Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356

9th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (ISHVAC) and the 3rd
International Conference on Building Energy and Environment (COBEE)

Analysis on All-Day Operating Solar Absorption Refrigeration

System with Heat Pump System
Hui Li Xingjuan Zhang*Chunxin Yang
School of Aeronautical Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing,
100191, China

Abstract

Solar energy in absorption refrigeration system (SARS) is widely used. However, solar energy is a low-grade and intermittent
heat source. The idea which introduced heat pump system into SARS (HPSARS) was put forward by our earlier research to
improve the solar energy application grade. In order to realize the all-day operating of HPSARS, phase change heat storage for
HPSARS (PCHS-HPSARS) is proposed in this paper. The performance of PCHS-HPSARS with 100m2 collector area is analysed
through thermodynamic calculations by using a typical meteorological data in summer for Nanjing. PCHS-HPSARS can provide
9kW cooling capacity throughout the day. Compared with SARS and HPSARS, PCHS-HPSARS can reach a good cooling effect
as well as a higher output-input ratio under different climate conditions, especially when there is no solar radiation. Results also
show the influence of the phase transition temperature (PTT) of the phase change material (PCM) in the heat storage system.
2015
2015The TheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ISHVACCOBEE 2015.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ISHVAC-COBEE 2015
Keywords: Solar energy; Heat pump; Absorption refrigeration; Heat storage;Phase change materials

1. Introduction

Faced with growing shortage of conventional resources and the threat of environmental pollution, an increasing
interest has been concentrated on utilization of solar energy during the last few decades [1,2]. Cold production
through absorption cycles has been traditionally considered one of the most desirable applications for solar thermal

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 10 8233 9617; fax: +86 10 8233 9528.
E-mail address: zhangxingjuan@buaa.edu.cn

1877-7058 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of ISHVAC-COBEE 2015
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.1078
350 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356

energy. Single-effect LiBrH2O absorption system is especially attractive for the advantage of being powered by
ordinary flat-plate or evacuated tubular solar collectors available in the market [3]. The total cost of the system is
also estimated to be the lowest [4]. Since 1970, a lot of works have been done by the researchers on the application
and the improvement of SARS.

Nomenclature

Q heatW
W powerW
m mass flow ratekg/s
h enthalpyJ/kg
t temperature qC
Subscripts
1,2,3 status points as defined in Fig. 2
evap evaporator
cond condenser
gen generator
abs absorber

SARS have been proven to be practicable around the world. Syed [5] tested a part load solar energized cooling
system for typical Spanish houses in Madrid during the summer period of 2003. With 49.9 m2 array of flat-plate
collectors, the cooling was provided for 8.67 h and the maximum cooling capacity was 7.5 kW. The measured
maximum instantaneous, daily average and period average coefficient of performance COPwere 0.60, 0.42 and
0.34, respectively. Based on a meteorological year data of Tunis, Balghouthi [6] selected the components of the solar
system by simulations using TRNSYS and EES. Results show that the optimized system for a typical building of
150m2 is composed of a 11Kw water lithium bromide absorption chiller, a 30m2 flat plate solar collector area tilted
35 from the horizontal and a 0.8m3 hot water storage tank. Ozgoren [7] investigated the hourly performance
investigation of SARS with evacuated tube collector and ammonia-water solution. According to the obtained results,
the SARS is considerably suitable for home/office-cooling purposes between the hours 09:00 and 16:00 in the
southern region of Turkey such as Adana province. Evacuated tube collector area for a 3.5 kW cooling load capacity
is found to be 35.95 m2 for the region at 16:00 whereas it is 19.85 m2 at 12:00. Simulation and experimental
investigation of SARS in Reunion Island by Praene [8] also approve its feasibility.
SARS is a promising substitute for vapor compression refrigeration system, but there are also many shortcomings
still need to be further improved. Some professionals devoted themselves to the improvement of existing working
fluids or the new ones. Abdulateef [9] developed a computer simulation model to predict the performance of SARS
using different working fluid. The results show that the ammonia-lithium nitrate and ammonia-sodium thiocyanate
cycles give better performance than the ammonia-water cycle. Since solar energy is a low-grade energy, some
professionals studied on the improvement of its quality. Ahachad [10] proposed a two-stage vapor absorption system
by using an absorption circle as a heat pump system to drive the absorption refrigeration system. Experiments
confirmed that solar energy was improved since the system can operate at lower heat source temperatures by using
flat-plate collector. The idea which introduced heat pump system into the SARS was put forward by our earlier
research [11] to improve the solar energy application grade. Whether the sun radiation intensity is high (0.8 kW/m2)
or low (0.2 kW/m2), the cooling capacity of HPSARS is superior to SARS which could not provide refrigeration
during low radiation time. Sustainable cooling technologies of SARS also attract many scholars. Solar energy can be
stored by the form of sensible heat, latent heat, reaction heat, or combination style. Zalba [12], Sharma [13] and
Chidambaram [14] have summarized the progress of thermal energy storage technology with PCM.
Based on above mentioned research and analysis, a heat storage system will be added into our earlier system to
realize the all-day operating of the cooling system. Latent heat system with PCM is selected for heat storage due to
the advantages of its high heat storage density, small size of the system and narrow temperature change. Figure 1
shows the difference of structures between HPSARS and PCHS-HPSARS.
 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356 351

HPSARS PCHS-HPSARS

Fig. 1. Structures of HPSARS and PCHS-HPSARS.

2. Methods

2.1. Description of the PCHS-HPSARS

Figure 2 shows the schematic of PCHS-HPSARS. It consists of five parts: solar collecting system (SCS), heat
storage system (HSS), heat pump system (HPS), absorption refrigeration system (ARS) and heat-exchange pipe
systems (HEPS).The SCS is mainly composed of the collector and variable-speed pump 1. The HSS mainly includes
the heat storage tank. The HPS mainly contains the compressor, condenser 1, throttling valve 1, and evaporator 1.
The ARS mainly covers the condenser 2, throttling valve 3, evaporator 2, absorber, solution pump, solution heat
exchanger, generator, throttling valve 2, and cooling system. The HEPS are used to deliver heat between systems.
Numbers 1, 2, 3 stands for the status points of each system of PCHS-HPSARS.
The working process of PCHS-HPSARS is as follows: (1) In the SCS, the working fluid (water) receives heat
from the collector and then enters into the heat storage tank. The cooled water then back into the collector to
complete a cycle. Therefore, the heat gathered by the collector is stored in the heat storage system. (2) The stored
energy is transferred from the HSS to the HPS through the HEPS 1.In the HPS, the refrigerant (R134a) is cycled
among the parts of the compressor, condenser 1, throttling valve 1, and evaporator 1.The low-grade energy is
promoted to a high-grade energy by the completion of the cycle. (3) The HEPS2 delivers the heat from condenser 1
to the generator to ensure the normal operation of the ARS (LiBr-H2O).
352 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356

Collector

1HEPS2
3HEPS2
Condenser 1 1SCS
Variable-speed Variable-speed
pump 3 pump 1
2SCS
3HPS 2HPS 3SCS
Throttling
valve 1

4HPS 1HPS Compressor

2HEPS2
Heat
2HEPS1 1HEPS1 storage
tank
Evaporator 1
Generator
Variable-speed
pump 2 3HEPS1

Chilled water outlet

4ARS
3ARS 7ARS 8ARS
Solution heat
exchanger 2ARS
Condenser 2
5ARS
Solution Throttling
Throttling valve 3
pump
valve 2
1ARS
6ARS 10ARS 9ARS

Absorber Evaporator 2
Air/water inlet Air/water outlet
Chilled water inlet

Fig. 2. The schematic of PCHS-HPSARS.

2.2. Thermodynamic models

Supposing the heat is fully exchanged and there is no heat dissipation during the working process, the steady-
state thermodynamic analysis model of each subsystem is briefly described as follows:
Main equations for the SCS are as follows [15,16]:

Q uc / A I S uK SCS (1)

Where Q uc is the output useful power of the collector, W; A is the lighting area of the collector, m2; I S is the
solar intensity, W/m2; K SCS is the efficiency of the collector.

(t1SCS - ta )
K SCS M -N (2)
IS

Where M and N are the inherent characters of collector; t a is the ambient temperature,
Main equations for the HSS are as follows:
 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356 353

Q in Q uc (3)
Q out Q evap1 (4)

Q in t Q out (5)

The HSS bridge the gap between the SCS and the HPS. Q in and Q out are the amounts of inflow heat and outflow
heat of the HSS respectively, W. Equation (5) shows that the inflow heat of the HSS must outnumber the outflow
heat of the HSS at any period of time.
The amounts of heat exchanged in the HPS and the ARS are calculated by routine methods. Detailed description
of the equations could be found in reference [17,18], so we won't cover those again.

2.3. Calculation conditions

In order to analyze the performance of the new system quantitatively, the calculation conditions are defined as
follows: (1) A type of double glass cover flat-plate is selected, for M is 0.74 and N is 5.0 [19]. The collection area is
set to be 100m2. (2) Typical meteorological data in summer for the city of Nanjing (subtropical climate) [19] are
used to analyze the system. Figure 3 shows the curve of the solar radiation intensities changing with daytime. The
ambient temperature is assumed to be 25 during 8:0017:00 and the solar radiation intensities during 18:00
7:00 (next day) are too low to neglect. (3) The PTT of the PCM in heat storage tank is set to be 65. During the
melting and the solidifying process, the temperature of the heat storage tank is considered to be constant. (4) In the
HPS, the efficiency of the compressor is 0.63. The evaporation temperature is set to be 60 and the condensation
temperature is set to 93. (5) The evaporation temperature of the ARS is 10. (6) Supposing the heat is fully
exchanged and there is no heat dissipation during the working process. (7) All the calculations are based on the
utilization of solar energy, that is to say, the system operation will stop when all forms of solar energy is used up.

Fig. 3. Curve between the solar radiation intensities and daytime in Nanjing.
354 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356

3. Results

3.1. Cooling capacity of the PCHS-HPSARS

Through the abovementioned thermodynamic model and the solar radiation intensities curve, the output useful
power of the collector at different times could be calculated, that is, the amount of inflow heat of the HSS. The total
inflow heat is obtained to be 902MJ a day by integration method. Using all the inflow heat for refrigeration, PCHS-
HPSARS can achieve the cooling capacity of 9.0kW throughout the day.

Fig. 4. Curve between the instant inflow heat /outflow heat of the HSS and daytime.

The curve of the instant inflow heat (Qin) and the instant outflow (Qout) heat of the HSS changing with daytime is
shown in Figure 4. The inflow heat is greater than the outflow heat during 9:0017:00, which behave as heat
storage. The inflow heat is less than the outflow heat during 18:007:00 (next day), which behave as heat release.
The HSS plays a role in laying up heat in high solar radiation and then dissipating the heat in low or no solar
radiation.

3.2. Comparison among SARS, HPSARS and PCHS-HPSARS

The input energy and the output energy are major measures for the assessment of a cooling system. In order to
evaluate the economic performance of PCHS-HPSARS, the input work (W) and the cooling capacity (Qevap2) are
chosen as important parameters for the comparison among SARS, HPSARS and PCHS-HPSARS under different
solar radiations in a day.

Table 1. Results among different system.

High solar radiation Low solar radiation None solar radiation
System 0.8kW/m2 0.2kW/m2 0kW/m2
WkW Qevap2kW WkW Qevap2kW WkW Qevap2kW
SARS 0 23.5 0 0 0 0
HPSARS 11.3 39 7.0 12.8 0 0
HEHPSARS 2.8 9.0 2.8 9.0 2.8 9.0
 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356 355

From Table 1 we can see that, SARS performs better than the other two systems under high solar radiation, since
it can produce 23.5kW cooling capacity without any power consumption. In this case, the output-input ratio of
PCHS-HPSARS is 3.21, approximately equals the output-input ratio of HPSARS. The output-input ratio represents
the ratio of input work to cooling capacity. When under low solar radiation or none solar radiation condition, PCHS-
HPSARS shows absolute advantage, since it can maintain the cooling capacity at 9.0 kW and the output-input ratio
at 3.21 while SARS is unable to provide cooling. Although HPSARS can also provide cooling under low solar
radiation, the output-input ratio drops rapidly to 1.83.

3.3. Influence of the PTT of PCM

The inlet temperature of the collector and the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 1 are directly determined
by the PTT of PCM in the HSS, and then the performance of the SCS and the HPS are also influenced. Figure 5
shows the influence for the temperature of the heat storage tank (50~70) in the HSS on the input work and the
cooling capacity of PCHS-HPSARS (100m2) .

Fig. 5. The influence curves.

Both of the input work (W) and the cooling capacity (Qevap2) reduce as the tHST in the heat storage system rises.
This is because a rise on the PTT leads to a rise on inlet temperature of the collector which will reduce the collector
efficiency according to Equation (2). The collector gathers less energy so that the amount of available energy
reduces. Meanwhile, a rise on the PTT leads to a rise on the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 1 which will
improve the performance of the HPS according to the reference [17]. Therefore, the decline is more pronounced for
the input work seen from Figure 5. The influence of the tHST is complex and the selection of the PTT should be
carefully considered connecting with the practical application.

4. DISCUSSION

Through analysis mentioned above, we can see that PCHS-HPSARS can reach a good cooling effect as well as a
higher output-input ratio under different conditions compared to SARS and HPSARS, especially when there is no
solar radiation. Yet, the system performance is relatively low for large-scale applications.
This study makes a significant contribution to the further development of SARS. Follow-up research works may
focus on the improvement of the system performance.
356 Hui Li et al. / Procedia Engineering 121 (2015) 349 356

5. CONCLUSIONS

PCHS-HPSARS is an integrated solution to improve the solar energy application grade as well as derive the
cooling capacity throughout the day, even in non-solar radiation conditions.
With 100m2 collector area, PCHS-HPSARS can provide 9kW cooling capacity throughout the day under the
given conditions. Quantitative analysis shows that selection of the PTT should be carefully considered connecting
with the practical application.

References

[1] S. Ajib, W. Gnther, Solar thermally driven cooling systems: Some investigation results and perspectives. Energy Conversion and
Management. 65(2013) 663-669.
[2] K.F. Fong, T.T. Chow, C.K. Lee, Z. Lin, L.S. Chan, Comparative study of different solar cooling systems for buildings in subtropical city.
Solar Energy. 84(2010) 227-244.
[3] X.Q. Zhai, M. Qu, Y. Li, R.Z. Wang, A review for research and new design options of solar absorption cooling systems. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews. 15(2011) 4416-4423.
[4] D.S. Kim, C.A.I.Ferreira, Solar refrigeration optionsa state-of-the-art review. International Journal of Refrigeration. 31(2008) 3-15.
[5] A. Syed, M. Izquierdo, P. Rodrguez, G. Maidment, J. Missenden, A. Lecuona, R. Tozer, A novel experimental investigation of a solar
cooling system in Madrid. International Journal of Refrigeration. 28(2005) 859-871.
[6] M. Balghouthi, M.H. Chahbani, A. Guizani, Feasibility of solar absorption air conditioning in Tunisia. Building and Environment. 43(2008)
1459-1470.
[7] M. Ozgoren, M. Bilgili, O.Babayigit, Hourly performance prediction of ammoniawater solar absorption refrigeration. Applied Thermal
Engineering. 40(2012) 80-90.
[8] J.P. Praene, O. Marc, F. Lucas, F. Miranville, Simulation and experimental investigation of solar absorption cooling system in Reunion Island.
Applied Energy. 88(2011) 831-839.
[9] J.M. Abdulateef, K. Sopian, M.A. Alghoul, M.Y. Sulaiman, Solar absorption refrigeration system using new working fluid pairs. International
Journal of Energy. 1(2007) 82-87.
[10] M. Ahachad, M. Charia, A. Bernatchou, Solar absorption heat transformer applications to absorption refrigerating machines. International
Journal of Energy Research. 17(1993) 719-726.
[11] X.J. Zhang, B.J. Song, Q.Y. Bai, C.X. Yang, Performance analysis on a new type of solar air conditioning system. Energy and Buildings.
60(2013) 280-285.
[12] B. Zalba, J.M. 0DUQL.F. Cabeza, H. Mehling, Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and
applications. Applied Thermal Engineering. 23(2003) 251-283.
[13] A. Sharma, V.V. Tyagi, C.R. Chen, D. Buddhi, Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 13(2009) 318-345.
[14] L.A. Chidambaram, A.S. Ramana, G. Kamaraj, R. Velraj, Review of solar cooling methods and thermal storage options. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews.15(2011) 3220- 3228.
[15] D. Chen, J.H. Xie, Heat Pump and Hot Water Installations. Chemical Industry Press, China, 2009, 20-34. (in Chinese)
[16] Q. Tian, Y.F. Zhang, X.Y. Li, N. Deng, Applicability analysis on solar collectors for air conditions. Heating Ventilating and Air
Conditioning. 02(2005) 89-92. (in Chinese)
[17] A.C. Yunus, A.B. Michael, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, sixth ed.,McGraw-Hill, New York, 2008,623-L661.
[18] D. Ibrahim, K. Mehmet, Refrigeration Systems and Applications, second ed. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 2010, 184-188.
[19] Y.J. Luo, Z.N. He, C.G. Wang, Solar Energy Technologies, Chemical Industry Press, China, 2005, 33-55. (in Chinese)