Improving performance of direct expansion air conditioning systems while reducing electricity consumption through using hybrid energy

Ahmed Al–Okbi,Yuri Vankov,Hakim Kadhim,F.-J Lin,Y Sun,A Kler,A.M Foley,D Sidorov,C.-I Chen,N Voropai,P Lombardi,K Suslov

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202128901014

Ahmed Al–Okbi, Yuri Vankov + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202128901014

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Abstract

At the present time, operating hybrid air-conditioning systems that use solar energy to saving electrical energy while improving the performance has become necessary to protect the environment, reduce pollution and emissions caused by using fuels and gases. In Iraq, temperatures reach half the boiling point at summer, therefore the demand for air conditioning systems increases, air conditioning systems consume more than half of average electricity production which affects on reliability and stability of the electrical energy thus leads to a continuous power outage. So, the issue of using renewable energies becomes more attractive. Because of saving energy leads to ensuring the reliability of electricity and reduces the consumption of fuels and gases that pollute on the environment and negatively affect on the ozone layer. In the current research, the atmosphere of Baghdad city was used to collect solar thermal energy and convert it into thermal energy through an evacuated solar collector by water and combine it with a conventional air conditioner in the part that follows the compressor in order to reduce the electrical energy consumption on the compressor and increase coefficient of performance. Several tests were conducted on the proposed system to compare results with the conventional system and evaluate performance. The results showed that the coefficient of performance with the hybrid system became 8.97 more efficient instead of 4.27 compared to the conventional system, and the energy consumption decreased by 52%.

Highlights

Due to high temperatures in summer in hot regions such as Iraq, the demand for direct expansion air conditioners of various sizes increases, which means increases the consumption of electrical energy, which in turn affects on the guarantee of its reliability and stability
A heat exchanger was installed inside the solar thermal collector tank and connected to the refrigeration cycle in the part following the compressor for the purpose of heating the gas coming out of the compressor in order to increase its thermal efficiency and reduce the work spent on the compressor while improving the coefficient of performance
A practical study was conducted to evaluate the benefit of using renewable solar thermal energy in the atmosphere of city Baghdad in attempt to improving the performance of air conditioners and saving electrical energy

Summary

Introduction

Due to high temperatures in summer in hot regions such as Iraq, the demand for direct expansion air conditioners of various sizes increases, which means increases the consumption of electrical energy, which in turn affects on the guarantee of its reliability and stability. By Fong et al [15], He studied and compared five different types of solar cooling systems for the subtropical city of Hong Kong with the aim of determining which system was the most energy efficient. The performance evaluation results showed that the solar electric vapor compression cooling and solar absorption cooling systems represent the highest performance and energy saving over other systems after the performance criteria were; Performance coefficient (COP), solar thermal gain, power consumption, and solar fraction. The purpose of this paper is to design a solar hybrid air conditioning system that increases COP and reduces the rate of electrical power consumption compared to a conventional air conditioner with a full description of the components and characteristics of the system including their advantages and limitations

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Conclusion