Numerical and experimental investigation of heat and mass transfer in humid airflow around triangular prismatic cold blocks cooled by thermoelectric modules

In this study, a thermoelectric module (TEM)-based dehumidification system was developed to remove moisture from humid air flowing through a cooling channel. The cooling capacity of the TEMs was used to lower the temperature of triangular prismatic aluminum blocks, promoting condensation. Coupled heat and mass transfer processes were investigated through both experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Two configurations (Model-I and Model-II) were analyzed, while experimental data from Model-I were used to validate the numerical model. CFD results were employed to establish Nusselt–Reynolds correlations for the thermo-hydraulic behavior. A strong agreement between experimental and numerical results was achieved, with deviations of about 2% for the Nusselt number and 4.28% for the condensate mass flow rate. The results show that the triangular prismatic geometry significantly alters flow structures, enhancing heat transfer and improving dehumidification performance within the cooling channel.