Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles

Waste heat from Air Conditioning (AC) systems has long been neglected as a heat source for power generation. With the increasing AC demand worldwide, relevant technology development are urgently required. In this study, four different combined systems have been proposed for AC waste heat conversion....

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhanying Zheng, Jingyu Cao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-11-01
Series:Energy Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720317066
_version_ 1828941195593646080
author Zhanying Zheng
Jingyu Cao
author_facet Zhanying Zheng
Jingyu Cao
author_sort Zhanying Zheng
collection DOAJ
description Waste heat from Air Conditioning (AC) systems has long been neglected as a heat source for power generation. With the increasing AC demand worldwide, relevant technology development are urgently required. In this study, four different combined systems have been proposed for AC waste heat conversion. Power generation modules are based on organic Rankine cycle (ORC), organic flash cycle (OFC), Kalina cycle (KCS) and transcritical CO2 cycle (T-CO2), respectively. Each of the above is integrated with a basic AC cycle to establish a combined system. Modelling studies have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the systems and it is found that an ORC-based system has a higher system performance than others throughout the entire AC condensing temperature range considered, and it results in an overall COP enhancement between 15% and 30%. The exergy analysis shows that the relatively low performance of the KCS, OFC or T-CO2-based systems is due to the higher irreversibility in the evaporator. By replacing the ORC module with a dual-pressure ORC counterpart and installing a liquid-line/suction-line heat exchanger in the AC cycle, a further COP enhancement up to 15% is achieved. Preliminary economic analysis indicates that employment of the heat recovery module becomes viable as the system cooling capacity is over 1000 kW and a payback period less than 5 years is expected.
first_indexed 2024-12-14T03:32:31Z
format Article
id doaj.art-15105596271943b0b8fc19149b2d62a5
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2352-4847
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-14T03:32:31Z
publishDate 2020-11-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Energy Reports
spelling doaj.art-15105596271943b0b8fc19149b2d62a52022-12-21T23:18:43ZengElsevierEnergy Reports2352-48472020-11-01634723490Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cyclesZhanying Zheng0Jingyu Cao1Institute for Turbulence-Noise-Vibration Interaction and Control, Shenzhen Graduate School, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Correspondence to: C407, HITSZ, University Town, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, ChinaWaste heat from Air Conditioning (AC) systems has long been neglected as a heat source for power generation. With the increasing AC demand worldwide, relevant technology development are urgently required. In this study, four different combined systems have been proposed for AC waste heat conversion. Power generation modules are based on organic Rankine cycle (ORC), organic flash cycle (OFC), Kalina cycle (KCS) and transcritical CO2 cycle (T-CO2), respectively. Each of the above is integrated with a basic AC cycle to establish a combined system. Modelling studies have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the systems and it is found that an ORC-based system has a higher system performance than others throughout the entire AC condensing temperature range considered, and it results in an overall COP enhancement between 15% and 30%. The exergy analysis shows that the relatively low performance of the KCS, OFC or T-CO2-based systems is due to the higher irreversibility in the evaporator. By replacing the ORC module with a dual-pressure ORC counterpart and installing a liquid-line/suction-line heat exchanger in the AC cycle, a further COP enhancement up to 15% is achieved. Preliminary economic analysis indicates that employment of the heat recovery module becomes viable as the system cooling capacity is over 1000 kW and a payback period less than 5 years is expected.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720317066Air conditioningHeat recoveryOrganic Rankine cycle (ORC)Kalina cycle (KCS)Organic flash cycle (OFC)Transcritical CO2 cycle
spellingShingle Zhanying Zheng
Jingyu Cao
Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
Energy Reports
Air conditioning
Heat recovery
Organic Rankine cycle (ORC)
Kalina cycle (KCS)
Organic flash cycle (OFC)
Transcritical CO2 cycle
title Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
title_full Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
title_fullStr Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
title_full_unstemmed Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
title_short Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
title_sort thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of air conditioning waste heat recovery via power generation cycles
topic Air conditioning
Heat recovery
Organic Rankine cycle (ORC)
Kalina cycle (KCS)
Organic flash cycle (OFC)
Transcritical CO2 cycle
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720317066
work_keys_str_mv AT zhanyingzheng thermodynamicandfeasibilityanalysisofairconditioningwasteheatrecoveryviapowergenerationcycles
AT jingyucao thermodynamicandfeasibilityanalysisofairconditioningwasteheatrecoveryviapowergenerationcycles