Advanced exergy analysis of an air conditioning system incorporating thermal energy storage

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) Vol. 77; pp. 945 - 952
• Main Authors: Mosaffa, A.H., Garousi Farshi, L., Infante Ferreira, C.A., Rosen, M.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Advanced exergy analysis; Air conditioning; Applied sciences; Building technical equipments; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Compressing; Cooling; Daytime; Destruction; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Environmental engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Exergy; Exergy destruction; Latent heat thermal energy storage; Peak load; Refrigeration; Thermal storage; Transport and storage of energy; Ventilation. Air conditioning; Advanced exergy analysis; Cooling; Exergy; Exergy destruction; Latent heat thermal energy storage; Air conditioning; PCM material; Latent heat storage; Exergy analysis; Buildings; Cooling system
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.10.006

Air conditioning incorporating thermal storage, in which the cooling capacity needed for air conditioning is produced during the nighttime when the demand for air conditioning is small and then utilized to satisfy peak loads during the daytime, has received much attention recently. In this work, an air conditioning system consisting of a combination of LHTS (latent heat thermal storage) and VCR (vapor compression refrigeration) is analyzed with advanced exergy analysis. The analysis is performed based on splitting the exergy destruction into endogenous/exogenous and unavoidable/avoidable parts. The results show that all of the exergy destruction of the LHTS unit is endogenous, which indicates that the total exergy destruction of the LHTS unit is due only to its irreversibilities.
•LHTS (latent heat thermal storage) is linked with vapor compression refrigeration.•Advanced exergy analysis is applied to air conditioning incorporating LHTS.•The proposed system can reduce electricity costs significantly.•Interconnections among components operating at day and night are investigated.