Performance advancement of solar air-conditioning through integrated system design for building

Abstract

This study is to advance the energy performance of solar air-conditioning system through appropriate component integration from the absorption refrigeration cycle and proper high-temperature cooling. In the previous studies, the solar absorption air-conditioning using the working pair of water – lithium bromide (H2O–LiBr) is found to have prominent primary energy saving than the conventional compression air-conditioning for buildings in the hot-humid climate. In this study, three integration strategies have been generated for solar cooling, namely integrated absorption air-conditioning; integrated absorption-desiccant air-conditioning; and integrated absorption-desiccant air-conditioning for radiant cooling. To realize these ideas, the working pair of ammonia – water (NH3–H2O) was used in the absorption cycle, rather than H2O–LiBr. As such, the evaporator and the condenser can be separate from the absorption refrigeration cycle for the new configuration of various integrated design alternatives. Through dynamic simulation, the year-round primary energy saving of the proposed integration strategies for solar NH3–H2O absorption air-conditioning systems could be up to 50.6% and 25.5%, as compared to the conventional compression air-conditioning and the basic solar H2O–LiBr absorption air-conditioning respectively. Consequently, carbon reduction of building air-conditioning can be achieved more effectively through the integrated system design in the hot and humid cities.