THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

A SOLAR AIR-COOLED HIGH EFFICIENCY ABSORPTION SYSTEM IN DRY HOT CLIMATES: REDUCTION OF WATER CONSUMPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

ABSTRACT
A solar cooling system with an optimized air-cooled double-effect water/LiBr absorption machine is proposed as a sustainable alternative to meet cooling demands in dry hot climates. This system allows eliminating the cooling towers in those regions of the planet where water is scarce. This work analyses the environmental benefits of this air-cooled system, as well as its environmental foot-prints, compared to a solar water-cooled single effect. In this regard, a methodology has been applied to calculate the annual saving in water consumption produced in a case study: a hospital located in Almería, in South of Spain. Further-more, the reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions is also quantified since this machine can be driven by solar energy and with higher efficiency than those of single effect.
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2017-12-04
PAPER REVISED: 2018-03-27
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2018-03-28
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2018-09-22
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI171204218M
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2018, VOLUME 22, ISSUE Issue 5, PAGES [2151 - 2162]
REFERENCES
  1. Rosegrant, M. W., et al., Global Water Outlook to 2025, Averting an Impending Crisis, Food Policy Report, Colombo, Sri Lanka, International Water Management Institute, 2002
  2. Martín, M., Optimal Annual Operation of the Dry Cooling System of a Concentrated Solar Energy Plant in the South of Spain, Energy, 84 (2015), May, pp. 774-782
  3. ***, Solvay Fluor Solkane Catalog, 2006
  4. Bolaji, B. O., Huan, Z., Ozone Depletion and Global Warming: Case for the Use of Natural Refrigerant - A Review, Renewable Sustainable Energy Review, 18 (2013), Feb., pp. 49-54
  5. Devecioğlu, A. G., Oruç, V., Characteristics of Some New Generation Refrigerants with Low-GWP, Energy Procedia, 75 (2015), Aug., pp. 1452-1457
  6. Henning, H. M., Solar Assisted Air-conditioning of Buildings ‒ An Overview, Applied Thermal Engineering, 27 (2007), 10, pp.1734-1749
  7. Balaras, C. A., et al., Solar Air Conditioning in Europe ‒ An Overview, Renewable Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11, (2007), 2, pp. 299-314
  8. Kim, D. S., Infante-Ferreira, C., A., Air-cooled LiBr-water Absorption Chillers for Solar Air Conditioning in Extremely Hot Weathers, Energy Conversion and Management, 50 (2009), 4, pp. 1018-1025
  9. Cai, D., et al., Thermodynamic Analysis of a Novel Air-cooled Non-adiabatic Absorption Refrigeration Cycle Driven by Low Grade Energy, En. Conv. and Manag., 86 (2014), Oct., pp. 537-547
  10. Avanessian, T., Ameri, M., Comparison of Air-cooled and Water-cooled (hot-water and direct-fired) Double Effect LiBr-H2O Absorption Systems: Energy and Exergy Analyses, International Journal of Exergy, 17 (2015), 1, pp. 110-133
  11. Marcos, J. D., et al., New Method for COP Optimization in Water- and Air-cooled Single and Double Effect LiBr-water Absorption Machines, Intern. J. of Refrig., 34 (2011), 6, pp. 1348-1359
  12. Marcos, J. D., Prototype of an Air-cooled Double Effect LiBr-H2O Absorption Machine (in Spanish), Ph. D. thesis, Charles III University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2008
  13. Izquierdo, M., et al., Experimental Evaluation of a Low-power Direct Air Cooled Double Effect LiBr-H2O Absorption Prototype, Energy, 37 (2012), 1, pp. 737-748
  14. Castro, J., et al., Modelling of the Heat Exchangers of a Small Capacity, Hot Water Driven, Air-cooled H2O-LiBr Absorption Cooling Machine, Intern. J. of Refrig., 31 (2008), 1, pp. 75-86
  15. Lizarte, R., Experimental Evaluation of Low-power Air-cooled LiBr-H2O Single-effect Absorption Machines: Re-cooling System Versus Direct System (in Spanish), Ph. D. thesis, Charles III University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2010
  16. ***, andyschroder.com/Rotartica/
  17. ***, www.robur.com/
  18. Wang, R. Z., et al., Solar Driven Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Systems Corresponding to Various Heating Source Temperatures, Applied Energy, 169 (2016), 1, pp. 846-856
  19. Bataineh, K., Taamneh, Y., Review and Recent Improvements of Solar Sorption Cooling Systems, Energy and Buildings, 128 (2016), Sept., pp. 22-37
  20. Tsoutsos, T., et al., Design of a Solar Absorption Cooling System in a Greek Hospital, Energy and Buildings, 42 (2010), 2, pp. 265-272
  21. Florides, G. A., et al., Modelling, Simulation and Warming Impact Assessment of a Domestic-size Absorption Solar Cooling System, Applied Thermal Engineering, 22 (2002), 12, pp. 1313-1325
  22. Calise, F., High Temperature Solar Heating and Cooling Systems for Different Mediterranean Climates: Dynamic Simulation and Economic Assessment, Appl. Therm. Eng., 32 (2012), Jan., pp. 108-124
  23. Henning, H. M., Solar-assisted Air-conditioning in Buildings - Handbook for Planners, Springer-Verlag GmbH, Wien, Austria, 2004
  24. Qu, M., et al., A Solar Thermal Cooling and Heating System for a Building: Experimental and Model Based Performance Analysis and Design, Solar Energy, 84 (2010), 2, pp. 166-182
  25. ***, Iberian Climate Atlas, AEMET, Instituto de Meteorología de Portugal, Lisboa, Portugal, 2011
  26. ***, Technical Guide for Cooling Towers (in Spanish), IDAE, ISBN: 978-84-96680-09-8, Madrid, Spain, 2007
  27. Mendes, L. F., et al., Supply of Cooling and Heating with Solar Assisted Heat Pumps: An Energetic Approach, Intern. J. of Refrig., 21 (1998), 2, pp. 116-125
  28. Pizzetti, C., Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Theory and Calculation of Facilities (2nd ed.), Bellisco, Madrid, Spain, 1991
  29. Jiménez, G., Comparative Study Between Air and Water Cooled for the Air-condition of the Juan Benet Building (in Spanish), End of Degree Project, Carlos III University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2011
  30. Rahmani, Kh., Reducing Water Consumption by Increasing the Cycles of Concentration and Considera-tions of Corrosion and Scaling in a Cooling System, Appl. Therm. Eng., 114 (2017), Mar., pp. 849-856
  31. Izquierdo, M., et al., Air Conditioning in the Region of Madrid, Spain: An Approach to Electricity Consumption, Economics and CO2 Emissions, Energy, 36 (2011), 3, pp. 1630-1639
  32. Rocca, V. L., Panno, G., Experimental Performance Evaluation of a Vapour Compression Refrigerating Plant when Replacing R22 with Alternative Refrigerants, Applied Energy, 88, (2011), 8, pp. 2809-2815
  33. ***, Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, Inventory of Greenhouse Gases in Spain (in Spanish), 2010

© 2024 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence