Dehumidification cooling equipment

In Conservation DistList Instance: 14:59 Friday, May 4, 2001
I wrote:

>Has anyone on the Distlist had experience with using DryKor
>dehumidification/cooling units within museums, libraries, or
>archives?  The DryKor <URL:http://www.drykor.com/> units employ
>liquid desiccant (concentrated lithium chloride solution)
>technology, and claim to offer increased efficiency in comparison to
>other dehumidification systems.

Following is an excerpt (posted to the distlist with the permission
of the author) from a response I received from VelDean Fincher,
Marketing Communications Manager, for Dry-Kor, Inc. regarding the
potential for corrosive lithium chloride carryover within their
lithium dessicant dehumidification systems.

    Mr. Jeffers:

    Thank you for your question about DryKor products and whether
    their design ensures zero carryover of the desiccant.

    In a letter dated October 11, 2000, signed by Steve Slayzak (one
    of the authors of the article which link you sent) states the
    following:

       "Carryover is a critical issue for liquid desiccant
        equipment. Since the desiccant is corrosive, any commercial
        system must prevent droplets from being entrained in the air
        streams. At no time during our short term testing (of DryKor
        systems) did we find evidence of carryover, and the exit
        surfaces of the mist eliminators have remained clear of
        desiccant."

    In independent testing performed by Technion Research and
    Development Foundation, Ltd., the analyst stated in his
    conclusion, "Analysis of the test results indicate that for both
    of the units tested, under both flow rate conditions, the level
    of Lithium Chloride were less than the detection limit of the
    analytical method."

    ...In earlier liquid desiccant systems, the desiccant was
    sprayed into the airstream to absorb the moisture. In this
    process, some Lithium Chloride carryover was experienced.
    However, DryKor systems have overcome this problem. In our
    technology the Lithium Chloride flows over a cellulose media and
    the process airstream goes through the media. No droplets are
    released into the airstream.

    You may note in the same NREL article you linked that the first
    paragraph states, "Three technology improvements,
    zero-carryover, internal cooling, and double effect regeneration
    will ultimately allow liquid systems to serve expanded markets
    at lower cost and greater energy savings." The DryKor process is
    the only liquid desiccant technology to have overcome each of
    those three challenges...




                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:62
                   Distributed: Tuesday, May 15, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-62-003
                                  ***