University of the Punjab Conference Portal, Third International Conference on Engineering Sciences

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Solar Powered Air Conditioning for Green and Energy Efficient Buildings
Muhammad Mujahid Rafique, Muhammad Khalil Anwar, Muhammad Ali Shakir, Imran Zahid

Last modified: 2017-11-06

Abstract


The increase in population, technology advancement, and living standards has significantly increased the energy demand for cooling devices in last few decades. Almost 15% of world's total energy is consumed by air conditioning systems. The cooling needs for thermal comfort and sunshine follow the same pattern. The demand of air conditioning is higher in summer because sun shines with higher intensity; what if this intensity of sun can be used as an input source of energy for a cooling device? In this research work, the issues related to conventional air conditioning technology are addressed using a new technology called as desiccant based evaporative cooling. This technology is a combination of a desiccant dehumidifier and evaporative cooler. The only energy used in this system is to drive the fans, water pump, and to regenerate the desiccant dehumidifier. The required energy can be provided using solar thermal collector for desiccant dehumidifier and photovoltaic modules to drive the fans and water pump according to the load requirements. The desiccant dehumidifier controls the latent load whereas; evaporative cooler controls the sensible load.  Heat recovery medium is used to make the system more energy efficient. For the continuous operation of the system, the regeneration air is heated up to the required regeneration temperature using a solar thermal collector to regenerate the desiccant dehumidifier. The load demand and sunshine follows the same profile which makes this system an effective alternative to conventional air conditioning system.