A solar air-cooled high efficiency absorption system in dry hot climates: Reduction of water consumption and environmental impact

Abstract

A solar cooling system with an optimized air-cooled double-effect water/LiBr ab-sorption machine is proposed as a sustainable alternative to meet cooling de-mands in dry hot climates. This system allows eliminating the cooling towers in those regions of the planet where water is scarce. This work analyses the envi-ronmental benefits of this air-cooled system, as well as its environmental foot-prints, compared to a solar water-cooled single effect. In this regard, a method-ology has been applied to calculate the annual saving in water consumption pro-duced in a case study: a hospital located in Almería, in South of Spain. Further-more,the reduction in energy consumption and CO2emissions is also quantified since this machine can be driven by solar energy and with higher efficiency than those of single effect.