developed an experimental setup for with the maximum values observed as 81%. Naturally available
a two-stage indirect thermoelectrically assisted direct evapora­ materials such as activated carbon foam and luffe fibres were
tive cooler. The air is cooled in the direct evaporative cooler tested as an alternate packing material for evaporative cooling
and then passed over a thermo-electrically assisted system to undertaken by Abd Aziz et al. (2018). Results showed that carbon
further cool it. The results revealed better cooling efficiency fibre foam has higher temperature depression and higher cooling
over a single stage. Farmahini Farahani et al. (2010) con­ efficiency than luffa fibres. For the tested conditions, they claimed
structed a two-stage system consisting of an indirect evapora­ that activated carbon pads have better foam structure and high
tive cooling and nocturnal radiative cooling system using three wettability than luffa. Feasibility of using jute fibre, palm fibre and
different models. All three models performed well and pro­ wooden charcoal as a packing material was tested by Ndukwu
vided both the necessary and required cooling. It was con­ et al. (2022) in the Nigerian climate. Jute fibres showed highest wet
cluded that hybrid systems are much more effective than bulb effectiveness of 78% where as palm showed the lowest. They
indirect evaporative coolers (IEC) alone. Heidarinejad and also concluded that cooler performance diminishes at higher
Moshari (2015) determined the effect of spray water tempera­ humidity conditions. Suranjan Salins, Reddy, and Kumar (2021)
ture variation in a two-stage evaporative cooler. The results constructed a direct-type evaporative cooler unit made of locally
showed that the two-stage direct/indirect had 50% higher wet available cooling pad materials. Coconut coir and wood shavings
bulb effectiveness than the single-stage while having the same were used as the different materials. The results revealed that
inlet parameters. Eldessouky (2004) analysed the performance wood shaving performed better than coconut coir but less than
of a two-stage direct indirect evaporative cooler using high- celdek packing. Franco, Valera and Peña (2014) used a wind
density polythene as the filler material. Results revealed that tunnel to experiment with evaporative cooling using plastic- and
the efficiency of the direct indirect cooler varied over the range cellulose-based packing of varying thicknesses. Plastic packing
of 90–120%, indicating that the dry bulb temperature of outlet gave a pressure drop of 11.05 Pa and a humidification efficiency
air was lower than the wet-bulb temperature of the intake air. of 51.27%. Cellulose pads gave a maximum humidification effi­
The performance of the composite bio desiccant using ciency of 80%, higher than plastic-based packing. Ahmed et al.
a nanofluid cooling in a plate-type heat exchanger was studied (2011) evaluated the performance of three types of packing: wood
by Kumar et al. (2023). Alklaibi (2015) conducted an experi­ slices, straw pads, and cellulose. The packing density varied with
mental investigation of an internal two-stage evaporative changes in the packing dimensions. The results indicated that
cooler using the Maisotsenko cycle. The internal two-stage wood slice packing and cellulose packing provided higher humi­
evaporative cooler had better system efficiency than the direct dification, and straw packing provided the least humidification
evaporative cooler unit. performance.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING 471

From these studies, it can be seen that a few researchers 2. Methodology

have used biomass packing as the filling material for direct
2.1. Working principle
evaporative coolers. They found that the cooling efficiency
was marginally lower than that of the commercially available The proposed system consisted of two segments: an indir­
celdek packing. Very few researchers have used biomass- ect heat exchanger and a direct evaporative cooler.
based packing in indirect-direct heat exchangers. A series of mild steel plates were soldered together to
Furthermore, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the form two passages: one for air and the other for water.
use of coconut coir as a filling material has not been com­ The two fluids pass through the gap between the plates,
prehensively studied as an alternative packing material for during which air loses its sensible heat to water. As
evaporative coolers. The influence of coconut coir on the a result, the air temperature dropped without a change
performance of an indirect-direct combination has not been in the specific humidity. Later, the same air is subjected to
explored by investigators. An indirect-direct evaporative the direct evaporator, where water is sprayed from the top
cooler was fabricated to bridge these gaps. A series of mild of the packing through the nozzles, and air-water interac­
sheet plates were joined together such that air and water tion takes place by which water evaporates by taking the
moved in perpendicular directions while exchanging energy, sensible heat from the air; hence, the air temperature
forming an indirect heat exchanger. Air can pass through decreases with a simultaneous increase in the humidity.
the coconut coir packing, where it interacts with water and Figure 1. illustrates the principle of an indirect-direct
articulates the direct evaporative cooler. Experiments were evaporative cooler.
conducted by varying the air velocity and water flow rate,
and the results were compared with those of neat Celdek
packing to justify the possibility of using coconut coir as an
alternative packing material. 2.2. Mathematical equations
The use of an indirect-direct cooler can limit the relative Overall wet bulb effectiveness: The wet bulb effectiveness is the
humidity of the air at the inlet to the room and helps to maintain ratio of the temperature difference between the vent and outlet
it at a lower value. Furthermore, even though coconut coir DBT to the temperature difference between the inlet air DBT
shows slightly reduced performance compared to commercially and the wet-bulb temperature (WBT) of the inlet air.
used celdek, owing to its advantages such as biodegradability, a) Wet bulb effectiveness (ε) is given by
easy availability at free of cost, easy replacement, and lower Tdi Tdo
maintenance, it is an alternative packing material for evapora­ ε¼ (1)
Tdi Twi
tive cooling. As a sustainable technique adopted to cool rooms,
it also fulfils UNSDGs, specifically SDG 7 and SDG 11. As they
are sustainable, they can reduce the cooling loads of conven­ where Tdi and Tdo are the dry-bulb temperatures of air at the
tional air conditioners. Hence, it also helps to limit carbon inlet and outlet of the unit, respectively, and Twi is the wet-bulb
footprints and keep the environment free from polluting. temperature of air at the inlet of the unit.

Figure 1. Working principle of indirect-direct evaporative cooler.

472 A. HS ET AL.

b) Cooling effect (Qc ): The cooling effect provides the magni­ a thickness of 0.5 mm have been chosen. Sheets are soldered
tude of the energy removed from the air to reduce its temperature. so that on the top side, they are closed, and on the other side,
Qc ¼ ma � cp � ΔT (2) they are open, allowing air to pass through. Each plate is kept
between two other sets of plates whose side faces are closed and
open at the top to allow the cold water to flow from top to
where ma is the mass flow rate of air (kg/s), cp is the specific bottom. Likewise, 24 passages were soldered together, as
heat capacity (J/kgK), and ΔT is the change in the temperature shown in Figure 2(a), constituting the IEC.
at the inlet and outlet of the system. Further, a wrought iron meshed structure with dimensions of
It is also given by 250 mm × 250 mm × 7.5 mm was fabricated. Initially, a cellular
� � � celdek packing with appropriate dimensions was placed inside
Qc ¼ ma � cp � ΔT þ Δh (3)
the meshed structure, as shown in Figure 2(b), which acts as
a direct evaporative cooler. After the initial experiments, this
ΔT is the temperature difference between the inlet and exit of was replaced by a set of coconut coir with the same wettability
the indirect heat exchanger for air, and Δh is the difference in values as that of Celdek, was used as the direct evaporative
the enthalpy values at the inlet and outlet sections of the direct cooler, as shown in Figure 2(c). Wettability is defined as the
evaporative cooler. ratio of the surface area available for the fluid interaction to the
c) Evaporation rate (mw ): Evaporation rate is given by volume. Based on the surface area and volume considered, the
mw ¼ ma � ðw2 w1 Þ (4) Celdek packing’s wettability is found to be 632 m2/m3 Kumar
et al. (2022). For the coconut coir as the volume is constant,
required mass to have an wettability of 632 m2/m3 has been
where ma is the mass flow rate of air and w1 and w2 are the calculated and inserted into the mesh structure.
specific humidities at the inlet and outlet of the direct evapora­ The two packings were placed inside a duct with
tive cooler, respectively. a cross-section of 270 mm × 270 mm and a length of 1500
mm. At one end of the duct, a blower is placed with
a capacity of 90 W, which blows air initially through the
2.3. Experimental test rig IEC, followed by a direct evaporative cooler (DEC). K-type
For constructing the IEC (Indirect evaporative cooler), mild thermocouples were placed at the beginning (before the
steel sheets with dimensions 250 mm × 250 mm and IEC), after the IEC, and after the DEC to measure the

Figure 2. (a) Indirect cooler (b) Celdek Packing (c) Coconut coir packing.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING 473

Figure 3. Photo of the experimental setup.

corresponding temperatures. Similarly, RH values at the 2.4. Experimental procedure

respective positions were noted using hygrometers. The
Initially, experiments were conducted using celdek packing.
air velocity at the beginning and after passing through
Entry air conditions such as air temperature is maintained at
the packing was recorded by the anemometers. Water can 28 ºC and entry RH is maintained at 60%. The blower rpm
flow from an overhead tank onto each packing, controlled was adjusted such that the inlet air velocity was maintained
by a gate valve. Water was initially collected in a tray and at the required value, as listed in Table 2. The gate valve is
then dripped uniformly onto the individual packing adjusted so water falls on the indirect pads and the Celdek
through the small holes engraved in each packing to ensure packing with the set flow rate. Once the above steady-state
uniform water distribution throughout the packing surface. conditions of air and water were reached, the exit tempera­
After the interaction, water will be collected in the collect­ tures, RH values, and pressure head values were recorded.
ing tank and pumped to the overhead tank. Pressure tap­ Experiments were conducted by varying the air velocity and
ings were taken at the inlet and exit of the duct and were water flow rate, as listed in Table 2. The packing structure
connected to the digital manometer, which read the pres­ was replaced by a coconut coir, and the experiments were
sure head difference between the pads. Figure 3. shows repeated. The performance parameters are calculated using
a photograph of the complete setup. Table 1 lists the the above data, as presented in Section 2.2, and are dis­
instruments and their specifications. cussed in Section 3.

Table 1. Instrument specification; Kumar et al.(2023).

Component Specifications
Hygrometer Make/Model UNI – T UT333
Humidity range 0–100%
Resolution 0.1% R.H
Accuracy ±5%
Anemometer Make/Model Work zone AVM − 03
Wind velocity 0–45 m/s
Temperature 0 – 45oC
Resolution 0.1 m/s
Accuracy ±3%
Digital temperature indicator Make/Model Digiqual systems 301
No. of selectors 6
Type K - type
Range 0–199.9 C
Resolution 0.1°C
Thermocouple Type Chromel – Alumel (K-type)
Operating temperature range 0–200°C
Accuracy ±2.2oC of 0.75%
Digital Thermometer Make/model BEETECH T P 1 0 1
Range −50°C to 300°C ABS
Material
Dimmer Range 0 – 270V
stat Power 1KW
474 A. HS ET AL.

Table 2. Variation of operating conditions.

Entry Air velocity Water flow rate
(m/s) Air velocity after the air channel (m/s) (LPM)
Celdek Packing 3.3 2.7 1
4.2 3.5 2
5 4.2 3
6 5 4
Coconut coir packing 3.3 2.7 1
4.2 3.5 2
5 4.2 3
6 5 4

2.5. Uncertainty analysis 3. Results and discussion

Uncertainty analysis evaluates the uncertainty of dependent 3.1. Exit temperature
performance parameters. They are calculated analytically
Figure 4 shows the ratio of the outlet DBT to the inlet DBT
based on the error propagated while measuring the indepen­
values for various operating conditions. It also narrates the
dent variables.
comparison of ratios for the chosen materials, celdek and
If X1, X2, .Xn is the independent variable, y1, y2 . . . yn are the
coconut coir packings, for only direct and indirect packings.
uncertainty intervals, and U is the function. The total uncer­
For all cases studied, as the air velocity increased, the ratio
tainty of the output variable was calculated as follows:
"� decreased. This means that for a higher air velocity, a higher
�2 � �2 � �2
@u @u @u amount of water evaporates by taking more energy from the
wR ¼ y1 þ y2 þ y3 þ . . . :: air, thereby reducing the exit air temperature. When the outlet
@x1 @x2 @x3
temperature was reduced, the ratio decreased for a fixed inlet
� �2 air temperature, which is visible in Figure 4. Inlet air velocities
@u 1 that are too high will exhibit very low exit air velocities, which
yn � =2 (5)
@xn may be inappropriate for thermal comfort conditions and may
lie outside the range specified by ASHRAE standards.
Compared to Celdek packings, coconut coir showed a higher
In the present case, errors during the measurement of DBT, ratio in both cases, indicating a lower performance from the
relative humidity, air velocity, and energy consumed were coconut coir. The water-holding capacity of the coconut coir
used; hence, the uncertainty of the dependent variables eva­ was less than that of celdek packing. Hence, the evaporation
poration rate and wet-bulb effectiveness were calculated and rate in the coconut coir is affected, thereby reducing the
are shown in Table 3. temperature drop.
The combination of direct and indirect shows better results
than the direct type. Sensible cooling occurs in the indirect
Table 3. Error values for output variables.
cooler, and the air is cooled by extracting sensible energy from
Sl. No Output variables Percentage error
water without changing the absolute humidity of the air. When
1 Evaporation rate 1.69
this air exits the indirect heat exchanger, its RH may increase
2 Cooling effect 2.73 slightly based on the exit temperature. This restricts the eva­
3 Wet bulb effectiveness 3.24 poration rate of water in the direct evaporative cooler when air

Figure 4. Variation of DBT ratio with the air velocity and water flow rates for different configurations.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING 475

advances to the next stage. The exit air from the indirect This is because of the evaporation of water and its deposition in
evaporative cooler enters the direct cooler (consisting of either the air that occurs in the direct evaporative cooler. In an indirect
celdek or coconut coir) packing, which evaporates, leading to heat exchanger, only sensible heat exchange occurs, reducing the
a lower dry-bulb temperature. During the process, evaporated air temperature without changing the air-specific humidity.
moisture deposits in the air and exit conditions are more However, when it enters the packing media, the interaction
humidified than in the inlet air. Here, the temperature reduc­ with water causes water to evaporate because of the difference
tion includes two components: one from the indirect cooler in the vapour pressure between warm air and cold water. As the
and the other from the direct evaporative cooler consisting of air velocity increased, the evaporation rate increased, increasing
packing material. These two components are cumulatively the exit RH. On comparing the two packing materials, it is seen
added at the exit, resulting in a significant drop in DBT at that the RH increase in celdek is higher than that in the coconut
the duct exit. When water evaporation was considered, it only coir. This may be due to the higher wettability and water-
occurred in the direct type. Hence, a minimum rise in air holding capacity of the Celdek packing compared to the coconut
humidity with a maximum temperature change is observed, coir. A coconut coir is brittle and cannot hold water for a long
which is the main advantage of this type of indirect-direct time. This hinders the evaporation of water; hence, the ratio is
evaporative cooler. less than that of celdek packing.
Furthermore, celdek packing has the edge over coconut coir A comparison of the direct and indirect-direct methods
packing in terms of temperature drop. A more uniform struc­ revealed that the direct method shows a higher RH ratio.
ture of the Celdek packing enhances the water-to-air interac­ Initially, in the indirect cooler exit, RH increased slightly
tion compared to the coconut coir. In addition, the water- owing to sensible heat exchange. The air temperature
holding capacity of the coconut coir was lower than that of decreased, which also slightly increased the exit RH. This
the cellulose-based packing. Hence, the temperature reduction reduces the capacity to hold moisture when it comes to the
in the case of the coconut coir is less than that of commercially direct evaporative cooler, which results in appreciably lower
available celdek packing. However, owing to other advantages RH values compared to the direct type.
such as easy availability and easy replacement, as it is In contrast, in the direct type, the entire evaporation occurs
a biomass-based type, it is biodegradable and hence environ­ on the packing surface. Therefore, more water evaporation
mentally free, less costly, and hence economical, favouring the contributes to the increased value of the exit RH. Hence, it is
selection of coconut coir as an alternative packing material. seen that the RH ratio remains higher for this case compared
The figure also shows the variation in the DBT ratio with to the indirect-direct type. Hence, the combination of indirect
the water flow rate. As the water flow rate increased, the ΔDBT and direct methods yielded a lower RH ratio and a lower DBT
also increased. The temperature drops in both the indirect and ratio. This means that a significant temperature drop is achiev­
direct coolers were enhanced when the flow rate was higher. able with a minimum increase in the absolute humidity of the
Further, from the tested results, it is seen that when the flow air. A similar observation was also made for varying water flow
rate is higher than 3 LPM, the performance deteriorates by rates, with 3 LPM showing the highest ratio and 1 LPM show­
showing an increase in exit DBT values. When the flow rate ing the least.
was too high, the residence time or interaction time decreased,
which reduced the temperature drop. Hence, at 3 LPM, the
lowest temperature ratio is noticeable. 3.3. Wet bulb effectiveness
The wet-bulb effectiveness is the ratio of the temperature
(DBT) between the inlet and exit to the temperature difference
3.2. Exit RH variation
between the inlet DBT and inlet WBT. It can be seen that for
The variation in the exit RH with air velocity is shown in all the tested conditions, it increased with the airflow rate.
Figure 5. The exit RH increased as the air velocity increased. From the previous section, it can be seen that a higher

Figure 5. Variation of RH ratio with the air velocity and water flow rates for different configurations.
476 A. HS ET AL.

temperature difference is observed for higher velocities. LPM. A further increase in the flow rate reduced the
Hence, as the inlet WBT remained constant, higher air flow effectiveness. When the flow rate is too low, the sensible
rates yielded a higher wet-bulb effectiveness. When the air heat transfer in the indirect evaporative cooler and the
velocity was increased, the heat exchange between the air and latent heat transfer in the direct evaporative cooler are
water was enhanced in the indirect evaporative cooler. In an very low. It accelerates as the flow rate increases and
indirect-direct evaporative cooler, air temperature initially peaks at 3 LPM. When the flow rate is too high, a large
decreases due the sensible energy transfer between air and mass of water passes through the indirect and direct cool­
water and later in the direct evaporative cooler, further drop ers without much interaction with air. Hence, the tem­
in the temperature occurs due to the evaporation of water. As perature reduction in both types of coolers is reduced.
a result, a cumulatively higher temperature drop occurs at the A similar trend is seen when comparing the two materials
exit, resulting in a higher wet-bulb effectiveness. A comparison as the variation in air velocity with the coconut shows
between the two materials reveals that coconut coir shows lower performance than the Celdek packing, which is
lower performance than celdek filling. Celdek is structured
clearly understood from Figure 6.
packing arranged in a symmetrical matrix form. It allows
proper communication between the two fluids, whereas the
coconut coir is brittle, stiff, and possesses a reduced water
retention capacity. The unsystematic arrangement of coconut 3.4. Pressure drop
fibres inside the mesh may also influence the interaction As air needs to pass through both coolers, the pressure drop
between air and water. Hence, the effectiveness was lower variation plays a significant role in the design because the
than that of Celdek. However, it has advantages such as minimum air velocity at the exit is within the limit specified
lower cost, maintenance-free, biomass-based, higher life, and by the ASHRAE standards. As the entry air velocity increases,
easy replacement, and coconut coir is a potential alternative ΔP generally increases. For any definite water flow rate, the
candidate for evaporative coolers. resistance offered to the motion increased when the air velocity
Variation with the water flow rate reveals that the was increased. This increase in frictional resistance increased
effectiveness increases to an optimum flow rate of 3 the pressure drop, as shown in Figure 7. Coconut packing with

Figure 6. Variation of Wet bulb effectiveness with the air velocity and water flow rates for different configurations.

Figure 7. Pressure drop variation with the air velocity and water flow rates for different configurations.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING 477

an indirect-direct evaporative cooler showed the highest, As shown in Figure 8, as the air velocity increased, the
whereas celdek packing showed the lowest. In both the celdek- energy consumption also increased. When the air velocity
based and coconut-coir-based indirect coolers, ΔP is the same increased from 3 m/s to 6 m/s, energy consumption increased
as the same indirect heat exchanger used. Hence, it is under­ by 33%, 37% 36% and 38% for the four different configurations
stood that the coconut coir shows a higher drop in pressure colder-direct, celdek direct-indirect, coconut coir direct, and
than the Celdek packing. The coconut coir is randomly coconut coir direct – indirect respectively. This shows that
arranged, and because of the non-compactness of the arrange­ a slightly higher energy is required for coconut coir than that
ment, the air gap provided is less and inconsistent. This hin­ of the celdek combination. Even though the energy consumed
ders air motion through the gaps inside the packing. by the blower is very low at a lower inlet air velocity of 3 m/s,
Hence, a slightly higher-pressure drop is observed. The because the air has to pass through both heat exchangers
influence of the change in water flow rate did not show appre­ before it is taken to the room, ΔP will be slightly higher than
ciable ΔP values. However, when the water flow rate is too that of the single-stage evaporative cooler. As a result, the exit
high, it is difficult for air to escape through the dense water velocity is too low and may lie below the limit specified by the
layer; in other words, a slightly higher ΔP may be observed. On ASHRAE standards. Hence, the inlet air velocity is judiciously
comparing the indirect with only direct, it can be seen that selected to fulfil the tradeoff between the energy consumed and
when two heat exchangers are used, ΔP will be higher. In the the ΔP value to ensure that the required exit velocity is
indirect heat exchanger, even though the fluids were non- attained, which may lie within the limits specified by the
mixed, a slightly higher-pressure drop was observed. When ASHRAE standards. It was concluded that the combination
entering the direct type, this will be cumulatively added with of indirect and direct evaporative coolers can reduce the air
the earlier, and hence, ΔP will be significant. However, when exit temperature to a lower value than using only direct pack­
only direct is used, the air path travel is reduced with a lower ing without increasing the exit RH, as in the former case.
disturbance in the path. Hence, the pressure drop is minimal. However, upon using the coconut coir as a packing material
Slightly higher pumping power is required for the indirect- even though temperature depression is slightly lower as com­
direct combination than the direct combination. However, the pared to celdek packing, it has advantages such as lower cost,
primary purpose of limiting the exit RH rise with increasing maintenance-free, biomass-based, higher life, and easy repla­
temperature drop could be achieved with a slightly higher cement. Even though the energy consumption is marginally
penalty in terms of a slightly higher ΔP in the case of the higher for coconut coir as compared to the celdek packing
indirect-direct type evaporative cooler. (about 1%), due to the above-mentioned advantages it can be
a viable option for evaporative cooling in rural areas.
Commercially available cellulose based celdek packing is
3.5. Energy consumption
costly and may be unavailable in rural areas. Celdek packing
The energy consumption for the operation consists of the costs USD 6 per square feet area, whereas coconut coir is one of
energy required for the blower to blow air, together with the the waste products of the coconut tree, is available at free of cost.
energy consumed by the pump. The energy consumed by the Prolonged experiments conducted by using coconut coir as the
pump was minimal and remained constant irrespective of the packing material revealed that, after the continuous usage for 3
variation in the air velocity. The water flow rate was controlled months, the exit air quality was not deteriorated showing its
using manually operated valves. Hence, it is the energy better performance as compared to celdek packing. If it is
required by the blower that changes with the variation in air required to be replaced also, replacement will be very simple
velocity. and doesn’t require any skilled operator as can be seen from

Figure 8. Variation of Energy consumption with the air velocity for different configurations.
478 A. HS ET AL.

Figure 2. Further, as it is biodegradable, its disposal will not 5. Conclusions

harm the environment and hence it is environmentally friendly.
In the present work, the feasibility of a coconut coir for
Even though the operating costs of the coconut coir are margin­
evaporative cooling was experimentally studied in an indirect-
ally higher by around 0.03 kWh (around 1%) compared to that
direct evaporative cooler. The performance of the system was
of celdek for the same thermal comfort conditions as discussed
compared with that of the direct type alone and with commer­
in the above section, is compensated by the advantages as men­
cially available Celdek packing under similar operating condi­
tioned above. The increase in operational costs of coconut coir is
tions. The results are summarised as follows:
found to be very small or negligible as compared with the fixed
costs incurred by using the celdek packing for the evaporative
(1) The performance of the indirect-direct evaporative
cooler. Due to these advantages, it can be conveniently used in
cooler is better than the direct cooler alone in terms
the evaporative coolers making the cooler as sustainable and
of reduced ΔDBT and lower ΔRH at the duct exit using
economically viable, especially in rural areas. Hence using bio­
both celdek and coconut coir packing.
mass-based coconut coir in a combination of indirect-direct
(2) It was found that for the indirect-direct combination
evaporative cooler, a reasonable drop in air temperature could
using coconut, ΔDBT reduced by 3.2%, and ΔW
be achieved without a substantial increase in the exit humidity
increase was 3.6% less than the direct type when using
which is the main contribution of the present work to the
the same packing.
knowledge of evaporative cooling.
(3) The performance of the coconut coir-based packing
was slightly inferior to that of the celdek packing.
A reduction of 11.6 % in ΔDBT and 15.3% in wet
4. Comparison with the literature results
bulb effectiveness have been observed for the coconut
The present work results are compared with the literature coir against celdek packing.
values, especially for multi-stage evaporative cooling systems. (4) For the coconut coir packings, when the air velocity is
A combination of evaporative coolers and multi-stage coolers increased from 3 m/s to 6 m/s, the change in DBT
with different packing configurations was compared, as shown increased by 3.5%, whereas RH change increased by
in Table 4. The results of the present work agree with the 2%. Similarly, when the flow rate increased from 1
literature values, suggesting using coconut coir as an alterna­ LPM to 3 LPM, the corresponding parameters
tive packing material. increased by 5.7% and 3.6%, respectively.

Table 4. Comparison of the present study with the available literature.

Sl.
No Author System configuration Operating parameters Major results Remarks
1 Present Combination of the Water flow rate = 3 LPM HE =0.64 Observed a huge decrease in exit
study indirect-direct Air velocity =5 m/s ΔDBT = 7.6ºC temperature without an
evaporative cooler appreciable increase in RH
with coconut coir
packing
2 Heidarinejad Two-stage evaporative Water flow rate = 1 LPM HE= 60% The proposed unit saved 60% of
et al. cooling Airflow rate= 0.590 m3/s ER= 0.4 g/s energy with the increase in the
(2009) water consumption by 55%.
3 Al-Juwayhel One, two and three- Air velocity= 8 m/s HE= 60% Three-stage packing gave higher
et al. stage ER=0.12 g/s results compared with two and
(2004) (Direct, indirect and Maximum temperature drop of single-stage humidifiers.
Mechanical vapour 25°C
compression
system)
4 Saleh and Al- Multi-stage Air ER= 0.20 g/s Maximum temperature reduction of
Nimr Evaporative cooling temperature= 35° C ΔT= 20°C 20 °C in humid conditions, and the
(2008) RH= 60% system was cost-effective.
5 Malli et al. Varying thickness Air velocity= 1.8–4 m/s HE= 80% Higher packing thickness increased
(2011) multi-stage Packing thickness= 75, 100 and ER= 2.33 g/s humidification, and the air velocity
evaporative cooling 150 mm increased the evaporation rate.
6 Mitz- Regenerative dew A numerical model was developed Maximum thermal performance of The developed model with the
Hernandez point evaporative for a regenerative dew point 90.9% was obtained during very variables that depend on the
et al. cooling evaporative cooling to simulate arid conditions and a minimum of temperature, humidity ratio and
(2022) the varied properties of air 62% for warm climate conditions. atmospheric pressure fit
including temperature, humidity experimental data with a high
ratio and pressure. accuracy of around 93%.
7. Min Y et al. Condensation Inlet air conditions were maintained During the test, the moisture It was concluded that convective
(2022) evolution of primary at a temperature of 30°C, 80% RH difference between inlet and heat transfer in
air in the indirect and velocity of 1.8 m/s outlet primary air reached a peak IEC can be increased by modifying
evaporative cooler of 6.0 g/kg and then decreased to the surface materials which helps
was experimentally 3.8 g/kg with the growth of to reduce the condensate mass
studied condensation. Subsequently wet retained on the plate
bulb effectiveness also decreased. surface.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING 479

(5) The optimum values of ΔDBT, ΔRH, and effectiveness Ahmed, E. M., O. Abaas, M. Ahmed, and M. R. Ismail. 2011.
were observed for the operating conditions of a water “Performance Evaluation of Three Different Types of Local
flow rate of 3 LPM and air velocity of 6 m/s for the Evaporative Cooling Pads in Greenhouses in Sudan.” Saudi Journal
of Biological Sciences 18 (1): 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2010.
coconut coir. These values are correspondingly 13.1%, 09.005.
7.8%, and 19% lower than celdek packing. Al-Juwayhel, F., H. El-Dessouky, H. Ettouney, and M. Al-Qattan. 2004.
(6) When the air velocity was increased from 3.3 to 6 m/s, “Experimental Evaluation of One, Two, and Three-Stage Evaporative
energy consumption increased by 51%, whereas the Cooling Systems.” Heat Transfer Engineering 25 (6): 72–86. https://doi.
change in water flow rate had no significant impact org/10.1080/01457630490486292.
Alklaibi, A. M. 2015. “Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of
on the energy required for the operation.
Internal Two-Stage Evaporative Cooler.” Energy Conversion and
Management 95:140–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.
Future studies: The heat transfer rate in the indirect 02.035.
cooler can be enhanced by using various methods either Aziz, R. A., N. F. Zamrud, and N. Rosli. 2018. “Comparison on Cooling
by using nanofluids instead of pure water or novel con­ Efficiency of Cooling Pad Materials for Evaporative Cooling System.”
Journal of Modern Manufacturing Systems and Technology 1:61–68.
cepts such as porous layer, and ultrasonic atomisation can
https://doi.org/10.15282/jmmst.v1i1.199.
be used to enhance the energy transfer rate. Similarly in De Antonellis, S., C. M. Joppolo, P. Liberati, S. Milani, and L. Molinaroli.
direct evaporative coolers, alternative biomass materials 2016. “Experimental Analysis of a Cross Flow Indirect Evaporative
such as palash, khus, palm and aspen fibres can be used Cooling System.” Energy and Buildings 121:130–138. https://doi.org/
and testing could be undertaken. 10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.03.076.
Eldessouky, H. 2004. “Performance Analysis of Two-Stage Evaporative
Coolers.” Journal of Chemical Engineering 102 (3): 255–266. https://
Disclosure statement doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2004.01.036.
Farmahini Farahani, M., G. Heidarinejad, and S. Delfani. 2010. “A
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). Two-Stage System of Nocturnal Radiative and Indirect Evaporative
Cooling for Conditions in Tehran.” Energy and Buildings 42 (11):
2131–2138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.07.003.
Notes on contributors Franco, A., D. Valera, and A. Peña. 2014. “Energy Efficiency in
Greenhouse Evaporative Cooling Techniques: Cooling Boxes versus
Arunkumar HS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cellulose Pads.” Energies 7 (3): 1427–1447. https://doi.org/10.3390/
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Manipal Institute of en7031427.
Technology, MAHE, Manipal, India. His areas of interest include Gunhan, T., V. Demir, and A. K. Yagcioglu. 2007. “Evaluation of the
Thermal Power Engineering, Numerical Analysis, Renewable Energy Suitability of Some Local Materials as Cooling Pads.” Biosystems
Systems, Gas Turbine Cooling, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Engineering 96 (3): 369–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.
Solar Energy. 2006.12.001.
Heidarinejad, G., M. Bozorgmehr, S. Delfani, and J. Esmaeelian. 2009.
Madhwesh N is Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and
“Experimental Investigation of Two-Stage Indirect/Direct Evaporative
Industrial Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal
Cooling System in Various Climatic Conditions.” Building and
Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India. His research interests
Environment 44 (10): 2073–2079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.
are Heat exchangers, Turbomachinery, Photovoltaic cooling and Solar
2009.02.017.
energy
Heidarinejad, G., and S. Moshari. 2015. “Novel Modelling of an Indirect
Mr Shankar Shenoy is Research Scholar in the Department of Mechanical Evaporative Cooling System with Crossflow Configuration.” Energy and
and Industrial Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Buildings 92:351–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.01.034.
India. Jain, J. K., and D. A. Hindoliya. 2011. “Experimental Performance of New
Dr Shiva Kumar completed Ph.D. from Visvesaraya Technological Evaporative Cooling Pad Materials.” Sustainable Cities and Society
University, India in 2012 in the area of Internal Engine combustion. He 1 (4): 252–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2011.07.005.
is having teaching experience of around 22 years and industrial experi­ Kumar, S., G. Hariharan, M. Fayaz, and N. Kumar. 2023. “Experimental
ence of 8 years. His areas of research interest include Engine combustion, Investigation on Dehumidification Using a Solid Composite Bio
alternative fuels, soft-computing techniques, CFD studies, nanofluids, Desiccant Internally Cooled Using Nanofluids for Building Cooling.”
refrigeration and air conditioning, desiccant techniques and evaporative Buildings 13 (6): 1461. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13061461.
cooling, etc. He has published 103 papers in reputed Scopus indexed Kumar, S., S. K. Reddy, and S. S. Salins. 2022. “Experimental Investigation
international journals and 14 papers in International conferences. on the Humidification Parameters of the Reciprocating Multistage
Evaporative Cooler-A Novel Approach.” International Journal of
Thermal Sciences 177:107539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.
2022.107539.
Data availability statement Malli, A., H. R. Seyf, M. Layeghi, S. Sharifian, and H. Behravesh. 2011.
Data will be made available on reasonable request. “Investigating the Performance of Cellulosic Evaporative Cooling
Pads.” Energy Conversion and Management 52 (7): 2598–2603.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.12.015.
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