Design and thermo-economic comparisons of large scale solar absorption air conditioning cycles

Abstract

Sustainable cooling absorption technologies, using renewable energy sources, and climate-friendly cooling liquids gain more and more attention. In this work, design and thermo-economic analyses are presented to compare between two different collector types (parabolic trough and evacuated tube) by Water-Lithium Bromide absorption systems. Generally, the main component of the entire system is the absorption refrigeration chiller, the plant will then consist of three subsystems. The first subsystem is the solar system for thermal power conversion. The second subsystem is represented by the condenser and chiller absorber that need to be cooled, using a cooling tower. The third subsystem is represented by the cold circuit and the terminals of the useful cooling power produced. A case study for a sports arena with 700–800 kW total cooling load is also presented. Results reveal that parabolic trough collector combined with H2O–LiBr (PTC/H2O–LiBr) gives lower design aspects and minimum rates of hourly costs (5.2$/h), while ETC/H2O–LiBr configuration (5.6$/h). H2O–LiBr thermo-economic product cost is (0.14$/GJ). The cycle coefficient of performance COP was in the range of 0.5–0.9.