The efficient operation of a solar cooling system strongly depends on the chiller behavior under part load conditions, since driving energy and cooling load are never constant. For this reason, the performance of a single stage, hot water driven 30 kW -absorption chiller employed in a solar cooling system with a field of evacuated tube collector has been analyzed under part load conditions with both simulations and experiments. A simulation model has been developed for the whole absorption chiller (Type Yazaki WFC-10), where all internal mass and energy balances are solved. The connection to the external heat reservoirs of hot, chilled, and cooling water is done by lumped and distributed UA values for the main heat exchangers. In addition to an analytical evaporator model—which is described in detail—experimental correlations for UA values have been used for the condenser, generator, and solution heat exchanger. For the absorber, a basic model based on the Nusselt theory has been employed. The evaporator model was developed, taking into account the distribution of refrigerant on the tube bundle, as well as the change in operation from a partially dry to an overflowing evaporator. A linear model is derived to calculate the wetted area. The influence of these effects on cooling capacity and coefficient of performance (COP) is calculated for three different combinations of hot and cooling water temperature. The comparison to experimental data shows a good agreement in the various operational modes of the evaporator. The model is able to predict the transition from partially dry to an overflowing evaporator quite well. The present deviations in the domain with high refrigerant overflow can be attributed to the simple absorber model and the linear wetted area model. Nevertheless, the results of this investigation can be used to improve control strategies for new and existing solar cooling systems.
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February 2010
Research Papers
Simulation and Experimental Analysis of a Solar Driven Absorption Chiller With Partially Wetted Evaporator
Jan Albers,
e-mail: jan.albers@tu-berlin.de
Jan Albers
Technische Universität Berlin
, Marchstraße 18, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
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Giovanni Nurzia,
Giovanni Nurzia
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
Università degli Studi di Bergamo
, Viale Marconi, 24044 Dalmine (BG), Italy
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Felix Ziegler
Felix Ziegler
Technische Universität Berlin
, Marchstraße 18, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
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Jan Albers
Technische Universität Berlin
, Marchstraße 18, D-10587 Berlin, Germanye-mail: jan.albers@tu-berlin.de
Giovanni Nurzia
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
Università degli Studi di Bergamo
, Viale Marconi, 24044 Dalmine (BG), Italy
Felix Ziegler
Technische Universität Berlin
, Marchstraße 18, D-10587 Berlin, GermanyJ. Sol. Energy Eng. Feb 2010, 132(1): 011016 (8 pages)
Published Online: January 11, 2010
Article history
Received:
August 17, 2008
Revised:
July 27, 2009
Published:
January 11, 2010
Citation
Albers, J., Nurzia, G., and Ziegler, F. (January 11, 2010). "Simulation and Experimental Analysis of a Solar Driven Absorption Chiller With Partially Wetted Evaporator." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. February 2010; 132(1): 011016. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4000331
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