A Combined Cycle Power Plant With Absorption Cooling for Houses Air Conditioning
This study examined the viability of a single-effect water/lithium bromide absorption chiller driven by steam extracted from the steam turbine in the configuration of a combined cycle power plant (CCPP). System performance was verified based on the annual cooling load profile of 1,000 typical houses in Kuwait obtained from DesignBuilder building simulation software. Computer models that represented a CCPP with an absorption chiller and a CCPP with a Direct-Expansion (DX) air conditioning system were developed using Engineering Equation Solver software. The computer models interacted with the cooling load profiles obtained from DesignBuilder. Analysis shows that the CCPP with the absorption chiller yielded less net electrical power to the utility grid compared to similar CCPPs giving electricity both to the grid and to the Direct-Expansion air conditioning systems given the same cooling requirements. The reason for this finding is the reduction in steam turbine power output resulting from steam extraction.