González-Lozano, Carlos A.

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solar assisted air conditioning systems
(2004) González-Lozano, Carlos A.; Beauchamp-Báez, Gerson; College of Engineering; González Cruz, Jorge E.; Vélez Reyes, Miguel; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Just, Frederick
This thesis investigates the problem of regulating the temperature of a conditioned space using a Solar Assisted Air Conditioning Systems (SAACS) prototype located at Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The SAACS Prototype consists of a 66 flat plate solar collector array with 115.4 m2 of selective surface area, a 35 kW single-effect lithium-bromide absorption chiller, a 84 kW cooling tower, a 50 kW auxiliary hot water boiler, a 5700 liter storage tank equipped with flexible stratification manifolds, and a 1800 l/hr air-handling unit. A discrete-time state-space model of the absorption chiller and a linear model of the plant to be controlled (the conditioned space) are identified and presented. Experimental data was used for the determination of these models. A temperature controller was designed and applied to the plant model. This controller operates the absorption chiller under multiple load conditions and regulates the flow in the chilled water line based on the conditioned space requirements. The designed controller was implemented in the SAACS prototype. The system’s performance under this temperature controller is analyzed and the results are presented and discussed.