HEAT PIPE APPLICATION FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT AIRCONDITIONING IN AN ANIMAL CARE FACILITY

The energy penalty associated with the conditioning of large quantities of outdoor air in hot and humidclimates is well known. The problem is even more challenging when the application involved requires100% outdoor air. This is the case in an animal care facility, which houses different species ofanimals that are used for laboratory experiments in the field of life sciences. In such cases, it iscrucial that energy conserving HVAC systems be explored. Heat pipe technology offers considerablebenefits in the form of excellent humidity control as well as improved overall system energy efficiency.Heat pipes (HP) are flexible and passive systems that are effective in terms of thermal control,primarily from the perspective of energy efficient dehumidifying performance of a cooling coil. A keyfeature of the HP is to transfer a large amount of energy over its length with a small temperature dropthrough liquid evaporation in the evaporator section of the HP (heat source), vapour condensation inthe condenser (heat sink) and liquid movement in the opposite direction inside a wick by capillaryforce. This paper reports the findings of a study involving heat pipes integrated with a conventionalcooling coil in an animal care facility in Singapore. The parameters investigated include the indoorthermal conditions (temperature and relative humidity) and the cooling coil consumed in providingthese conditions.