A NEW HVAC SYSTEM BASED ON COGENERATION BY AN IC ENGINE

A new HVAC system is proposed and studied. The plant is equipped with a reciprocating i.c. gas engine which produces electric energy with he at recovery from the jacket water heat and the exhaust. The electric e nergy serves the lighting and emf for the building and individual room reversible air-water heat pumps that mainly satisfy sensible cooling and a fraction of the winter heating load. An open-cycle absorption sy stem, which treats the primary air, meets the summer latent load and y ear round ventilation requirements. In winter, the system operates as an open-cycle heat pump. The regeneration of the sorbent is obtained b y the i.c. engine heat recovery. The proposed system is analysed by co mparing its performance with a traditional plant, both in summer and w inter mode. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd