Energy Saving Assessment of Triple-Hybrid Vapor Absorption Building Cooling System Under Hot-Dry Climate

Abstract

Thermally driven vapor absorption-based air-conditioning systems possess many advantages over the compression based systems. However, intermittent availability of input resources affects the operation of these absorption systems which causes discontinuous working. This study aims at examining the electrical and thermodynamic performance of a triple-hybrid vapor absorption-assisted air-conditioning system against a conventional system with the aid of EnergyPlus simulations for a small office building. The outside weather is subjected to hot-dry climatic condition. The heat input source includes biomass and solar energy-based resources. Auxiliary heat input is also used to ensure smooth operation. The performance of the absorption system is assessed at different generator temperature (70 °C–80 °C) and solar collector area (400 m2–500 m2). The results show that, by using absorption-based systems, a maximum of 34.1% electrical energy savings can be ensured at 500 m2 collector area with 70 °C generator temperature. The coefficient of performance of the absorption system escalates from 0.50 to 0.52 by increasing the generator temperature form 70 °C to 80 °C. Under the condition of 70 °C generator temperature and 500 m2 collector area, the absorption system can be made fully renewable energy dependent.