Optimization model of solar cooling system with latent heat storage

Abstract

Today, the fastest growing end-use in the buildings sector is cooling demand, notes the International Energy Agency (IEA). In the last few years, the interest in solar cooling systems has been growing globally. Solar cooling systems are the next solution to meet the growing demand for air conditioning. The literature analysis shows that solar cooling systems mainly use single-stage absorption chillers, with water as the working fluid, and only a small fraction of them use phase change materials to improve heat storage. Based on previous studies on solar-assisted cooling systems, the use of phase change materials for thermal storage should be investigated.The paper will present a study of a solar cooling system with the optimized PCM thermal storage, with the aim of stabilizing the operation of heat storage, taking into account the volatility of solar energy, the impact of short-term operations and peak hours on the amount of heat produced. This means that the amount of electricity consumed to heat up the accumulation tank will be significantly reduced. The optimization model in simulation software will be performed to test solar cooling system with latent heat storage, with aim to investigate the efficiency of the developed latent energy storage and provide technical guidance for the implementation of such system in the practice. All indicators, including environmental impact and economic calculations, will be identified in order to determinate the specific systems for foresight market uptake.

Performance Improvement of a Solar-Assisted Absorption Cooling System Integrated with Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage

“…LHTES technology holds significant value in various renewable energy applications, including electricity "peak shaving" and promoting energy efficiency in industrial and civil buildings, among other areas [20,21]. The LHTES integration into the existing solar cooling system can reduce the energy consumption and increase the system coefficient of performance (COP) [22,23] The study is based on previous studies [24][25][26][27], and the main aim of this work is to improve the efficiency of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) by proposing the different PCM tank configurations. Different types of phase change materials were selected and tested to determine their suitability for solar absorption cooling systems.…”

Performance Improvement of a Solar Assisted Absorption Cooling System Integrated with Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage

“…LHTES technology holds significant value in various renewable energy applications, including electricity "peak shaving" and promoting energy efficiency in industrial and civil buildings, among other areas [17], [18]. The LHTES integration into the existing solar cooling system can reduce the energy consumption and to increase the system coefficient of performance (COP) [19], [20] The study is based on previous authors studies [21]- [24] the main aim of the this work is to improve the efficiency of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) by proposing the different PCM tank configuration. The research was based on a dynamic simulation of a system in TRNSYS 18 software.…”