A CCHP system fed by low enthalpy sources in Mediterranean area

Abstract

Climate change and energy consumption increasingly call for a better use of energy sources. Renewable sources are still growing in the power production of many countries, so leading to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Further restrictions will be applied to the use of fossil fuels with a lot of consequences; for example, major German cities such as Stuttgart, Dusseldorf and Hamburg are all contemplating bans related to diesel pollution, and on the other hand some of the biggest car producers - FCA, Toyota, etc. - are planning to stop the diesel engines production in a few years. At the same time, some restrictions are applied also to many refrigerating fluids, in order of firstly limiting the ODP value, and secondly containing the GWP value. This restriction leads to research new fluids and/or to enhance the use of natural refrigerants. In this scenario, Energy Designers are called to conjugate energy needs with the environment safety. Main guidelines concern energy clean production, basically obtained by means of renewables and energy saving. In this article authors consider a CCHP for a typical Mediterranean end user such as a large hotel, composed by an ORC linked to a refrigerator. Several working fluids, particularly natural fluids, which operate both in the ORC and in the refrigerator, are investigated.