Simulation Study of Solar Assisted Absorption Cooling System using Flat Plate Collectors at Erbil City-Iraq

Abstract

Solar energy can be used for cooling spaces when it is coupled with an air conditioning system. In this study, solar flat plate collector system supported by absorption cooling system was modeled and simulated using TRNSYS 16. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the ability of an existing thermal solar flat plate collector system to run an absorption chiller during summer time in Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq. First the simulation model (TRNSYS 16) results were verified with the solar thermal heating system installed in the Research Center of Solar Energy at Erbil Polytechnic University. The existing solar heating system consists of 10 flat plate solar collectors, each of 2 m2 surface area, 1 m3 storage tank, heat exchangers, 3 fan coils and pumps. The flat plate collector system is used to run a 4.7 kW water lithium bromide absorption chiller. The system is provided with 10 kW external auxiliary heaters from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM during summer. The results reveal that, during July and August, the flat plate collector system can supply hot water without using auxiliary heater to the generator when the set point temperature of the auxiliary heater was at the lowest range (80 °C). The proposed system can save up to 2926.61 kWh electricity consumption while operating in July and August.