Corrosion of Metal Alloys in Potassium Acetate Solutions for Liquid Desiccant Dehumidification and Air Conditioning

Kerry C. Rippy, Emily Volk, Reagan Beers, Eric Kozubal, Kristin Gauderman, Judith Vidal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus Citations

Abstract

For commercial buildings, liquid desiccant air conditioners (LDACs) could provide up to 80% energy savings compared to high-efficiency vapor compression AC, but commonly utilized liquid desiccants are highly corrosive. This precludes the use of metallic components, necessitating specialized plastics and thereby driving up cost, weight, and limiting operational temperature and pressure ranges. Less corrosive alternatives are sought. Here, potassium acetate solutions are investigated as less-corrosive alternatives to the chloride salt solutions that are typically used in LDAC systems. Corrosion evaluations for a Cu alloy (C12200) and two Al alloys (Al3003 and Al1100) in both potassium acetate and chloride salt solutions are presented. We show that yearly corrosion rates are lower in potassium acetate solutions by up to three orders of magnitude. Active corrosion behavior is largely absent in potassium acetate solutions but is present in chloride salt solutions. Furthermore, solid corrosion products are observed in chloride salt solutions. Thus, we conclude that potassium acetate is a promising candidate as a less corrosive alternative liquid desiccant for LDAC systems with metallic components.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number4421
Number of pages19
JournalEnergies
Volume15
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5500-83267

Keywords

  • building materials
  • HVAC
  • liquid desiccant dehumidification and air conditioning (LDAC)
  • metal alloys
  • potassium acetate

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