Analysis of the solar powered/fuel assisted Rankine cycle cooling system. Phase 1: Revision

The subject of this analysis is a solar cooling system which consists of a conventional open-compressor chiller, driven by a novel hybrid steam Rankine cycle. Steam is generated by the use of solar energy collected at about 100C, and it is then superheated to about 600C in a fossil-fuel fired superheater. The steam drives a novel counter-rotating turbine, some of the heat from it is regenerated, and it is then condensed. Thermal storage is implemented as an integral part of the cycle, by means of hot-water which is flashed to steam when needed for driving the turbine. For the solar energy input, both evacuated and double-glazed flat-plate collectors were considered. A comprehensive computer program was developed to analyze the operation and performance of the entire power/cooling system. Each component was described by a separate subroutine to compute its performance from basic principles, and special attention was given to the parasitic losses, including pumps, fans and pressure drops in the piping and heat exchangers, and to describe the off-design performance of the components. The thermophysical properties of the fluids used are also described in separate subroutines. Transient simulation of the entire system was performed on an hourly basis over a cooling season in two representative climatic regions (Washington, DC, and Phoenix, AZ) for a number of system configurations.