Investigation of solar powered sorption cooling and heating systems to supply hospital’s thermal requirements in pandemic periods

Abstract

Abstract In pandemic periods such as COVID-19, economic and sociological problems threaten human life and public order on a global scale. In these periods, the use of solar powered heating–cooling systems to meet the thermal needs of hospitals and to provide thermal comfort conditions offer important solutions for the elimination of technical, economic and environmental problems related to energy supply. In this study, the heating, cooling and hot water supply of a sample hospital building for the three largest cities of Turkey with a novel solar powered Li-Cl absorption heat pump system was investigated using the Transient System Simulation Tool (TRNSYS) simulation program. The use of a unique NH3-H2O resorption system as a solar powered auxiliary system was also investigated. It was determined that the total annual hot water and cooling needs of the hospital buildings in all three provinces are supplied almost completely by the solar energy powered system without compromising the hygiene and thermal comfort of the occupants. The average annual solar fraction of total heating demands are calculated as 50, 54 and 65% for İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, respectively. In addition, depending on the use of solar energy, it has been observed that 126 tons of CO2 emissions were saved annually, and an economic saving of 524 375 TL was achieved in total. Considering the problems with energy supply during the epidemic periods, it was concluded that meeting the energy requirements of hospitals with clean, renewable and independent energy source will provide significant benefits to the countries.