Assessment of desiccant assisted compression and absorption based air-conditioning systems for hot-dry and composite climates

Abstract

Air-conditioning inside residential and commercial buildings shows considerable amount of energy consumption among other energy consuming components. The present study is aimed at discussing the performance of desiccant integrated air-conditioning systems using solar energy and biomass resources through EnergyPlus simulations. Validations of the selected building and system are done with codes and standards available in the literature. Conventionally available high grade electricity is used as an auxiliary source. In this work, the study is carried out for hot-dry and composite climates using desiccant and indirect evaporative cooling assisted compression and absorption based air-conditioning systems. Performance parameters in terms of heat energy, electricity consumption and the coefficient of performance are studied. From the simulation results, it is envisaged that absorption-based air-conditioning system possesses more electricity saving potential than compression-based system for achieving the same thermal comfort condition. It is found that, as compared to compression-based system, 46.57% and 46.14% electricity savings can be acquired using absorption-based technology for hot-dry and composite climates, respectively.