Investigating the Capacity Sufficiency of an Optimized Standalone Solar Hot Water Fired Absorption Chiller for Australian 6-Star House: The Case of Adelaide

Author(s):  
Gazinga Abdullah ◽  
Ali Al-Alili
Keyword(s):  
Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Huang ◽  
Rongyue Zheng ◽  
Udo Piontek

A solar cooling and heating system incorporated with two air-source heat pumps was installed in Ningbo City, China and has been operating since 2018. It is composed of 40 evacuated tube modules with a total aperture area of 120 m2, a single-stage and LiBr–water-based absorption chiller with a cooling capacity of 35 kW, a cooling tower, a hot water storage tank, a buffer tank, and two air-source heat pumps, each with a rated cooling capacity of 23.8 kW and heating capacity of 33 kW as the auxiliary system. This paper presents the operational results and performance evaluation of the system during the summer cooling and winter heatingperiod, as well as on a typical summer day in 2018. It was found that the collector field yield and cooling energy yield increased by more than 40% when the solar cooling and heating system is incorporated with heat pumps. The annual average collector efficiency was 44% for cooling and 42% for heating, and the average coefficient of performance (COP) of the absorption chiller ranged between 0.68 and 0.76. The annual average solar fraction reached 56.6% for cooling and 62.5% for heating respectively. The yearly electricity savings accounted for 41.1% of the total electricity consumption for building cooling and heating.


Author(s):  
Jan Albers ◽  
Giovanni Nurzia ◽  
Felix Ziegler

The efficient operation of a solar cooling system strongly depends on the chiller behaviour under part-load conditions since driving energy and cooling load are never constant. For this reason the performance of a single stage, hot water driven 30 kW H2O/LiBr-absorption chiller employed in a solar cooling system with a field of 350 m2 evacuated tube collectors has been analysed under part-load conditions with both simulations and experiments. A simulation model has been developed for the whole absorption chiller (Type Yazaki WFC-10), where all internal mass and energy balances are solved. The connection to the external heat reservoirs of hot, chilled and cooling water is done by lumped and distributed UA-values for the main heat exchangers. In addition to an analytical evaporator model — which is described in detail — experimental correlations for UA-values have been used for condenser, generator and solution heat exchanger. For the absorber a basic model based on Nusselt theory has been employed. The evaporator model was developed taking into account the distribution of refrigerant on the tube bundle as well as the change in operation from a partially dry to an overflowing evaporator. A linear model is derived to calculate the wetted area. The influence of these effects on cooling capacity and COP is calculated for three different combinations of hot and cooling water temperature. The comparison to experimental data shows a good agreement in the various operational modes of the evaporator. The model is able to predict the transition from partially dry to an overflowing evaporator quite well. The present deviations in the domain with high refrigerant overflow can be attributed to the simple absorber model and the linear wetted area model. Nevertheless the results of this investigation can be used to improve control strategies for new and existing solar cooling systems.


Author(s):  
Stephen M. Smith

A 35,000 ft2 [3,251 m2] Creative Arts instruction building is being constructed on the campus of Haywood Community College in Clyde, NC (∼25 miles [40 km] west of Asheville). The building’s HVAC system consists of a solar absorption chiller, two parallel back-up electric chillers, and radiant floor heating with condensing boiler back-up. Hot water is to be heated by 117 solar thermal panels with thermal energy storage in a 12,000 gallon [45,000 liters] insulated tank and service to both the absorption chiller and the radiant under-floor heating system. Peak cooling loads and unfavorable solar conditions are to be handled by parallel electric chillers, operated in sequence to achieve maximum performance. Emergency radiant under-floor heating hot water back-up is to be handled by gas-fired condensing boilers in the event of unavailable solar heated hot water. This paper will examine the extensive modeling process required of the system as performed in EnergyPlus, how preliminary modeling results influenced the control and design strategy, the annual behavior of the system and the importance of controllability.


Author(s):  
Fred Betz ◽  
Chris Damm ◽  
David Archer ◽  
Brian Goodwin

Carnegie Mellon University’s departments of Architecture and Mechanical Engineering have teamed with Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Mechanical Engineering department to design and install a biodiesel fueled engine-generator with heat recovery equipment to supply electric and thermal power to an office building on campus, the Intelligent Workplace (IW). The installation was completed in early September 2007, and is currently being commissioned. Full scale testing will begin in early 2008. The turbocharged diesel engine-generator set is operated in parallel with the local electric utility and the campus steam grid. The system is capable of generating 25 kW of electric power while providing 18 kW of thermal power in the form of steam from an exhaust gas boiler. The steam is delivered to a double-effect Li-Br absorption chiller, which supplies chilled water to the IW for space cooling in the summer or hot water for space heating in the winter. Furthermore, the steam can be delivered to the campus steam grid during the fall and spring when neither heating nor cooling is required in the IW. Additionally, thermal energy will be recovered from the coolant to provide hot water for space heating in the winter, and for regenerating a solid desiccant dehumidification ventilation system in summer. All relevant temperatures, pressures, and flows for these systems are monitored via a building automation system. Pressure versus time measurements can be recorded in each cylinder of the engine. Emissions of nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM), and carbon dioxide (CO2) are also monitored. Upon completion of this installation and the system performance testing, the operation of the engine generator with its heat recovery components will be integrated with the other HVAC components of the IW including a parabolic trough solar thermal driven LiBr absorption chiller, a solid desiccant dehumidification ventilation system, and multiple types of fan coils and radiant heating and cooling devices. This energy supply system is expected to reduce the IW’s primary energy consumption by half in addition to the 75% energy savings already realized as compared to the average US office space.


Author(s):  
Flore Marion ◽  
Fred Betz ◽  
David Archer

A 25 kWe cogeneration system has been installed by the School of Architecture of Carnegie Mellon University that provides steam and hot water to its Intelligent Workplace, the IW. This cogeneration system comprises a biodiesel fueled engine generator, a steam generator that operates on its exhaust, a hot water heat exchanger that operates on its engine coolant, and a steam driven absorption chiller. The steam and hot water are thus used for cooling, heating, and ventilation air dehumidification in the IW. This cogeneration system is a primary component of an overall energy supply system that halves the consumption of primary energy required to operate the IW. This cogeneration system was completed in September 2007, and extensive tests have been carried out on its performance over a broad range of power and heat outputs with Diesel and biodiesel fuels. In parallel, a detailed systems performance model of the engine generator, its heat recovery exchangers, the steam driven absorption chiller, a ventilation and air dehumidification unit, and multiple fan coil cooling/heating units has been programmed making use of TRNSYS to evaluate the utilization of the heat from the unit in the IW. In this model the distribution of heat from the engine to the exhaust, to the coolant, and directly to the surroundings has been based on an ASHRAE model. While a computational model was created, its complexity made calculation of annual performance excessively time consuming and a simplified model based on experimental data was created. The testing of the cogeneration system at 6, 12, 18 and 25 kWe is now completed and a wealth of data on flow rates, temperatures, pressures throughout the system were collected. These data have been organized in look up tables to create a simplified empirical TRNSYS component for the cogeneration system in order to allow representative evaluation of annual performance of the system for three different mode of operation. Using the look up table, a simple TRNSYS module for the cogeneration system was developed that equates fuel flow to electricity generation, hot water generation via the coolant heat exchanger, and steam production via the steam generator. The different modes of operation for this cogeneration system can be design load: 25 kWe, following the thermal — heating or cooling — load, following the ventilation regeneration load. The calculated annual efficiency for the different mode is respectively 66% 68% and 65%. This cogeneration installation was sized to provide guidance on future cogeneration plant design for small commercial buildings. The new cogeneration TRNSYS component has been created to be applicable in the design of various buildings where a similar cogeneration system could be implemented. It will assist in selection of equipment and of operating conditions to realize an efficient and economic cogeneration system.


Author(s):  
Indraneel Samanta ◽  
Ramesh K. Shah ◽  
Ali Ogut

The fuel cell is an emerging technology for stationary power generation because of their higher energy conversion efficiency and extremely low environmental pollution. Fuel cell systems with cogeneration have even higher overall efficiency. Cogeneration can be defined as simultaneous production of electric power and useful heat from burning of single fuel. A fuel cell produces electrical energy by electrolytic process involving chemical reaction between H2 (fuel) and O2 (Air). Previous works have focussed on running the system in combination with gas turbines. We investigate the possibility of running an absorption chiller as a cogeneration system focussing on a 250 kW Direct Internal Reforming Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (DIR-MCFC) powering a LiBr-Water absorption chiller. The objective of this work is to propose a cogeneration system capable of enhancing the profitability and efficiency of a MCFC for independent distributed power generation. Natural gas is used as fuel and O2 is used from atmospheric air. Two possibilities are evaluated to recover heat from the exhaust of the MCFC: (1) all waste heat available being used for providing hot water in the building and powering an absorption chiller in summer, and (2) hot water supply and space heating in winter. There is an increased cost saving for each case along with improved system efficiency. Based on these considerations payback period for each case is presented.


Author(s):  
Fadi A. Ghaith ◽  
Kamal Majlab Wars

Abstract This paper addresses the potential of integrating the existing oil wells and absorption chiller for the purpose of provision space cooling for the base camp of oil field at Block 9 located in Oman. The wellbore was used as a hot water feed to the chiller. Well S 347 was selected as the hot water source and well S 179 was selected to be the injection well for the outlet water. The existing wells were assessed via PIPESIM software. Using PIPESIM software, the fluid temperatures, well pressure and flow rates were obtained and analyzed throughout NODAL analyses. The water temperature of 100 °C, well head pressure of 100 psi and flow rate of 30 m3/h, were found to be the optimum operating parameters. The COP of the absorption chiller was obtained via ABSIM software. The variable operating conditions were investigated and elaborated as a function of the efficiency and capacity ratio. The designed system was configured to yield 0.733 COP and a capacity of 377 KW which met the cooling capacity of the admin building of block 9. The entire feasibility analysis was performed in terms of the overall cost as well as the saving that would be achieved from such homogeneity. The payback period of the entire system was found to be 7 years which emphasized a great potential of adapting the technology if the operating resources are available.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 35173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Antonio Ochoa Villa ◽  
José Carlos Charamba Dutra ◽  
Jorge Recarte Henríquez Henríquez ◽  
Carlos Antonio Cabral do Santos ◽  
José Ângelo Peixoto da Costa

This work aims to transient performance of chiller single effect absorption refrigeration using the LiBr/H2O pair with nominal capacity of 35 kW. The goal of this study is to verify the absorption chiller when subjected to thermal loads and it transiently responsive as a function of the temperatures of the chilled, hot and cold water of the system. An experimental methodology was established in a micro-CHP laboratory to simulate the dynamic operating conditions of the system considering the thermal load (chilled water), the activation source (hot water) and the heat dissipation circuit (cold water). The thermal load was simulated from a set of electrical resistors installed in a water heater and the activation of the chiller from recovery gas a microturbine 30 kW and through a compact heat exchanger, where water is heated and stored in a hot buffer tank. The absorption chiller heat dissipation system consists of the pump and cooling tower. The system responded appropriately to the thermal load imposed providing COP values in the transient regime of 0.55 to 0.70 the temperature conditions tested.


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