Assessment of Energy, Environmental and Economic Performance of a Solar Desiccant Cooling System with Different Collector Types †

Energies

Giovanni Angrisani¹  Carlo Roselli²  Maurizio Sasso²  Francesco Tariello² 

[1] Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi del Sannio, Piazza Roma 21, 82100 Benevento, Italy;

关键词: desiccant cooling;    solar energy;    energy;    environmental and economic analysis;    simulation model;    collector types;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en7106741

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Desiccant-based air handling units can achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy savings with respect to conventional air conditioning systems. Benefits are maximized when they interact with renewable energy technologies, such as solar collectors. In this work, experimental tests and data derived from scientific and technical literature are used to implement a model of a solar desiccant cooling system, considering three different collector technologies (air, flat-plate and evacuated collectors). Simulations were then performed to compare the energy, environmental and economic performance of the system with those of a desiccant-based unit where regeneration thermal energy is supplied by a natural gas boiler, and with those of a conventional air-handling unit. The only solution that allows achieving the economic feasibility of the solar desiccant cooling unit consists of 16 m² of evacuated solar collectors. This is able to obtain, with respect to the reference system, a reduction of primary energy consumption and of the equivalent CO₂ emissions of 50.2% and 49.8%, respectively, but with a payback time of 20 years.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.