Three-Dimensional Dynamic Simulation and Design Optimization of a Dehumidifying Rotor

Silicone rotor is the main dehumidification technology to realize humidity control of ambient air； optimizing the rotor size and reducing the operating energy consumption are inevitable trends in rotor dehumidification technology development. In this study， based on the theoretical research method of computational fluid dynamics （CFD）， we first established and verified a three-dimensional dynamic simulation model of the dehumidification and regeneration process of the rotor， and we conducted a dynamic simulation for the silica gel dehumidification rotor used for the protection of bridge cables， and we then analyzed and discussed the influence of rotor thickness， wind speed， and regeneration wind volume and temperature on the moisture removal capacity （MRC） and specific energy consumption （SEC） of the rotor to optimize the design of the rotor. The purpose was to optimize the rotor design. The results showed that the optimal thickness of the rotor existed under different wind speeds， and the optimal thickness increased with the increase in the wind speed. Compared with the original design， the optimized wheel improved the average MRC by approximately 10% while reducing the SEC by approximately 15%， demonstrating the effectiveness of dimensional optimization. Notably， the SEC decreased with increasing regeneration temperature. Therefore， in practical design， the regeneration temperature should be selected in accordance with the dehumidification requirements and maintained as low as feasible to enhance the overall economic performance.