A comparative life cycle assessment of two desiccant wheel dehumidifiers for industrial applications

Desiccant wheel dehumidification technology is essential within industrial applications to maintain indoor hu-midity levels and provide low dew points. While the need for desiccant wheel dehumidification has increased in several industrial sectors, it is still an energy-intensive method undergoing rapid technological development. The lack of comprehensive life cycle assessment studies and recently introduced taxonomy by the European Union (EU) prompt the urgency of evaluating the environmental impacts of dehumidification systems. This study performs a comparative life cycle assessment for two desiccant wheel dehumidifiers for industrial applications. We identify the key influencing factors of selected environmental impact categories, e.g., climate change, ozone depletion, and fine particulate matter formation. The study reveals that the usage phase contributes the most, varying between 65% and 99% of the overall impact in all categories, with electricity consumption as the key driver. The cradle-to-gate stage, which shows the second biggest impact (up to 26%), has its most significant share in fine particulate matter formation. The end-of-life (disposal) contributions are insignificant, with an average impact of less than 1%. The scaling factor, operational hours of the systems, the target supply humidity, and the climatic data are the critical parameters for environmental performance. Potential for improvement is seen for an increased recycled content during the cradle-to-gate stage to reduce the impact from raw material inputs and the integration of sustainable energy technology as well as the connection of the systems to energy -efficient equipment during the operational phase. The study could serve as an example on how the EU Taxonomy can be applied for investigating the environmental sustainability of dehumidification systems.

Automated summary

Desiccant wheel dehumidification technology is crucial for maintaining indoor humidity levels and low dew points in industrial applications. This study provides a comparative life cycle assessment for two desiccant wheel dehumidifiers and identifies key factors influencing environmental impact categories such as climate change and fine particulate matter formation. The study highlights the importance of the usage phase, electricity consumption, and the potential for improvement through sustainable energy technology integration and increased recycled content during production.