Simulation results of a high-temperature solar-cooling system with different control strategies

High-temperature absorption chillers (double-effect and triple-effect) have a higher coefficient of performance (COP) than single-effect chillers. This can reduce the collector's footprint and cost in a solar-cooling plant. Though single-effect, absorption chiller-based solar-cooling systems have been studied for the past 20 years, very little information is available on the performance benefits of high-temperature solar-cooling systems. The behaviour of a solar-driven, triple-effect absorption chiller with thermal storage, when serving an office building load, have been analysed in this paper. Characteristic equations for the triple effect chiller have been developed from their operating performance data. The effect of different control strategies and design parameters on the annual performance of the system have been captured in this paper. These results indicate that it is possible to achieve very high solar fractions (> 0.9) by choosing the right size of system components and a suitable control strategy.