Evaluation and Optimization of an Integrated Refrigeration and Dehumidification Process for Solar Energy Cascade Utilization Based on Exergy, Exergoeconomic, and Exergoenvironmental Analyses

Abstract

In this work, an innovative solar-powered integrated system coupling absorption refrigeration with liquid dehumidification is proposed. This system can effectively achieve the cascade utilization of solar energy. The exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental analyses are conducted to evaluate the techno-economics and environmental benefits of the proposed system. A parametric study is performed to determine the effect of air humidity, refrigeration temperature, and segment temperature on the total exergy destruction (ExḊ , total ), exergy efficiency (ε ex ), total exergoeconomic cost rate (R ̇total ), and total exergo-environmental impact rate (B ̇total ) of the system. Three objective functions, ε ex , R ̇total , and B ̇total are selected for multiobjective optimization (MOO). The results indicate that the ExḊ , total , ε ex , R ̇total , and B ̇total of the system are 516.584 kW, 43.176%, 59.171 $/h, and 2307.216 mPts/h, respectively. When the air humidity increases, the exergy efficiency, economy, and environmental benefits of the system all decrease. The increase in refrigeration temperature causes the ExḊ , total and B ̇total to increase by 9.85 and 5.02%, ε ex and R ̇total decreased by 11.42 and 3.03%. The system has a higher exergy efficiency at a higher segment temperature. According to the system MOO results, the optimal solutions for ε ex , R ̇total , and B ̇total are 44.88%, 57.24 $/h, and 2281.77 mPts/h, respectively. Among them, ε ex has increased by 3.80% compared to the original solution, and R ̇total and B ̇total have decreased by 3.26 and 1.10%, respectively. This work provides a reference scheme for the development and optimization of solar-integrated systems.