%0 Journal Article %A Rjibi, Amel %A Kooli, Sami %A Chargui, Ridha %A Guisani, Amen Allah %D 2018 %I Begell House %K DEC system, cooling, greenhouse, TRNSYS, simulation %N 5 %P 473-491 %R 10.1615/ComputThermalScien.2018020247 %T PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMICS OF A SOLAR DESICCANT AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM FOR COOLING AN INSULATED GREENHOUSE IN TUNISIA %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/648192910890cd0e,65824b4d213fc466,75a3bebe14b87394.html %V 10 %X This work highlights the cooling potential of a desiccant evaporative cooling (DEC) cycle for an insulated greenhouse with a surface area of 300 m2. DEC is assimilated in a closed loop that is comprised of several greenhouse components, including a flat plate collector, desiccant wheel, heat exchanger, and evaporative coolers. The system cools and dehumidifies the air without using conventional harmful refrigerants. We insert our experimental data in to a numerical model based on a transient system simulation program and analyze the feasibility of the solar DEC system. Our results show that the best performance of the system (coefficient of performance COPel = 14; COPth = 0.94) is obtained using 60°C regeneration temperature and a supply/regeneration flow ratio of 0.2. The system reduces inside temperature by 6°C in comparison to a conventional system, and the increased electricity permits an increase of cost for 25 years as viewing time. %8 2018-07-16