Optimization design and experimental study of thermoelectric dehumidifier

Abstract Small dehumidifiers are commonly used to reduce indoor relative humidity and provide comfortable conditions. Thermoelectric dehumidifier (TED) has drawn more attentions due to advantages of environmentally friendly, compact size and quiet. However, the practical application of TED is limited because of the low performance. In this study, we experimentally investigate the influences of structural parameters and operating conditions on the moisture removal rate of TED. A series of prototypes are designed and tested using the orthogonal experiment design method. The impacts of the layout of thermoelectric modules (TEMs), air duct size, heat sink size and the number of TEMs have been discussed. A novel prototype is proposed and investigated to enhance the moisture removal rate. This novel prototype with two cold-side heat sinks and two hot-side heat sinks ensures sufficient cooling capacity for dehumidification. It demonstrates that the moisture removal rate of this novel prototype is up to 33.1 gh −1 and the corresponding COP is 0.75 when the air flow velocity of air duct is 1.74 m/s. Moreover, the novel configuration significantly improves the moisture removal rate by 7.0 gh −1 in comparison with conventional configuration.