Thermal analysis of a solar-powered absorption air-conditioning system: Case study for a tent in Mina zone, Saudi Arabia

The present study used a TRNSYS simulation for solar cooling with cold energy storage. It was applied to a tent hypothetically located in Mina zone, KSA, where millions of pilgrims stay in tents for a few days once a year. The required cooling demand was calculated for a tent that can be occupied by 150 pilgrims for 7 days representing Makkah climatic region. The system consisted of a solar thermal system, absorption cooling chiller matched with a cooling tower, storage tank, and fan coil units. The results show that the required cooling capacity for the tent is about 70 kW (20 tons refrigeration) to keep the zone air temperature at 24 °C during summer days where the cooling demand for the tent for 7 days in June is around 8,850 kWh. In addition, the effect of a cold-water storage on the system performance was studied. Using a chilled water tank of 500 m3 will reduce the absorption chiller capacity from 20 tons to 4.7 ton. Moreover, a PV system was designed to cover the electrical load of the considered absorption system with performance ratio of 70%.