Emerson invests in liquid desiccant technology

USA: Emerson has completed the purchase of 7AC Technologies, a US-based start-up developing an energy saving air conditioning technology using liquid desiccants.

Emerson has been collaborating with 7AC to commercialise the technology that is said to enable customers such as commercial building owners and retailers to achieve desired relative humidity and temperature in a single step. The membrane-based liquid desiccant technology is said to be flexible, fully modular and can be incorporated into various applications.

“With liquid desiccant technology, 7AC provides a one-step solution that demonstrates better energy efficiency and air quality than current best-in-class products,” claimed Jamie Froedge, Emerson’s Commercial & Residential Solutions business executive president. “In response to customer needs, industry regulations and new building codes, commercial building owners can leverage this technology to easily manage the humidity, temperature, purity, and distribution of air,” he added.

Using proprietary membrane modules, 7AC claims to be the first company to develop a way to use liquid desiccants in a self-contained system, a three way path of air, water and salt to cool and dehumidify outside air in a single step. This allows 7AC to use a single-step cooling and dehumidifying process, avoiding the over cooling of vapour compression, the heating required by solid desiccants and the corrosion challenges of traditional liquid desiccant approaches.