A hybrid solid desiccant cooling system (SDCS), which combines a solid desiccant system and a vapor compression system, is considered to be an excellent alternative for commercial and residential air conditioning systems. In this study, a solar-assisted hybrid SDCS system was developed in which solar-heated water is used as an additional heat source for the regeneration process, in addition to recovering heat from the condenser of an integrated heat pump. A solar thermal collector sub-system is used to generate solar regeneration water. Experiments were conducted in the typically hot and humid weather of Taichung, Taiwan, from the spring to fall seasons. The experimental results show that the overall performance of the system in terms of power consumption can be enhanced by approximately 10% by integrating a solar-heated water heat exchanger in comparison to the hybrid SDCS system. The results show that the system performs better when the outdoor humidity ratio is large. In addition, regarding the effect of ambient temperature on the coefficient of performance (COP) of the systems, a critical value of outdoor temperature exists. The COP of the systems gradually rises with the increase in ambient temperature. However, when the ambient temperature is greater than the critical value, the COP gradually decreases with the increase in ambient temperature. The critical outdoor temperature of the hybrid SDCS is from 26 °C to 27 °C, and the critical temperature of the solar-assisted hybrid SDCS is from 27 °C to 30 °C.

This study investigated the ambient environmental temperature effect on the positioning accuracy of a periodically-moving carrier. The moving carrier was operated in an environmental chamber in which the operational temperature could be controlled by an air conditioning system. Different operational temperature modes, including a stable environment, a rise in temperature, a decline in temperature, summer daytime hours, and winter nighttime hours in terms of seasonal climate change in Taiwan, were generated within the environmental chamber by an air conditioning system to investigate the operational temperature's effect on positioning accuracy. From the experimental measurements of a periodically-moving carrier, it is found that the operational temperature conditions can significantly affect the positioning accuracy of the moving carrier, especially in the case of an operational temperature decline. Under stable operational conditions, the positioning accuracy of the moving carrier can be considerably improved. In comparison to the case of an operational temperature decline, the positioning accuracy improvement can reach 29.6%. Moreover, the effect of the temperature distributions within the chamber on the positioning accuracy was further investigated. It was found that, with a parallel flow pattern in the chamber, the positioning accuracy can be further enhanced.

This study investigated the performance of a single-stage scroll compressed air source heat pump coupled with a flash tank indirect vapor injection. In the refrigerant circulating piping of the heat pump, an indirect vapor injection piping connecting a flash tank at the refrigerant outlet of a condenser and the suction of a scroll compressor was designed. By the indirect refrigerant vapor injection from the flash tank, the saturation pressure and temperature of the refrigerant (R134a) in the evaporator can be raised and the sub-cooling of the refrigerant at the inlet of expansion valve can be enlarged as well. Thus, energy consumption of the compressor can be reduced and cooling capacity of the evaporator can be boosted. It was found that the suitable amount of indirect vapor refrigerant strongly depends on the operational environmental temperatures. By adjusting the suitable indirect vapor injection volume into the compressor, the performance of the heat pump was enhanced. In this study, a suitable indirect vapor injection volume was found and 5~15% performance increments can be obtained while the heat pump operated under ambient temperatures in a range from 5°C to 35°C.

This study developed a heat recovery air conditioner to supply on-demand air conditioning and reclaim waste heat during operation. In addition to the conventional refrigerant pipe, a plate heat exchanger was designed and connected in parallel to the condenser and evaporator. While refrigerant with high pressure and high temperature flows through the plate heat exchanger, the refrigerant flow is cooled down and condensed by cooling water from a water tank, and condensation heat in the exchanger is absorbed by the cooling water and stored in the water tank. In this study, solenoid valves were installed in the pipe to regulate the refrigerant volume in parallel connected pipes based on the tank water temperature by duty control logic. This multi-function heat recovery air conditioner has various operation modes. In summer, the air conditioner not only provides on-demand cooled air to air-conditioned rooms but also reclaims waste condensation heat through the plate heat exchanger. In winter, the air conditioner supplies on-demand heated air to indoor spaces and heats the water tank by simultaneously reclaiming waste condensation heat. According to an experimental operation test, the value of average water heating efficiency (COP h) of this air conditioner can reach 3.77 in the summer operating mode and 1.91 in the winter operating mode.