Abstract
The utilization of solar irradiation in the building sector is vital to create sustainable systems. Trigeneration systems are highly efficient systems that usually produce electricity, heating and cooling which are the main energy needs in the buildings. The objective of this work is the energetic and financial investigation of three different solar-driven trigeneration systems that can be applied in buildings with high energy needs (e.g., hospitals or commercial buildings). The parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) is selected to be used because it is the most mature solar concentrating technology. The examined configurations practically are different combinations of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with heat pumps. System 1 includes a PTC coupled to an ORC which feeds an absorption heat pump machine. System 2 includes a PTC which simultaneously feeds an ORC and absorption machine. System 3 includes a PTC which feeds an ORC and a heat exchanger for heating, while the ORC is fed with and electricity a vapor compression cycle for cooling production. The simple payback period of System 1 is 5.62 years and it is the lowest, with System 2 to have 7.82 years and System 3 to have 8.49 years. The energy efficiency of the three systems is 78.17%, 43.30% and 37.45%, respectively, while the exergy efficiency 15.94%, 13.08% and 12.25%, respectively. System 1 is the best configuration according to energy, exergy and financial analysis. This study is performed with developed thermodynamic models in Engineering Equation Solver and a dynamic model in FORTRAN.
Highlights
Solar energy is a vital energy source in order to face critical energy problems such as fossil fuel depletion, global warming, the increasing energy demand and the increasing electricity price [1,2].The building sector is one of the most energy-consuming sectors of our society and the exploitation of solar irradiation in the buildings is an interesting idea that can lead to future sustainability [3].trigeneration systems are highly efficient units that can produce numerous useful outputs simultaneously [4,5] and usually they can produce the outputs that the building needs
In buildings with high energy needs, like hospitals and commercial buildings, trigeneration systems can be installed without scale restrictions which can be found in residential buildings
System 1 is the most efficient energetically with 78.17%, while System 2 follows with 43.30% and System 3 with 37.45%. These results show that with 78.17%, while System 2 follows with 43.30% and System 3 with 37.45%. These results show that the use of waste heat from the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) condenser is more efficient than using separate ORC and absorption chillers (ACH)
Summary
Trigeneration systems are highly efficient units that can produce numerous useful outputs simultaneously [4,5] and usually they can produce the outputs that the building needs (heating, cooling and electricity). The use of solar energy for feeding trigeneration systems seems to be a viable and environmentally friendly idea. In buildings with high energy needs, like hospitals and commercial buildings, trigeneration systems can be installed without scale restrictions which can be found in residential buildings. In this direction, there are many literature studies with solar-driven trigeneration configurations for the building sector. Al-Sulaiman et al [6] examined
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