MODELING, SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF A SOLAR SYSTEM FOR WATER HEATING AND ABSORPTION COOLING

摘要

A cogeneration system consisting of a solar concentrator, a cavity-type receiver, a gas burner, a thermal storage reservoir, a hot water heat exchanger, and an absorption refrigerator is devised to simultaneously produce heat (hot water) and cooling (cold chamber). A simplified mathematical model, which combines fundamental and empirical correlations, and principles of classical thermodynamics, mass and heat transfer, is developed. The proposed model is then utilized to simulate numerically the system transient and steady state response under different operating and design conditions. A system global optimization for maximum performance in the search for minimum pull-down and pull-up times is performed with low computational time. Appropriate dimensionless groups are identified and the results presented in normalized charts for general application. The minimum pull-down and pull-up times, found with respect to the optimized operating parameters arc sharp and, therefore important to be considered in actual design. As a result, the model is expected to be a useful tool for simulation, design, and optimization of solar energy systems of the type presented in this work.