20th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering ESCAPE20

S. Pierucci and G. Buzzi Ferraris (Editors)

2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-objective optimization of solar assisted

absorption cooling system
Berhane H. Gebreslassiea, Mlanie Jimeneza, Gonzalo Guilln-Goslbezb,
Laureano Jimnezb and Dieter Boera
a

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Rovira i Virgili

Department of Chemical Engineering, University Rovira i Virgili
Av. Pasos Catalans, 26, 43007-Tarragona, Spain, Dieter.Boer@urv.cat
b

Abstract
This work presents a multi-period and multi-objective optimization based on
mathematical programming of solar assisted absorption cooling systems. Seven solar
collector models combined with a gas fired heater and an absorption cooling cycle are
considered. The optimization task is formulated as a multi-objective multi-period
mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem that accounts for the
minimization of the total cost of the cooling system and the associated environmental
impact. The environmental performance is measured following the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) principles. The capabilities of the proposed method are illustrated in
a case study that addresses the design of a solar assisted ammonia-water absorption
cooling system using the weather conditions of Tarragona (Spain).
Keywords: Solar assisted cooling, MINLP, multi-objective optimization, life cycle
assessment (LCA), absorption cycle.

1. Introduction
Air conditioning and refrigeration have a significant contribution to the total energy
consumption. The growing demand for air conditioning and refrigeration has caused a
significant increase in the consumption of primary energy resources, to the end that it
currently threatens the stability of electricity grids. Thus, a change in the energy
structure should be made, promoting energy efficient technologies and renewable
energies. A more sustainable concept, known as solar assisted refrigeration, is based on
the use of absorption cooling cycles driven by thermal energy provided by solar
collectors. The use of solar energy for cooling applications has a high potential to
replace partially conventional cooling systems, given the fact that the cooling demand
matches the availability of solar irradiation [1]. These technologies use renewable
energy sources, thus decreasing the associated environmental impact. However, their
cost is still higher compared to conventional cooling systems (i.e., vapor compression
cooling system).
The objective of this work is to provide a quantitative decision support tool for the
optimal design of solar assisted absorption cycles. The model presented optimizes the
operating and structural decisions of the absorption cycle taking into account
simultaneously its environmental and economic performance. The environmental
performance is measured based on the Eco-indicator 99, which follows the life cycle
assessment (LCA) methodology.

B.H Gebreslassie et al.

2. Problem statement
The problem addressed is formally stated as follows. Given are the cooling capacity of
the system, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the external fluids (chilled water and
cooling water), capital cost data, monthly-averaged weather conditions, the performance
characteristics of the solar collectors, and life cycle inventory data associated with the
construction and operation of the cooling system. The goal is to determine the optimal
design and associated operating conditions that simultaneously minimize the total cost
and the environmental impact of the system.

3. Solar assisted absorption cycle

Figure 1 depicts the solar assisted absorption cooling system under study. The
absorption cycle operation is discussed in detail in Berhane et al. [2]. The heat
production subsystem includes two main units: a gas fired heater (GFH), and solar
collectors (Col). GFH is a low pressure heater consuming natural gas. The solar
collector panels used in this work are: evacuated tube collectors (ETC), flat plate
collectors (FPC) and compound parabolic collectors (CPC). Within each collector type,
we consider different possible alternatives and the associated models that describe their
performance.

Fig. 1. Ammonia-water solar assisted absorption cooling system

4. Mathematical model
The mathematical model of the absorption cycle is based on the formulation introduced
by the authors in previous works [2, 3]. The original formulation has been extended in
order to integrate the heat production subsystem model.
4.1. General constraints
The model considers that the time horizon can be divided into t periods. The cycle can
then operate in a different manner in each of these periods in order to get adapted to the
specific solar radiation of that time interval. Without loss of generality, we consider that
each of these periods corresponds to one month, although in general we could specify
any other length.
The model is based on energy and materials balances applied to each unit of the system.

Multi-Objective Optimization of Solar Assisted Absorption cooling system

4.2. Heat production subsystem
The heat supplied to the absorption cycle is generated in the solar collectors and the gas
fired heater.
4.2.1. Collector performance constraints
The selection of n solar collectors of type i is represented by the following disjunction
[4]:

Yi

Yn

Col

Col
i = 1,... I
i = 1,... I
Qt = i ,t nAi GBt

T av Tt amb
T av Tt amb
C2 , i t
i , t = IAM ( )C0 , i C1, i t
GBt
GBt

Yi , Yn {True, False}
i, n

(1)

where Yi and Yn are Boolean variables that decide whether the given disjunctive terms i
and n inside the disjunctions are true or false. They are true if n collectors of type i are
selected and zero otherwise. If the collector is chosen, then the equations inside the
disjunction, which determine the heat supplied by the solar system, are active. If the
collector is not selected, the corresponding equations are all set to zero. The useful heat
collected from the solar system in each time-period t ( QtCol ) is determined from the
collector performance, which is calculated from the collector efficiency (i,t), its area
and the global solar incident radiation on the collector surface in month t (GBt) [1]. The
area of the collectors is obtained by multiplying the size of the collector type i available
in the market ( AiCol ) with the corresponding number of collectors (n) installed in the
system. The second equation inside the disjunction allows to determine the efficiency of
the collector i in month t [1].
4.2.2. Linking constraints
Eqn. (2) links the heat provided by the collectors and the gas fired heater with that
consumed by the cycle. Hence, the heat consumed by the generator of the cycle in
month t ( QtD ) should be less than or equal to the sum of the heat collected from the
Col

collector ( Qt

) and the heat supplied by the gas fired heater ( QtGFH ) t in the same

month:

QtD QtCol + QtGFH

(2)

4.3. Objective functions

Our model includes two contradicting objective functions: 1) minimize the total cost;
and 2) minimize the environmental impact of the cooling system.
4.3.1. Economic performance objective function
The total cost of the system (TC) accounts for the capital and operating costs (Cc and
Cop, respectively) as shown in eqn. (3).

TC = C c + C op

(3)

B.H Gebreslassie et al.

4.3.2. Environmental performance objective function
The environmental performance of the system is measured based on the principles of
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using the Eco-Indicator 99 framework. The total EcoIndicator 99 (ECO99tot) is given by the sum of the Eco-Indicator 99 of the manufacturing
part (ECO99man) and the operational part (ECO99op) shown in eqn. (4).

ECO99tot = ECO99man + ECO99op

(4)

5. Solution method
The design problem can be finally formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer
nonlinear programming (MINLP) of the following form:
( P)

min
x, y

s.t.

U ( x, y ) = {TC ( x, y ) , ECO99tot ( x, y )}
h ( x, y ) = 0
g ( x, y ) 0

(5)

x R, y {0,1}

In this formulation, x represents the state or design variables such as thermodynamic

properties, mass flows and equipment sizes. The discrete variables are denoted by y, and
are used in the selection of a specific number of collectors n of type i. TC (x, y) and
ECO99tot denote the economic and environmental performances of the solar heat
integrated absorption cooling system, respectively.
The solution to (P) is given by a set of Pareto optimal points that represent the trade off
between the economic and environmental performance of the system. For the
calculation of the optimal trade off solutions, the -constraint solution method is used.
This method is coupled with a customized branch and bound algorithm that reduces the
computational burden of the model. This strategy relies on branching on the Boolean
variables that denote the type of collector. In every node of the tree, lower and upper
bounds on the optimal solution are obtained by relaxing the integer variables that denote
the number of collectors selected (lower bound) and then rounding them up and solving
again the problem with fixed values of the integers (upper bound). The nodes of the tree
for which the lower bound exceeds the current best upper bound are pruned, and the
procedure is repeated until all the collector types are analyzed.

6. Case study
The capabilities of our approach are illustrated through a case study that addresses the
design of a solar assisted absorption cooling system with a cooling capacity of 100 kW.
The process data for the ammonia-water absorption cycle are taken from [2, 3].
Concerning the solar collectors, there are several types which can be used in solar air
conditioning systems. We consider seven models of non-tracking collectors assuming
the weather conditions of Tarragona (Spain).

7. Results and discussions

The non-convex bi-criteria mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) and the
associated solution procedure is implemented in GAMS [5]. Figure 3 shows for the
extreme solutions the single damage categories that contribute to the total Eco-indicator
99. In all the cases, the main contributor to the overall environmental damage is the

Multi-Objective Optimization of Solar Assisted Absorption cooling system

depletion of natural resources. On the other hand, the eco-system quality damage is
rather low, mainly because the cooling system does not use hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFC).

Fig. 2. Pareto set of solutions of the case

study

Fig. 3. Contribution of single damage

categories to the total Eco-indicator at the
extreme Pareto designs

The CPU time required to obtain the complete Pareto set of solutions is 88.33 seconds
in a 2.29 GHz machine. The Pareto points are depicted in Figure 2, which shows the
single damage categories as well as the total Eco-indicator 99 value associated with
each Pareto solution. Each point of the curve represents a different absorption cycle
design. In the minimum total cost solution, the heat required by the cycle is exclusively
supplied by the gas fired heater. However, as we move towards the minimum impact
solution, the energy needs are gradually fulfilled using a larger number of collectors.
Near to the minimum total cost Pareto design, flat plate collectors are selected. The
reason is that they show performance improvement at lower temperatures more than the
evacuated tube collectors. Moreover, they are cheaper than the evaluated tube
collectors. On the other hand, near to the minimum environmental impact Pareto
designs, the heat demand is covered by the evacuated tube solar collectors. The reason
is at higher temperature the performance of evacuated tube collectors is better than the
flat plate collectors.
Figures 4 and 5 depict the contribution that the manufacturing and operation of the
subsystems of the cycle (i.e., absorption cycle itself, collectors and heater) have on its
environmental performance for each of the extreme Pareto designs. In general, the
construction of the equipment units has very little impact on the overall environmental
damage. In fact, in the minimum total cost Pareto design, the main source of impact is
the operating of the gas fired, whereas the contribution due to the manufacturing of the
cooling system is negligible. However, in the minimum environmental impact solution,
the main contributor to the total impact is the operation of the solar collectors. These are
operated using pumps that consumes electricity, the impact of which is determined
assuming the Spanish electricity grid that is mainly based on fuel oil and coal. In this
latter case, the magnitude of the impact due to the manufacturing of the cooling system
is larger, mainly because of the emissions of heavy metals that take place during the
construction of the collectors. Hence, it is worthwhile to consider this part in the
calculation of the life cycle impact of the solar assisted cooling system.

B.H Gebreslassie et al.

Note: The subscripts m, op and t represents the manufacturing, operation and total Ecoindicator respectively.

Fig. 4. Main sources of impact in the

minimum
environmental
impact
solution

Fig. 5. Main sources of impact in the

minimum cost solution

8. Conclusions
Based on mathematical programming, the design of more sustainable solar assisted
absorption cooling systems has been presented. The method introduced relies on
formulating a bi-criteria MINLP problem that accounts for the minimization of the total
cost and the environmental impact of the cooling system. The capabilities of the
proposed approach have been illustrated through its application to the design of a solar
assisted ammonia-water absorption cooling system. Reductions up to 70 % in the
environmental impact are feasible by replacing the consumption of primary energy
resources by renewable solar energy sources. The tool presented in this work is intended
to guide decision-makers towards more sustainable design alternatives for fulfilling the
current cooling demand.

9. Acknowledgements
Berhane H. Gebreslassie expresses his gratitude for the financial support received from
the University Rovira i Virgili. The authors wish to acknowledge support from the
Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (projects DPI2008-04099 and CTQ200914420-C02) and the Spanish Ministry of External Affairs (projects A/016473/08 and
HS2007-0006).

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