Energy and exergy performance of an integrated desiccant cooling system with photovoltaic/thermal using phase change material and maisotsenko cooler

Buildings account for high energy consumption worldwide, especially in humid areas, while the solar-assisted desiccant cooling system as a suitable alternative to the conventional vapor compression cooling systems is selected due to the low energy consumption and environmental protection. The present paper assessed the transient performance of a new solar desiccant air cooling system enhanced by phase change material (PCM) and Maisotsenko cooler. The photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) solar collector is applied as a heat source of the regeneration section, and the PCM of the solar system provides the required energy of the air cooling system in the nighttime as the main advantage of the proposed solar system. Simulation is done in a hot and humid climate. The system performance under different climate conditions is thermodynamically evaluated for a small office building. The effect of the Maisotsenko cycle is investigated on the provided thermal comfort. Moreover, five warm months (from June to October) are studied to perform the seasonal analysis and amongst them, for the analysis of the proposed system performance, August due to the largest cooling load is chosen. The maximum values obtained for the system with the value of COPth = 0.415, COPel= 16.27 and COPtot = 0.404. Besides, the maximum rate of exergies are obtained COPex,th = 1.3 COPex,el = 14.71 COPex, el = 1.03. According to the obtained data for the PVT-PCM system, the maximum energy and exergy efficiencies belongs to the solar system for August are eta(ex,th) = 5.4%, and eta(ex ,tot) = 19.71%, the highest hourly amount of primary regeneration heating under the solar system, is found in October from 10:00 to 6:00 because of the low building cooling load. The maximum electricity generation of PV module is in October at 12:00 about 0.77 kW and the minimum electrical efficiency of PV is in September at 14:00 about 13.6%. PCM utilization improves the thermal and electrical efficiency of the system that keeps the PV module temperature in constant value, absorbs the heat in sunshine time and releases in the nighttime.