A new combined cooling, heating and power system driven by solar energy

A new combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system is proposed. This system is driven by solar energy, which is different from the current CCHP systems with gas turbine or engine as prime movers. This system combines a Rankine cycle and an ejector refrigeration cycle, which could produce cooling output, heating output and power output simultaneously. The effects of hour angle and the slope angle of the aperture plane for the solar collectors on the system performance are examined. Parametric optimization is conducted by means of genetic algorithm (GA) to find the maximum exergy efficiency. It is shown that the optimal slope angle of the aperture plane for the solar collectors is 60° at 10 a.m. on June 12, and the CCHP system can reach its optimal performance with the slope angle of 45° for the aperture plane at midday. It is also shown that the system can reach the maximum exergy efficiency of 60.33% under the conditions of the optimal slope angle and hour angle.     

Geometrically and thermally non-optimum ejector heat pump analysis

A determinate mathematical compressible flow model, which removes two improper assumptions in Elrod's optimum ejector theory and was based on the control volume approach for a constant area ejector, was formulated. Through suitable manipulation, the set of governing equations was reduced to a single implicit equation for the primary variable P₀. The flow parameters of the primary, secondary, mixed and diffused flow can be calculated directly by using the solved P₀ Some empirical data of a heat pump with various ejectors were compared with the predicted values of the present and Elrod's theories. The comparisons show that the present theory gives better agreement than Elrod's predictions. The geometrical offset effects in the heat pump analysis were analyzed by varying the primary, secondary inlets and diffuser exit areas. The optimum ejector and the optimum refrigeration system are found numerically in this parametric study. The factors which influence the ejector suction capability to the secondary flow can be observed. The thermal offset effects of the boiler, evaporator and condenser are also presented in this study.     

Performance of ejector heat pumps

An ejector-compression heat pump can use low-grade thermal energy in the neighbourhood of 93.3°C (200°F) to provide space cooling and heating. This paper applies the existing ejector theory to estimate the performance of an ejector heat pump system at various operating conditions. The study includes parametric, sensitivity and off-design analyses of the heat pump performance. The performance enhancement options and desired ejector geometry are also examined. Refrigerants 11, 113 and 114 are three of the halocarbons most suitable for the ejector heat pump system. The estimated coefficients of performance for a simple ejector heat pump are 0.3 for the cooling mode and 1.3 for the heating mode at a sample operating condition in which the refrigerant (R-11) boiling temperature is 93.3°C (200°F), condensing temperature 43.3°C (110°F) and evaporating temperature 10°C (50°F). A 24 per cent performance improvement is predicted for a heat pump with two-stage ejectors and regenerative heat exchangers. The off-design performance is relatively insensitive to the evaporator temperature variations.     

Heat-pipe enhanced solar-assisted heat pump water heater

A heat-pipe enhanced solar-assisted heat pump water heater (HPSAHP) is studied. HPSAHP is a heat pump with dual heat sources that combines the performance of conventional heat pump and solar heat pipe collector. HPSAHP operates in heat-pump mode when solar radiation is low and in heat-pipe mode without electricity consumption when solar radiation is high. HPSAHP can thus achieve high energy efficiency. A prototype was designed and built in the present study. An outdoor test for a HPSAHP in the present study has shown that COP of the hybrid-mode operation can reach 3.32, an increase of 28.7% as compared to the heat-pump mode COP (2.58).     

Measurement of the performance of domestic air-to-air heat pumps

It is desirable to test heat pumps over the whole range of conditions under which they will be used. A test facility built at BRE is described in which these conditions may be readily adjusted in a controlled manner, the test procedure for a heat pump unit being carried out in a relatively short time. the heat pump itself is utilized to attain conditions of lower temperature and humidity than ambient. The problems of measuring heat transport in air streams are outlined and ways of overcoming them are given. Particular attention should be given to mixing the air streams. Various aspects of instrumentation of such a test facility are discussed.     

Performance of evaporator-collector and air collector in solar assisted heat pump dryer

A solar assisted heat pump dryer has been designed, fabricated and tested. This paper presents the performance of the evaporator-collector and the air collector when operated under the same meteorological conditions. ASHRAE standard procedure for collector testing has been followed. The evaporator-collector of the heat pump is acting directly as the solar collector, and the temperature of the refrigerant at the inlet to the evaporator-collector always remained below the ambient temperature. Because of the rejection of sensible and latent heats of air at the dehumidifier, the temperature at the inlet to the air collector is lower than that of the ambient air. Hence, the thermal efficiency of the air collector also increases due to a reduction of losses from the collector. The efficiencies of the evaporator-collector and the air collector were found to vary between 0.8–0.86 and 0.7–0.75, respectively, when operated under the meteorological conditions of Singapore.     

Performance analysis and parametric study of thermal energy storage in an aquifer coupled with a heat pump and solar collectors,for a residential complex in Tehran,Iran

Aquifers are underground porous formations containing water. Confined aquifers are the formations surrounded by two impermeable layers, called cap rocks and bed rocks. These aquifers are suitable for seasonal thermal energy storage.In the present study, a confined aquifer was considered to meet the cooling and heating energy needs of a residential complex located in Tehran, Iran. Three different alternatives were analyzed in this aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), including: using ATES for cooling alone, for cooling and heating, as a heat pump, and for heating alone, employing flat plate solar energy collectors. A numerical simulation, based on the finite difference method, was carried out for velocity and temperature distributions as well as the heat transfer in the aquifer. The thermal energy recovery factor and the annual coefficient of performance of the system were determined under various schemes of operation, revealing that the combination of the ATES with the heat pump, to meet both cooling and heating needs of the complex, is the best. The study was repeated for different aquifer properties.     

First and second law analysis of a solar assisted heat pump based heating system

We propose a model for the heating system of an ecological building whose main energy source is solar radiation. The most important component of the heating system is a vapour compression heat pump. Both the first law and the second law were used to analyse the heat pump operation. The state parameters and the process quantities were evaluated by using, as input, the building thermal load. The second law analysis emphasised that most of the exergy losses occur during compression and condensation. Preliminary results show that the photovoltaic array can provide all the energy required to drive the heat pump compressor, if an appropriate electrical energy storage system is provided.     

Application of an exhaust heat recovery system for domestic hot water

Typically, a great deal of heat is wasted in the drainage systems of large-scale public shower facilities, such as those in schools, barracks, and natatoriums. This paper enhances a heat pump system used in public shower facilities for exhaust heat recovery. The system consists of three sections for exhaust heat recovery: solar energy collection system, drainage collection system, and heat pump system. In the system, the energy from the solar energy collection system is used for the initial heating the shower's tap water. Afterwards, the drainage collection system collects the used shower water. Finally, the electric heat pump recycles the exhaust heat from the collected water to heat the shower's tap water. The operational practice of the system was presented. The drainage temperature and equipment capacity was optimized based on a practical example. The advantages of this heat pump system compared to gas-fired (oil-fired, coal-fired, electric) boilers are lower energy consumption, less pollution, and lower operating costs. Therefore, the system is superior in energy conservation and has a promising application prospect.     

An exergy analysis of a solar-driven ejector refrigeration system

Exergy analysis is used as a tool to analyse the performance of an ejector refrigeration cycle driven by solar energy. The analysis is based on the following conditions: a solar radiation of 700 W/m², an evaporator temperature of 10 °C, a cooling capacity of 5 kW, butane as the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle and ambient temperature of 30 °C as the reference temperature. Irreversibilities occur among components and depend on the operating temperatures. The most significant losses in the system are in the solar collector and the ejector. The latter decreases inversely proportional to the evaporation temperature and dominates the total losses within the system. The optimum generating temperature for a specific evaporation temperature is obtained when the total losses in the system are minimized. For the above operating conditions, the optimum generating temperature is about 80 °C.     

Development of a tube-type solar still equipped with heat accumulation for irrigation

A tube-type solar still is found to be suitable for use in desert irrigation. The effectiveness of a heat accumulator with regard to distillate productivity is experimentally and numerically verified. The heat accumulator consists of tube bundles immersed in wax in order to utilize the latent heat of wax. The dynamic response to stepwise variation of irradiative intensity verified the contribution of wax to an increase of productivity only when the phase change of wax occurred. The effective distillate productivity was found to be 294.3 g/m² during the cyclic stepwise change of irradiative intensity, from 200 to 600 W/m² and back. Velocity vectors driven by natural convection and temperature contours estimated by numerical simulation verified the effectiveness of the heat accumulator especially after peak solar intensity. The latent heat of wax effectively contributed to a 15% increase in total distillate productivity per day. The still can feasibly meet irrigation water supply demands above an irrigative threshold of 17 MJ/m² d.     

A solar ejector cooling system using refrigerant R134a in the Athens area

This paper describes the performance of an ejector cooling system driven by solar energy and R134a as working fluid. The system operating in conjunction with intermediate temperature solar collector in Athens, is predicted along the 5 months (May–September). The operation of the system and the related thermodynamics are simulated by suitable computer codes and the required local climatologically data are determined by statistical processing over a considerable number of years. It was fount that the COP of ejector cooling system varied from 0.035 to 0.199 when the operation conditions were: generator temperature (82–92 °C), condenser temperature (32–40 °C) and evaporator temperature (−10–0 °C). For solar cooling application the COP of overall system varied from 0.014 to 0.101 with the same operation conditions and total solar radiation (536–838 W/m²) in July.     

Experimental investigations on ejector refrigeration system with ammonia

A vapor ejector refrigeration system has been designed and developed to operate with ammonia. In this paper, performance of ejector refrigeration system has been experimentally studied with three different area ratio ejectors by varying operational parameters namely generator, condenser and evaporator temperatures. Effect of non-dimensional parameters like compression ratio, expansion ratio and area ratio on the system performance is studied. Entrainment ratio and coefficient of performance of the system increase with increase in ejector area ratio and expansion ratio and they increase with decrease in compression ratio.     

太阳能喷射式制冷与电压缩制冷的能耗的对比

太阳能喷射式制冷系统在满足供冷需求时,通常需要补充一定量的一次常规能源,其节能条件及应用范围是急需解决的问题.在系统能量平衡的基础上,引入太阳能倍率等参数,推导了太阳能喷射式制冷系统与电压缩制冷系统的一次能耗比计算公式,进而对太阳能喷射式制冷系统与电压缩制冷系统的一次能源消耗进行了对比分析.并以太原为例,确定了太阳能喷射式制冷系统的平衡太阳能倍率,给出了相对于电压缩制冷的太阳能喷射式制冷的节能条件.