Design and Energy Analysis of a Solar Desiccant Evaporative Cooling System with Built-In Daily Energy Storage
Fahid Riaz,
Muhammad Abdul Qyyum,
Awais Bokhari,
Jiří Jaromír Klemeš,
Muhammad Usman,
Muhammad Asim,
Muhammad Rizwan Awan,
Muhammad Imran,
Moonyong Lee
Affiliations
Fahid Riaz
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117575, Singapore
Muhammad Abdul Qyyum
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Awais Bokhari
Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory–SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology–VUT Brno, Technická 2896/2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic
Jiří Jaromír Klemeš
Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory–SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology–VUT Brno, Technická 2896/2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic
Muhammad Usman
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Asim
Research Centre for Green Energy, Transport and Building (RCGETB), School of Professional Education and Executive Development, College of Professional & Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon 100077, Hong Kong
Muhammad Rizwan Awan
Department of Mechanical, Hydraulics and Aeronautics, Universitat Politechnicia De Catalunya (UPC), 08800 Barcelona, Spain
Muhammad Imran
School of Mechanical, Biomedical and Design Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Moonyong Lee
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea
Heat storage with thermochemical (TC) materials is a promising technology for solar energy storage. In this paper, a solar-driven desiccant evaporative cooling (DEC) system for air-conditioning is proposed, which converts solar heat energy into cooling with built-in daily storage. The system utilises thermochemical heat storage along with the DEC technology in a unique way. Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2·6H2O) has been used, which serves as both a desiccant and a thermochemical heat storage medium. The system has been designed for the subtropical climate of Lahore, Pakistan, for a bedroom with 8 h of cooling requirements during the night. MATLAB has been employed for modelling the system. The simulation results show that 57 kg of magnesium chloride is sufficient to meet 98.8% of cooling demand for the entire month of July at an elevated cooling requirement. It was found that the cooling output of the system increased with increasing heat exchanger effectiveness. The heat exchangers’ effectiveness was increased from 0.7 to 0.8, with the solar fraction increased from 70.4% to 82.44%. The cooled air supplied to the building meets the fresh air requirements for proper ventilation.
