The core of our low-flow scavenging-air regenerator is the plastic heat exchanger that is described in our U.S Patent 6,745,826.  This design uniquely incorporates the distribution and collection of desiccant into the same structure that circuits the heat transfer fluid through the plates of the heat exchanger.  A thin wick on the surface of the plates uniformly distributes the desiccant.  As the scavenging-air flows between the plates of the heat exchanger, it collects the water vapor that is desorbing from the desiccant.  Heat is continually added to the desiccant from the hot fluid that flows within the plates.

Our scavenging-air regenerator has been developed with funding from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  Bench-top tests of small-scale models have verified that this regenerator should have a COP of between 0.65 and 0.70 when regenerating desiccant from 40% to 44% with a heat source that is between 180^oF and 200^oF.

Field-operation of a full-scale prototype of the scavenging-air regenerator started in the summer of 2004.