Analysis of A Solar Assisted Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (SCCHP) System

This paper analyzes a solar assisted combined cooling, heating and power (SCCHP) system which supplies electricity, cooling and heat, with internal energy recovery and thermochemical upgrading. The proposed system consists of a chemically recuperated gas turbine cycle, an exhaust heat-driven absorption chiller and a heat exchanger, in which the reformer upgrades the absorbed turbine exhaust heat and solar heat into produced syngas chemical exergy. The system performance is analyzed and compared with a regular CCHP system without solar assistance, and a parameter sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the influence of the steam addition ratio. The system exhibits enhanced specific power generation and efficiency, and it saves depletable fossil fuel and commensurately reduces CO2 emissions. The system exergy efficiency reaches 37%; a fossil fuel saving of 30.4% is attainable with a solar thermal share of 26%; and the reduction of fossil fuel use and improved system performance result in a commensurate 33% reduction of CO2 emission as compared with the conventional CCHP system with the same technology but without solar assistance.