Dynamic Investigation of a Coupled Parabolic Trough Collector–Phase Change Material Tank for Solar Cooling Process in Arid Climates

Abdelhamid Ajbar, Bilal Lamrani () and Emad Ali ()
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Abdelhamid Ajbar: Chemical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Bilal Lamrani: Laboratoire MANAPSE, Faculté des Sciences, Université Mohammed V de Rabat, P.O. Box 1014, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Emad Ali: Chemical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-25

Abstract: The use of solar energy for cooling processes is advantageous for reducing the energy consumption of conventional air-conditioning systems and protecting the environment. In the present work, a solar-powered cooling system with parabolic trough collectors (PTC) and a phase change material (PCM) tank is numerically investigated in the arid climates of Saudi Arabia. The system contains a 160-kW double-effect absorption chiller powered by solar-heated pressurized water as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) and a shell and tube PCM as a thermal battery. The novelty of this paper is to investigate the feasibility and the potential of using a PTC solar field coupled to a PCM tank for cooling purposes in arid climates. The numerical method is adopted in this work, and a dynamic model is developed based on the lumped approach; it is validated using data from the literature. The functioning of the coupled system is investigated in both sunshine hours (charging period) and off-sunshine hours (discharging period). The PTC area in this work varies from 200 m 2 to 260 m 2 and the cooling capacity of the chiller ranges from 120 kW to 200 kW. Obtained results showed that the 160-kW chiller is fully driven by the 240 m 2 -solar PTC during the charging period and about 23% of solar thermal energy is stored in the PCM tank. It was demonstrated that increasing the PTC area from 220 m 2 to 260 m 2 leads to a reduction in the PCM charging time by up to 45%. In addition, it was found that an increase in the cooling loads from 120 kW to 200 kW induces a decrease in the stored thermal energy in the PCM tank from 450 kWh to 45 kWh. During the discharging period, the PCM tank can continue the cooling process with a stable delivered cooling power of 160 kW and an HTF temperature between 118 °C and 150 °C. The PCM tank used in the studied absorption chiller leads to a reduction of up to 30% in cooling energy consumption during off-sunshine hours.

Keywords: parabolic trough collector; double-effect absorption chiller; phase change material; solar-powered cooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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