Technical, environmental, and economic evaluation of a solar/gas driven absorption chiller for shopping malls in the Caribbean region of Colombia

This study discusses the technical, environmental, and economic feasibility of using absorption chillers driven by solar energy and/or natural gas, in selected shopping malls in Barranquilla, Caribbean region of Colombia. The high solar irradiation and the low prices of natural gas in the cities of the Caribbean region of Colombia are attractive conditions for the use of absorption chillers. To prove the feasibility of absorption chillers in the Caribbean region of Colombia, the use of water/LiBr absorption chillers of 352 kW cooling capacity was investigated considering the cooling loads in selected malls. A thermodynamic model was developed to study the performance of the absorption chiller and evaluate different scenarios proposed. The results evidenced that the absorption chiller could reach a maximum COP and SCOP of 0.77 and 0.52, respectively. The different alternatives could reduce gas emissions between 17% and 76% depending on the cooling load covered by the absorption chillers and driving energy input as compared to the current use of mechanical compression chillers. The economic results indicated that the best scenario, considering a lifetime of 20 years, is the gas-driven absorption chiller with IRR varying from 40% to 54.6% depending on the mall cooling load covered.