Investigation on hourly characteristics of solar absorption refrigeration cycle integrated with a dual-cooling grade-compression cycle.

Solar absorption refrigeration cycle consumes almost no electricity, but its low refrigeration efficiency and intermittent operation issues need addressing. Based on the viewpoint of cold energy grade production matching air-conditioning cooling load grade, a solar absorption refrigeration cycle integrated with a dual-cooling grade-compression cycle (SARC-DGC) is proposed to boost the solar utilization and achieve all-weather cooling, which includes solar absorption refrigeration (SAR) subsystem, subcooled water circulating (SWC) subsystem and dual-cooling grade-compression refrigeration (DGR) subsystem. The simulation models of proposed cycle are developed by lumped-parameter and distributed-parameter methods, and the simulation results are validated with experimental results. The hourly characteristics of SARC-DGC cycle on a typical day are evaluated and compared with those of the conventional solar absorption refrigeration (SAR) cycle and air-cooled compression refrigeration (ACR) cycle. The results show that the hourly cooling performance of SARC-DGC cycle is well matched with the building cooling load demand, so as to realize the cold energy grade production and utilization. The working hours of SAR subsystem are 42.86 % longer than that of conventional SAR cycle, with a 31.92 % increase in daily cooling capacity, while the daily power consumption of the proposed cycle is on average 27.31 % lower than that of conventional ACR cycle. • Solar refrigeration absorption cycle with grade-compression cycle is proposed. • Simulation models for performance of proposed cycle are developed and validated. • Hourly cooling performance of the cycle is well matched with cooling load demand. • Performances of novel cycle are superior to absorption or compression cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]