An integrated system of water-cooled VRF and indirect evaporative chiller and its energy saving potential. (25th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Ke; Hao, Xiaoli; Lin, Yaolin; Xing, Qingwei; Tan, Hang; Hu, Jinhua; Liu, Xianping
• Is Part Of: Applied thermal engineering. Volume 194(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-25
• Subjects: Evaporative cooling -- VRF -- Simulation -- SEER -- Energy saving; Heat engineering -- Periodicals; Heating -- Equipment and supplies -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 621.40205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.117063
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-4311

Abstract

Highlights: An indirect evaporative cooling variable refrigerant flow system was proposed. A mathematical model of the proposed system was developed. The energy performance of the proposed system was evaluated. A very high seasonal energy efficiency ratio of 7.48 was found. It is suitable to be used in hot and semiarid climate regions. Abstract: Evaporative cooling is an energy efficient and environmentally friendly cooling technology and has been widely used for indoor air conditioning in hot and arid climate regions. In order to apply evaporative cooling technology to hot and semiarid climate regions, an integrated system, which combined indirect evaporative cooling and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) technologies, was proposed. In the proposed system, cold water produced by indirect evaporative chiller (IECh) is firstly used to cool the fresh air and then used as cooling water for a water-cooled VRF system. To investigate the feasibility and its energy saving potential of the proposed system in hot and semiarid climate regions, a mathematical model was developed and a simulation program was developed. The energy performance of the system during the cooling season is evaluated in a typical office building in Turpan of China. Results show that the proposed system has a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) of 7.48. Compared with conventional air-cooled VRF system, the proposed system can help to reduce energy consumption by approximately 35%. Therefore, it is feasible to apply the proposed system for indoor climate control in hot and semiarid climate regions with remarkable energy savings.