Simulation of Solar Air-Conditioning System with Salinity Gradient Solar Pond

In hot dry climates, due to the high demand for space air conditioning during summer and the abundance of solar radiation, solar air conditioning is a promising approach to reduce the energy consumption and negative environmental impact of buildings. Solar cooling systems have used various types of collectors to drive chillers. In this paper, a salinity gradient solar pond is suggested as a collector to drive an absorption chiller, to provide cool air for a house during hot and dry weather. A coupled simulation between MATLAB and TRNSYS has been used to solve the problem. MATLAB code was written to solve the governing equations for the salinity gradient solar pond and the ground underneath it. TRNSYS software was used to model the solar cooling system including the absorption chiller and building. The weather data used was for Baghdad in Iraq. It was found that the salinity gradient solar pond could be used to drive the absorption chiller and produce cool air for a single family house during the summer period. Different solar pond areas were tested with the same chiller capacity. It was found that a solar pond area of approximately 400 m2 was required to provide satisfactory cooling for a typical house with a floor area of approximately 125 m2.