Desiccant dehumidification system

A desiccant air cooling system, said desiccant air cooling system comprising:

• an air cooling means for cooling a return air from a structure and recirculating the cooled returned air to the structure;
• and
• a desiccant dehumidification system comprising:
• a housing partitioned into a first and second air chamber each for passing air therethrough, each said air chamber having an inlet for intake of air and an outlet for exhausting of air;
• a rotating desiccant wheel positioned inside said housing and across said air chambers;
• an air transmitting means positioned within said first air chamber for drawing a portion of said cooled return air into said first air chamber and passing said cooled return air across said desiccant wheel to remove moisture from said cooled return air and exhausting into the structure as conditioned air;
• an air transmitting means positioned within said second air chamber for drawing a source air into said second air chamber, across said desiccant wheel to remove moisture from said desiccant wheel and exhausting from said second air chamber;
• and
• an air heating means positioned in said second air chamber upstream of said desiccant wheel for heating said source air to be passed over said desiccant wheel.

A desiccant air cooling system, said desiccant air cooling system comprising:

• an air mixing means for mixing a return air from a structure with a fresh air to form a mixed air;
• a housing partitioned into a first and second air chamber each for passing air therethrough, each said air chamber having an inlet for intake of air and an outlet for exhausting of air;
• a rotating desiccant wheel positioned inside said housing and across said air chambers;
• a cooling means positioned within said first air chamber;
• an air transmitting means positioned within said first air chamber for drawing said mixed air into said first air chamber and passing said mixed air across said desiccant wheel to remove moisture from said mixed air, across said cooling means and exhausting into the structure as conditioned air;
• an air transmitting means positioned within said second air chamber for drawing a source air into said second air chamber, across said desiccant wheel to remove moisture from said desiccant wheel and exhausting from said second air chamber;
• and
• an air heating means positioned in said second air chamber upstream of said desiccant wheel for heating said source air to be passed over said desiccant wheel.

A method of reducing the humidity of air to maintain a desired humidity and temperature of air in a structure comprising the steps of:

• drawing return air from a structure into a first air chamber;
• passing said return air across a portion of a desiccant wheel removing moisture from said return air;
• exhausting said return air as conditioned air into the structure;
• drawing a source air into a second air chamber;
• passing said source air through a gas fired heater to heat said source air;
• passing said heated source air across a portion of said desiccant wheel removing moisture from said desiccant wheel;
• exhausting said source air from said second chamber;
• and
• charging said gas fired heater with an air stream from at least one of said first or said second chamber.