Experimental investigation on performance improvement of electro-osmotic regeneration for solid desiccant

Electro-osmotic regeneration for the solid desiccant has been proved to have many merits such as regeneration without the heat source; energy-saving and simple structure. However; the previous work has revealed that its performance is seriously limited by the severe Joule heating effect and electrode corrosion; which demands further improvement to meet the practical requirement. In this paper; four possible improvement methods are investigated experimentally; including changing the material of anode; changing layout of cathode; applying the interrupted power and optimizing the electrical field strength. Through detailed experiments and analysis; we found that applying the platinum-plated titanium mesh as anode could improve the working lifetime from 6h to over 120h and effectively reduce Joule heating effect simultaneously; laying a piece of filter cloth under the cathode could enhance the EO regeneration rate up to 0.0021gs-1; the application of interrupted power could increase the regeneration rate up to 1.5 times; the optimal on-off-time was found at 30s:1.3s with 17Vcm-1electric field strength and 30s:0.8s with 11Vcm-1; and the most suitable value of electric field strength was observed as ranging from 8.5 to 13Vcm-1in our EO regeneration system.