This paper presents the performance evaluation results of polymeric sorbent and inorganic adsorbent used for a direct cooling adsorption heat pump desiccant outdoor air handling unit. The results show that polymeric sorbent has a higher efficiency in humidification under the partial latent heat load and in dehumidification under any load factors. The difference between their efficiency under the maximum humidification load is negligible. An analysis based on the performance evaluation indicates

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... that the polymeric sorbent's higher efficiency under the partial humidification load is due to its high regeneration rate in low temperature. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that its higher efficiency in dehumidification is due to the increase of saturated water content under the high relative humidity condition. An energy simulation model for a total air conditioning system is created based on the characteristic formulas for the desiccant outdoor air handling unit. The modeling results reveal that the total air-conditioning system using polymeric sorbent reduces the annual power consumption by 10.2% compared to the system using inorganic adsorbent. The analysis on each unit's power consumption shows that the improved efficiency of the outdoor air handling unit leads to the reduction.