Feasibility study of a new solar based trigeneration system for fresh water, cooling, and electricity production

The utilization of solar energy to generate electricity, cooling, and freshwater in remote areas in a sustainable way still poses lots of challenges to researchers. The aim of the current study is to design a new solar-operated trigeneration system to produce electricity, cooling, and fresh water using parabolic trough collectors in remote areas. Electric power is generated by using Organic Rankine Cycle, and cooling and fresh water (using freezing desalination technique) are obtained by two-stage NH3-H2O vapor absorption system run by solar energy. Simulation results show that for PTC arrays of 200 m(2), an electrical output obtained is 3.3 kW, cooling rate is 20.4 kW, and mass flow rate of freshwater produced is 36 kg/h for an average solar irradiation of 0.7 kW/m(2). Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is conducted by varying the parameter like solar irradiation, evaporator temperature, seawater inlet temperature, etc. and their effect on performance characteristics of the overall setup is investigated.