Solar assisted desiccant evaporative cooling system for office buildings in Iran: An annual simulation model

Abstract

In this research, the feasibility of solar assisted desiccant evaporative cooling system for office buildings was studied. An office building located in Chabahar, Iran, as a high cooling load demanding region, was considered as the case study. Different configurations as desiccant-based cooling systems were examined to determine the most appropriate configuration in terms of established indoor air conditions and required cooling energy. The configurations were simulated hourly, and the monthly mean values were determined. TRNSYS software was used for this purpose. The results indicated that the desiccant-based cooling system operating in the recirculation cycle with precooling Config. E has the potential to keep the indoor air conditions within the standard recommendations. In addition, it was shown that Config. E is the superior configuration in terms of the energy performance and can meet the cooling energy requirements of the space. The potential for providing the desiccant regeneration heat by the solar energy was also investigated. Three standard solar thermal panels were explored to propose the most proper array plant. The study showed that an array of solar panels, consisting of two rows of four unglazed solar thermal collectors, could meet the heat energy requirement by the regenerating process.