Desiccant wheel air-conditioning system driven by gas engine cogeneration of heat and power: simulation and analysis by Dymola

Abstract

Based on the combination of gas engine cogeneration of heat and power (GECHP) technology and temperature and humidity independent control air-conditioning technology, an air-conditioning system combined with desiccant wheel driven by GECHP was proposed to decrease cooling energy consumption and utilize the waste heat of gas engine. In this study, Dymola software was adopted to model the hybrid system and conduct hourly simulation throughout the cooling and heating season for two types of large public buildings: the supermarket building and the office building. Results show that the hybrid system applied to target buildings can meet the requirements of each index of air-conditioning energy supply. Comparing two types of application scenarios, the system primary energy conversion ratio of the supermarket building reaches 112%, 19% higher than that of the office building. And the system CO2 emission reduction rate per unit of capacity of the supermarket building is 0.18 kg/kWh, lower than the 0.22 kg/kWh of the office building. Therefore, the hybrid system has superior energy-saving and environmental performance and is especially suitable for high-temperature and high-humidity areas in summer as well as building application scenarios with high indoor moisture gain and fresh air demand.