PERFORMANCE PREDICTIONS OF SOLAR OPEN-CYCLE ABSORPTION AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS IN 3 CLIMATIC REGIONS

Open-cycle absorption air conditioning is a promising type of solar-dr iven cooling system. It addresses, in a significant way, the problems of high solar collector costs and power requirements that are inherent in other solar cooling systems. Previous open-cycle absorption modeli ng studies have been very limited and included only the solar collecti on part of the system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the p otential for use of this type of system in various climatic regions of the United States. The study examines this promising type of air cond itioning as a total system interacting dynamically with its environmen t. Mathematical analysis and computer simulation were used. System sim ulations were performed for three system design concepts. The Typical Meteorological Year data base for Miami, FL, Washington, D. C., and Ph oenix, AZ, were used to estimate system potential. The best performanc e predictions resulted in approximately 60 percent of the seasonal loa d being met by an open-cycle absorption system in Miami, 70 percent in Washington, and 99 percent in Phoenix.