Experimental studies on bubble pump operated diffusion absorption machine based on light hydrocarbons for solar cooling

An experimental investigation of an air-cooled diffusion absorption machine operating with a binary light hydrocarbon mixture (C₄H₁₀/C₉H₂₀) as working fluids and helium as pressure equalizing inert gas is presented in this paper. The machine, made of copper an available and very good heat conducting metal, is intended to be solar powered heat from flat plate or common evacuated tube collectors. The cooling capacity is 40–47 W respectively for 9 and 11°C chilled water temperature. Cold is produced at temperatures between −10 and +10 °C for a driving temperature in the range of 120–150 °C.     

Indirect evaporative cooling of air to a sub-wet bulb temperature

Indirect evaporative cooling is a sustainable method for cooling of air. The main constraint that limits the wide use of evaporative coolers is the ultimate temperature of the process, which is the wet bulb temperature of ambient air. In this paper, a method is presented to produce air at a sub-wet bulb temperature by indirect evaporative cooling, without using a vapour compression machine. The main idea consists of manipulating the air flow inside the cooler by branching the working air from the product air, which is indirectly pre-cooled, before it is finally cooled and delivered. A model for the heat and mass transfer process is developed. Four types of coolers are studied: three two-stage coolers (a counter flow, a parallel flow and a combined parallel-regenerative flow) and a single-stage counter flow regenerative cooler.It is concluded that the proposed method for indirect evaporative cooling is capable of cooling air to temperatures lower than the ambient wet bulb temperature. The ultimate temperature for such a process is the dew point temperature of the ambient air. The wet bulb cooling effectiveness (E_wb) for the examples studied is 1.26, 1.09 and 1.31 for the two-stage counter flow, parallel flow and combined parallel-regenerative cooler, respectively, and it is 1.16 for the single-stage counter flow regenerative cooler. Such a method extends the potential of useful utilisation of evaporative coolers for cooling of buildings as well as other industrial applications.     

The potential applications and advantages of powering solar air-conditioning systems using concentrator augmented solar collectors

Non-concentrated evacuated tube heat pipe solar collectors have been reported to show higher fluid temperatures with improved thermal performance in the low to medium temperature range (?60 °C) due to low heat losses but suffer higher heat losses at the medium to higher temperature range (?80 °C) which reduces their efficiency compared to concentrated evacuated tube heat pipe solar collectors. To operate as stand-alone systems capable of attaining temperatures in the range of 70-120 °C, an innovative concentrator augmented solar collector can be an attractive option. The performance of a combined low-concentrator augmented solar collector in an array of evacuated tube heat pipe solar collectors defined as concentrator augmented evacuated tube heat pipe array (CAETHPA) and an array of evacuated tube heat pipe collectors (ETHPC) were tested and compared and results presented in this paper. The analysis of the experimental data allows concluding that the use of a CAETHPA is a more efficient alternative for integrating renewable energy into buildings with higher fluid temperature response, energy collection and lower heat loss coefficient compared to the use of evacuated tube heat pipe collector array (ETHPA).     

真空管太阳能集热器研究进展

随着太阳能热利用需求的日益增长,真空管太阳能集热器的相关研究得到广泛关注。本文针对空气式真空管太阳能集热器,概述了集热器结构和相变材料对系统热效率的影响,及相变材料与集热器的组合方式,总结了真空管集热器应用中存在的问题,提出了通过改进组合结构以及增加换热面粗糙度提高相变蓄热性能将是重点研究方向。     

Solar operated absorption air-conditioner for a Kufra house

The use of solar energy for domestic water heating and space heating has proved to be viable. Space cooling is another promising avenue for utilization of solar energy. Solar operated absorption air-conditioning systems, in different situations, have been found to be feasible. Such systems can make use of the expensive collectors which are, in any case, installed for water and space heating.

In this paper the cooling of a prototype house, in Kufra, is reported. Starting with measured radiation and ambient data, calculations are performed on an hourly basis to determine the cooling load, radiation in the collector plane, heat delivered by the collectors and the heat stored in or discharged from the storage tank. Three different types of collectors with varying efficiencies are considered. These collectors are of the evacuated tube, selective coated and black painted types. The study confirms that the water-lithium bromide absorption system can provide summer air conditioning in arid zones of Jamahiriya where there are diffuclties with the supply of electricity and fossil fuels.     

An Investigation on Cooling Performance of Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers Used in Coal Seam Gas Production

ABSTRACT

This paper reports an investigation into a practical cooling issue on a type of fan-forced finned-tube heat exchangers used in Queensland's coal seam gas (CSG) industry. CSG compression facilities in some production sites suffered underproduction in recent summers because of frequent automatic engine shutdowns. The problem is not expected by the manufacturer's design. However, it is suspected of being related to the control systems on the compression facilities triggering the overheating-protection shutdowns due to possible deficiencies in one or some water/gas cooling loops in the facilities’ air-cooled heat exchangers. Therefore, to understand which heat exchangers and what exact reasons cause the unexpected cooling issue, an investigation has been carried out on the cooler units of the gas compression facilities. A field instrumentation measurement on one operating cooler unit has been done, followed by an analysis using a one-dimensional analytical model and a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model. The experimental results are used to validate both the models. Then the cooling performance of the cooler unit under the summer peak condition is predicted by the verified models. The prediction suggests that the water inlet temperature in one particular cooler section is higher than its upper limit defined by the manufacturer, due to poor cooling at high ambient temperatures. The lower cooling performance is caused by large reductions in the cooler air speed and total heat transfer coefficient, which are related to less efficiency of the cooler fans, more airflow resistance, and fouling on both sides of the finned tubes.     

Optimization of low temperature solar thermal electric generation with Organic Rankine Cycle in different areas

The presented low temperature solar thermal electric generation system mainly consists of compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) and the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) working with HCFC-123. A novel design is proposed to reduce heat transfer irreversibility between conduction oil and HCFC-123 in the heat exchangers while maintaining the stability of electricity output. Mathematical formulations are developed to study the heat transfer and energy conversion processes and the numerical simulation is carried out based on distributed parameters. Annual performances of the proposed system in different areas of Canberra, Singapore, Bombay, Lhasa, Sacramento and Berlin are simulated. The influences of the collector tilt angle adjustment, the connection between the heat exchangers and the CPC collectors, and the ORC evaporation temperature on the system performance are investigated. The results indicate that the three factors have a major impact on the annual electricity output and should be the key points of optimization. And the optimized system shows that: (1) The annual received direct irradiance can be significantly increased by two or three times optimal adjustments even when the CPC concentration ratio is smaller than 3.0. (2) Compared with the traditional single-stage collectors, two-stage collectors connected with the heat exchangers by two thermal oil cycles can improve the collector efficiency by 8.1–20.9% in the simultaneous processes of heat collection and power generation. (3) On the use of the market available collectors the optimal ORC evaporation temperatures in most of the simulated areas are around 120 °C.     

Simulation and economic optimization of a solar assisted combined ejector–vapor compression cycle for cooling applications

This paper describes the hourly simulation and optimization of a thermally driven cooling cycle assisted by solar energy. The double stage solar ejector cooling cycle is modelled using the TRNSYS-EES simulation tool and the typical meteorological year file containing the weather data of Florianópolis, Brazil. The first stage is performed by a mechanical compression system with R134a as the working fluid, while the second stage is performed by a thermally driven ejector cycle with R141b. Flat plate collectors and an auxiliary energy burner provide heat to the ejector cycle. The thermo-economical optimization is carried out with respect to the intercooler temperature and the flat plate solar collector area, for given specific costs of the auxiliary energy and electric energy, the capital cost of the collectors, ejector cooler, and the capital cost of equivalent mechanical compression cooler.     

The effect of the overall heat transfer coefficient variation on the optimal distribution of the heat transfer surface conductance or area in a Stirling engine

This study aims to assess for a Stirling engine the influence of the overall heat transfer coefficient variation on the optimum state and on the optimum distribution of the heat transfer surface conductance or area among the machine heat exchangers. The analysis is based on a Stirling machine optimization method, previously elaborated, which is now applied to a cycle with total heat regeneration. The method was conceived for an irreversible cycle with heat transfer across temperature differences at the source and the sink, and heat losses between the hot-end and the cold-end of the engine. Source and sink of finite thermal capacity as well as thermostats are considered. The new approach considers a linear variation of the overall heat transfer coefficient of the machine heat exchangers with respect to the local temperature difference. A comparison of the optimum state and the optimum distribution of the heat transfer surface conductance or area among the heater and the cooler is made for several cases.     

Design of solar powered adsorption heat pump with ice storage

The design and performance of a solar (and/or natural gas) powered adsorption (desiccant-vapor) heat pump for residential cooling (and heating) is described. The entire system is modeled and analyzed: adsorption heat pump itself, ice thermal storage reservoir, and solar collectors. The adsorption heat pump embodies patent pending improvements to the state-of-the-art which elevate coefficient of performance for cooling from a maximum of 1.2 reported in the literature to a conservatively predicted minimum of 1.5. The adsorption device utilizes economical, robust configurations (shell-and-tube) and components (helical annular finned tubes, multi-lumen tubes) commonly employed in heat exchangers in a manner heretofore untried, as well as other enhancements (metal wool to diffuse heat throughout the adsorbent). The vessel is all aluminum and the adsorbent-refrigerant pair is carbon-ammonia. The ice reservoir provides 24 h cooling. Two types of solar collector are determined to be satisfactory at the selected operating temperature of 170 °C: (1) compound parabolic concentrator with high concentration ratio (10+) and automatic tilt adjustment, and (2) evacuated (0.001 atm) flat panel, similar to atmospheric pressure versions employed for domestic water heating.     

全玻璃真空太阳集热管光—热性能

从能量平衡议程导出全玻璃真空太阳集热管的3个光－热性能参数,即热损系数UTL、闷晒太阳曝辐量H和空晒性能参数Y与真空热管理的罩管玻璃的太阳透射比τ、选择性吸收表面的太阳吸收比a、发射比ε、和集热管内的气体压强p,太阳辐照度、环境温度和真空太阳集热管的几何尺寸等函数关系。理论计算的真空太阳集热管的3个热性能参数与实验的结果比较一致。上述全玻璃真空太阳集热管的光－热性能参数已经被国家标准《全玻璃真空太阳集热管》（GB／T17049－1997）采用。     

Mobile hydraulic power supply: Liquid piston Stirling engine pump

Conventional mobile hydraulic power supplies involve numerous kinematic connections and are limited by the efficiency, noise, and emissions of internal combustion engines. The Stirling cycle possesses numerous benefits such as the ability to operate from any heat source, quiet operation, and high theoretical efficiency. The Stirling engine has seen limited success due to poor heat transfer in the working chambers, difficulty sealing low-molecular weight gases at high pressure, and non-ideal piston displacement profiles. As a solution to these limitations, a liquid piston Stirling engine pump is proposed. The liquid pistons conform to irregular volumes, allowing increased heat transfer through geometry features on the interior of the working chambers. Creating near-isothermal operation eliminates the costly external heat exchangers and increases the engine efficiency through decreasing the engine dead space. The liquid pistons provide a positive gas seal and thermal transport to the working chambers. Controlling the flow of the liquid pistons with valves enables matching the ideal Stirling cycle and creates a direct hydraulic power supply. Using liquid hydrogen as a fuel source allows cooling the compression side of the engine before expanded the fuel into a gas and combusting it to heat the expansion side of the engine. Cooling the compression side not only increases the engine power, but also significantly increases the potential thermal efficiency of the engine. A high efficiency Stirling engine makes energy regeneration through reversing the Stirling cycle practical. When used for regeneration, the captured energy can be stored in thermal batteries, such as a molten salt. The liquid piston Stirling engine pump requires further research in numerous areas such as understanding the behavior of the liquid pistons, modeling and optimization of a full engine pump, and careful selection of materials for the extreme operating temperatures. Addressing these obtainable research quandaries will enable a transformative Stirling engine pump with the potential to excel in numerous applications.     

Analytic modeling of a solar power plant with parabolic linear collectors

An analytic model for a solar thermal electric generating system with parabolic trough collectors was developed. The energy conversion of solar radiation into thermal power along the absorber tube of the parabolic collector is studied, taking into consideration the non-linearity of heat losses and its dependence on the local temperature. The coupling between the collector and the thermodynamic cycle is made up of three heat exchangers, yielding the characteristic temperatures of the cycle. The conventional Rankine cycle is treated as an endo-reversible Carnot cycle, whereby the mechanical and electric power is calculated. For comparison, we refer to the Solar Electric Generating System VI (SEGS VI), installed in the Mojave desert-CA, whose solar field is composed by LS2 parabolic trough collectors. We simulated the efficiency curves of collectors LS2 with evacuated and non-evacuated absorbers and compared with experimental results. A second simulation was carried out to estimate the optimum quantity of non-evacuated LS2 collectors in series in a collectors’ row, when friction losses along the absorber tubes are considered. Also, the performance of a 30 (MWe) power plant, composed of 50 rows with 16 LS2 collectors in series (total 800 collectors) was simulated. Three fields of different collectors were considered, the first field with evacuated absorbers, the second with non-evacuated absorbers and the third with bare absorbers. Finally, the output power of the plant is analyzed as a function of the evaporation temperature of the water-vapor fluid. A large maximum of the overall cycle efficiency is found for evaporation temperatures around 320 °C. Good agreement is obtained when comparing the results of this model with experimental data belonging to the Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) installed in the Mojave desert. The analytic model developed combines simplicity, precision and flexibility, making it an attractive tool for simulation and design of solar power stations.     

Comparison of the optics of non-tracking and novel types of tracking solar thermal collectors for process heat applications up to 300 °C

Evacuated CPC (compound parabolic concentrator) collectors with non-tracking reflectors are compared with two novel tracking collectors: a parabolic trough and an evacuated tube collector with integrated tracking reflector. Non-tracking low concentrating CPC collectors are mostly mounted in east–west direction with a latitude dependent slope angle. They are suitable at most for working temperatures up to 200–250 °C. We present a tracking evacuated tube-collector with a trough-like concentrating mirror. Single-axis tracking of the mirror is realized with a magnetic mechanism. The mirror is mounted inside the evacuated tube and hence protected from environmental influences. One axis tracking in combination with a small acceptance angle allows for higher concentration as compared to non-tracking concentrating collectors. Ray-tracing analysis shows a half acceptance angle of about 5.7° at geometrical concentration ratio of 3.2. Losses of well constructed evacuated tube collectors (heat conductivity through the manifolds inside the thermally insulated terminating housing are low) are dominated by radiation losses of the absorber. Hence, reducing the absorber size can lead to higher efficiencies at high operating temperature levels. With the presented collector we aim for operating temperatures up to 350 °C. At temperatures of 300 °C we expect with anti-reflective coating of the glass tube and a selective absorber coating efficiencies of 0.65. This allows for application in industrial process heat generation, high efficient solar cooling and power generation. A first prototype, equipped with a standard glass tube and a black paint absorber coating, was tested at ZAE Bayern. The optical efficiency was measured to be 0.71. This tube-collector is compared by ray-tracing with non-tracking market available tube-collectors with geometrical concentration ratios up to 1.1 and with a low cost parabolic trough collector of Industrial Solar Technology (IST) with an acceptance half angle about 1.5°, a geometrical concentration ratio of 14.4 and a measured optical efficiency of 0.69.     

Solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower for geothermal power applications

This paper presents a new concept of hybrid cooling, named solar enhanced natural draft dry cooling tower (SENDDCT), in which solar collectors are added to traditional natural draft dry cooling towers to increase their performance. The purpose of using solar energy in this new cooling system is to increase the suction through the tower so that more air flow is achieved through the compact heat exchangers that cool condensers of a geothermal power plant. For the same size of the cooling tower, more air flow across the heat exchangers means more heat can be rejected by the system. The governing equations for the SENDDCT are similar to those of a conventional natural draft dry cooling tower except that solar heating is added after the heat exchanger bundles. Performance comparisons show that SENDDCT has substantial advantages over conventional natural draft dry cooling towers for geothermal power plants as well as standalone solar chimney power plants.     

Experimental investigations of a small-scale solar-assisted absorption cooling system

The present study deals with a small-scale solar-assisted absorption cooling system having a cooling capacity of 3.52 kW and was investigated experimentally under the climatic conditions of Taxila, Pakistan. Initially, a mathematical model was developed for LiBr/H₂O vapor absorption system alongside flat-plate solar thermal collectors to achieve the required operating temperature range of 75°C. Following this, a parametric analysis of the whole system was performed, including various design and climate parameters, such as the working temperatures of the generator, evaporator, condenser, absorber, mass flow rate, and coefficient of performance (COP) of the system. An experimental setup was coupled with solar collectors and instruments to get hot water using solar energy and measurements of main parameters for real-time performance assessment. From the results obtained, it was revealed that the maximum average COP of the system achieved was 0.70, and the maximum outlet temperature from solar thermal collectors was 75°C. A sensitivity analysis was performed to validate the potential of the absorption machine in the seasonal cooling demand. An economic valuation was accomplished based on the current cost of conventional cooling systems. It was established that the solar cooling system is economical only when shared with domestic water heating.     

A comparison of solar absorption air conditioning systems

A computer simulation of solar powered absorption air conditioning systems is discussed. The results of simulations of various systems composed of conventional flat plate or evacuated tube collectors, wet or dry cooling towers, lithium bromide-water or aqua-ammonia working fluids and hot water, chilled water or refrigerant storage alternatives are obtained over a common operating cycle. Performance of the lithium bromide-water working fluid is shown to be superior to aqua-ammonia. Relative performance gains realized with the evacuated tube collector and relative performance losses associated with the dry cooling tower are presented. Chilled water storage is shown to be advantageous for an evacuated collector, dry cooling tower, lithium bromide-water system.     

联合太阳能沼气的冷热电供能系统的集成及经济性分析

冷热电联供是一种先进、高效的能源系统,目前在我国应用的主要问题是天然气成本高,导致系统经济性差。太阳能和沼气是非常清洁的可再生能源,在我国来源广泛且廉价。将冷热电联供系统与太阳能、沼气完美地结合起来,集成为联合太阳能沼气的冷热电供能系统。该系统较为合理的组合方式是采用太阳能沼气池作为燃料提供装置,采用微型燃气轮机、余热锅炉、溴化锂吸收式制冷机、蒸汽换热器等作为供电、供冷和供热机组,采用太阳能集热器、换热器等装置为沼气池加热,太阳能不足时采用尾气加热。该系统能够实现能量的梯级利用,提高一次能源利用率,达到综合用能的目的,同时可有效治理环境。以某酒店作为该系统的用户对象,分析其经济性并与常规模式进行对比。结果表明,该系统一次能源利用率为74.8%,而常规模式为62.3%;综合能源价格为0.3398元/(k W·h),而现阶段电网电价约为0.6元/(k W·h);环境与减排评价指标也具有明显优势。     

The impact of fouling on performance evaluation of evaporative coolers and condensers

Fouling of evaporative cooler and condenser tubes is one of the most important factors affecting their thermal performance, which reduces effectiveness and heat transfer capability with time. In this paper, the experimental data on fouling reported in the literature are used to develop a fouling model for this class of heat exchangers. The model predicts the decrease in heat transfer rate with the growth of fouling. A detailed model of evaporative coolers and condensers, in conjunction with the fouling model, is used to study the effect of fouling on the thermal performance of these heat exchangers at different air inlet wet bulb temperatures. The results demonstrate that fouling of tubes reduces gains in performance resulting from decreasing values of air inlet wet bulb temperature. It is found that the maximum decrease in effectiveness due to fouling is about 55 and 78% for the evaporative coolers and condensers, respectively, investigated in this study. For the evaporative cooler, the value of process fluid outlet temperature T_p,out varies by 0.66% only at the clean condition for the ambient wet bulb temperatures considered. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

太阳能制冷与供暖系统的设计与比较

根据上海的气候条件，以上海地区某写字楼为对象，提出4种太阳能驱动的溴化锂吸收式与电动蒸汽压缩式热泵联合制冷与供暖系统。这4种系统分别由热管式真空管集热器或抛物面槽形聚光集热器，单效或双效溴化锂吸收式制冷机，以及风冷热泵或水源热泵构成。分析比较这4种系统的节能型和经济性的结果表明，采用抛物面槽形聚光集热器＋双效溴化锂吸收式制冷机＋风冷热泵组成的系统，同时具备较好的节能性与经济性，一次能源利用率可降低约50％。