Liquid desiccant air conditioner modules having interlocking panels for controlling airflow

A three-way heat exchanger to transfer heat between a heat transfer fluid, a liquid desiccant, and air, the three-way heat exchanger defining mutually perpendicular lateral, longitudinal, and vertical directions, the three-way heat exchanger comprising:

• an airflow inlet and an airflow outlet;
• panel assemblies arranged in the lateral direction with airflow gaps defined between adjacent panel assemblies to allow the air to flow between the airflow inlet and the airflow outlet in the longitudinal direction, each panel assembly comprising:
• a frame defining a heat transfer fluid channel;
• and
• a membrane positioned on the frame and defining a desiccant channel;
• and
• two airflow restrictors located in each airflow gap between each pair of adjacent panel assemblies, wherein each airflow restrictor defines a tortuous path for flow of the air in the vertical direction, and wherein, for each pair of adjacent panel assemblies, one of the airflow restrictors is positioned vertically above the heat transfer fluid channels and the desiccant channels and another one of the airflow restrictors is positioned vertically below the heat transfer fluid channels and the desiccant channels.

A method of operating a three-way heat exchanger, the method comprising:

• channeling a heat transfer fluid through panel assemblies of the three-way heat exchanger, wherein each panel assembly includes a frame defining a heat transfer fluid channel through which the heat transfer fluid is channeled;
• channeling a liquid desiccant through desiccant channels of the panel assemblies defined between the frames of the panel assemblies and membranes attached to the frames;
• channeling air through the three-way heat exchanger in an airflow direction, wherein the air flows through airflow gaps defined between adjacent panel assemblies;
• and
• restricting flow of the air being channeled through the three-way heat exchanger in a direction other than the airflow direction using airflow restrictors positioned in the airflow gaps.