Evaluation of the performance of local fibers in evaporative cooling

A special test setup is designed to evaluate the performance of three natural fibers to be used as wetted pads in evaporative cooling. The chosen fibers are date palm fibers (stem), jute and luffa. As a reference, a widely used commercial wetted pad is chosen. The performance criteria include cooling efficiency, material performance and cooling efficiency degradation. The results show that the average cooling efficiency is highest for jute at 62.1%, compared to 55.1% for luffa fibers, 49.9% for the reference commercial pad and 38.9% for date palm fiber. Material performance tests comprise salt deposition and bio-degradation (mold forming). Jute has the least salt deposition followed by palm and luffa fibers. The commercial type has the highest salt deposits. The highest resistance to mold forming is offered by luffa followed by palm fibers. The commercial type and jute have very poor performance. The results of the cooling efficiency degradation indicate that luffa has an overall advantage over the other fibers. Palm fibers and the commercial type have a significant reduction in the cooling efficiency, while jute has the highest deterioration. The total results indicate that luffa has an overall advantage over the other fibers. However, if the jute surface can be treated to offer higher mold resistance characteristics, it would provide the best alternative. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.