Predicting Water Consumption of Evaporative Coolers in Qom City Based on Climate Change and Population Growth: A Mathematical and Thermodynamic Modeling

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Production and Recycling of Materials and Energy Research Center, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran.

2 Energy and Sustainable Development Research Center, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran.

3 Sustainable Development and Consumption Management Office, Qom Water and Sewerage Company, Qom, Iran.

Abstract

Given the escalating water crisis and impending climate change, the sustainability of evaporative cooling systems, particularly direct evaporative coolers, has become a pressing concern in Iran, one of the world's largest consumers of this technology. This study aimed to investigate the impact of saturation efficiency and capacity on water consumption in particularly direct evaporative coolers under the specific climatic conditions of Qom, Iran. A thermodynamic model was developed to simulate the performance of these systems, and its results were validated against experimental data. The modeling results indicated a direct correlation between saturation efficiency, airflow rate, and water consumption. Specifically, increasing the saturation efficiency from 40% to 90% in a 5000 CFM air conditioner led to a 131% increase in water consumption. Moreover, larger capacity units consumed significantly more water. For instance, a 7000 CFM cellular pad cooler consumed roughly twice as much water as a 3500 CFM unit. Conversely, while conventional pad coolers with lower saturation efficiencies consumed less water, they also resulted in higher discharge air temperatures. These findings underscore the trade-off between improved cooling performance and increased water consumption in high-efficiency evaporative cooling systems. Consequently, to optimize water use in residential settings, there is a pressing need for policies that promote more efficient cooling technologies and reduce reliance on water-cooled air conditioners.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Civil Infrastructure Researches
Volume 10, Issue 2 - Serial Number 19
December 2024
Pages 133-146

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