Analysis on All-Day Operating Solar Absorption Refrigeration System with Heat Pump System

Solar energy in absorption refrigeration system (SARS) is widely used. However, solar energy is a low-grade and intermittent heat source. The idea which introduced heat pump system into SARS (HPSARS) was put forward by our earlier research to improve the solar energy application grade. In order to realize the all-day operating of HPSARS, phase change heat storage for HPSARS (PCHS-HPSARS) is proposed in this paper. The performance of PCHS-HPSARS with 100m2 collector area is analysed through thermodynamic calculations by using a typical meteorological data in summer for Nanjing. PCHS-HPSARS can provide 9 kW cooling capacity throughout the day. Compared with SARS and HPSARS, PCHS-HPSARS can reach a good cooling effect as well as a higher output-input ratio under different climate conditions, especially when there is no solar radiation. Results also show the influence of the phase transition temperature (PTT) of the phase change material (PCM) in the heat storage system.