High-efficiency dehumidification system 'Air Joule' that can halve the dehumidification cost of buildings and extend the mileage of electric buses by up to 75% will be developed

The American National Laboratory 'Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)' has announced the development of a dehumidifying system ' AirJoule ' that is more efficient than conventional systems. AirJoule has already been licensed to Montana Technologies , a company that develops power trains for electric vehicles, and is expected to save energy in cooling equipment for buildings and electric vehicles.

Efficient Dehumidifier Makes Air Conditioning a Breeze | PNNL
https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/efficient-dehumidifier-makes-air-conditioning-breeze

When the temperature is lowered with conventional cooling equipment, water vapor in the air condenses into water. In this process of 'water vapor turns into water', heat called condensation heat is generated, so cooling that exceeds the temperature rise due to condensation heat is essential to lower the temperature. Therefore, in a hot and humid environment, a lot of energy is required to lower the indoor temperature.

The Air Joule developed by PNNL is equipped with two chambers, and it is possible to recover water vapor in the air by a method that does not generate heat of condensation. For this reason, AirJoule can exert the same dehumidifying effect with 1/10 to 1/30 of the energy of the conventional dehumidifying system, and it is possible to save energy in cooling by installing it in buildings and vehicles.

Montana Technologies, licensed by PNNL for AirJoule, estimates that AirJoule can halve the cost of dehumidifying buildings and extend the mileage of electric buses by up to 75%. In addition, Montana Technologies CEO Matt Jolet said, 'Given the increasing demand for air conditioning equipment, the greenhouse gas emissions brought about by Air Joule, based on the estimate that the number of air conditioning equipment in the world will increase by about 4 billion units by 2050. The savings will be extraordinary. We plan to make Air Joule available worldwide. '

With the epidemic of the new coronavirus, the importance of ventilation has become widely known, but ventilation increases the cost of cooling because the air cooled by the air conditioner escapes to the outside. PNNL claims that Air Joule can be used to promote ventilation while limiting the increase in cooling costs. In addition, it is appealing that it is possible to save energy by adding Air Joule to the existing air conditioning equipment.