Rotary desiccant wheels have gradually become mainstream in the field of air dehumidification owing to their compact structure

high efficiency

and continuous dehumidification and regeneration processes. To effectively reduce the energy consumption of traditional rotary desiccant wheels

we constructed a numerical model of a desiccant wheel and verified it through experiments. A weight factor was introduced to combine the energy consumption and dehumidification performance of the system as the optimization objective. An energy-saving optimization control model of the desiccant wheel system was proposed with an improved PSO as the solution algorithm. The energy-saving optimization effects with different weight factors

ambient humidity ratios

and ambient temperatures were analyzed using the optimization control model. The results showed that when the weight factor λ=0.3

the humidity ratio requirements at the outlet were met and the energy savings were maximized. When the ambient humidity ratio was in the range of 16–22 g/kg dry air

the average and maximum energy savings were 76.4% and 95.6%

respectively. In the ambient temperature range of 24–30 ℃

the average energy saving was 40.2% and the maximum energy-saving rate was 42.1%.