Lars Westerlund

Energy savings in indoor swimming-pools: comparison between different heat-recovery systems

In indoor swimming-pool facilities, the energy demand is large due to ventilation losses with the exhaust air. Since water is evaporated from the pool surface, the exhaust air has a high water content and specific enthalpy. Because of the low temperature, the heat from the evaporation is difficult to recover. In this paper, the energy demand for the conventional ventilation technique in indoor swimming pools is compared to two different heat-recovery techniques, the mechanical heat pump and the open absorption system. The mechanical heat-pump is the most widely used technique in Sweden today. The open absorption system is a new technique in this application. Calculations have been carried out on an hourly basis for the different techniques. Measurements from an absorption system pilot-plant installed in an indoor swimming pool in the northern part of Sweden have been used in the calculations. The results show that with the mechanical heat pump, the electrical input increases by 63 MWh/year and with the open absorption system 57 MWh/year. However, a mechanical heat-pump and an open absorption system decrease, the annual energy demand from 611 to 528 and 484 MWh respectively, which correspond to decreases of approximately 14 and 20% respectively. The electricity input will increase when using heat-recovery techniques. Changing the climate in the facility has also been investigated. An increased temperature decreases the energy demand when using the conventional ventilation technique. However, when either the mechanical heat-pump or the open absorption system is used, the energy demand is increased when the temperature is increased. Therefore increasing the temperature in the facility when using the conventional technique should be considered the first measure to reduce the energy demand.

An open absorption system installed at a sawmill: Description of pilot plant used for timber and bio-fuel drying

This work describes a pilot plant and its different parts in a system used for bio-fuel drying and timber drying with an open absorption process. This technique has not been used previously in Sweden in this application. The open absorption system has been installed on four timber dryers and one bio-fuel dryer at a sawmill located in the northern part of Sweden. The annual energy demand for the dryers has decreased considerably. The specific heat demand for a conventional drying system is about 5970 kJ/kg of evaporated water. For the open absorption system the corresponding value is a heat demand of approximately 1400 kJ/kg of evaporated water. At the same time, an additional 360 kJ/kg of electricity has to be supplied. Here, 45 000 m3 per year of dried bio-fuel has been sold on the market as a result of the decreased heat demand in the wood dryers at the sawmill. The plant has been working well and has had a high availability. The pay-off time for the investment will be approximately 3 years for non-discounted cash-flows.

Heat and mass transfer simulations of the absorption process in a packed bed absorber

Numerical modelling of the absorption process in a cross-current absorber has been performed with FLOW3D, a commercially available software. The simulations are verified by comparisons with experimental results. The modelling of mass and heat transfer is discussed. Comparisons regarding the overall capacity as well as transfer rates show good agreement between experiments and simulations. It is possible to model the mass and heat transfer for a cross-current absorber if the equilibrium line for the absorption solution is known.

Absorbers in the open absorption system

This paper describes an experimental study of four different absorber designs in this type of system: cross-current and counter-current packed-bed absorbers, the spray absorber and fluid-bed absorber. In a laboratory pilot, plant, working lines for the absorbers were determined under adiabatic conditions. The influences of internal solution flow, gas flow, pressure drop and dissipation are discussed. The working lines represent the efficiency for each absorber. The highest performance occurs with the packed-bed absorbers, followed by the fluid-bed absorber and finally the spray absorber. For open absorption systems in air-conditioning applications (small scale), the cross-current absorber is preferable, and for industrial utilization (large scale) the fluid-bed absorber should be chosen.

Open absorption system: Experimental study in a laboratory pilot plant

The open absorption system is specially fitted in drying processes using air for the transport of the water. Advantages of the system are that different types of energy supply can be used, and that direct contact between the working media and the solution gives an effective absorber. This experimental study concerns measurements of the capacity of the system when a cross-flow absorber is used. Experiments were done under adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions, and the results show that non-adiabatic conditions give a considerable increase in the absorption capacity. The dissipation of solution media increases strongly for air velocities over 2 m/s. However, a demister can be used to reduce these losses. Investigation of the packing depth shows that the absorption takes place mainly in the first quarter of the packing. Different types of plastic packings were studied, the Telpac packing giving the best results.

A theoretical investigation of the heat demand for public baths

Public baths normally use outdoor air to remove moisture from the building. This procedure results in large heating demands. A theoretical hour-based method for estimation of the heating demand has been developed. The method allows for dynamic behaviour with correct time periods for each mass-transfer level. Results of predictions with this method have been compared with yearly estimates of the heating demand based on actual measurements in a public bath. The difference is 3%. A parametric study shows that the air temperature and relative humidity in the building strongly influence the heating demand. Comparisons with other prediction methods based on use of the duration curve or mean annual outdoor temperature show differences less than 5% from results obtained with the hour-based method. The simpler approaches (use of a duration curve or mean value) fail when minimum outdoor airflow must be considered, as will be the case, for instance, when comparing different energy-saving systems or design of components for the climate system.

Energy efficient bio fuel drying with an open absorption system Parameter study in order to reduce investment costs

A pilot plant using the open absorption system for drying of timber and bio fuel has been realized at a sawmill located in the northern part of Sweden. The technique decreases the energy demand for the dryers considerably and the system has an availability of about 8000 h per year. Compared with other drying techniques, the investment cost is high due to large airflow and therefore large apparatus. The main part of the investment cost, i.e. about 70% originates from the bio fuel dryer and the absorbers. In order to decrease the initial cost a parameter study has been made to investigate the possibilities to reduce the airflow of the drying process, i.e. bio fuel dryer and absorber. Parameters studied are drying temperature, salt concentration and cooling of the airflow during the absorption process. Measured values from the pilot plant have been used as a reference case. The results show that it is possible to decrease the airflow by 31% when using a higher drying temperature. Higher salt concentration decreases the airflow by approximately 32% and cooling during absorption makes it possible to decrease the airflow by 50%. In order to minimize the airflow, the three parameters were combined. In this case it is possible to decrease the airflow by approximately 60%. The electrical input for the plant is also high due to large air and solution flows. By decreasing the airflow, the required electrical input will also decrease since the fan power is proportional to the volume airflow. The results clearly show that it is possible to reduce the airflow and therefore the investment costs compared with the pilot plant.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of indoor climate in low energy buildings computational set up

In this paper computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used for simulation of the indoor climate in a part of a low energy building. The focus of the work was on investigating the computational setup, such as grid size and boundary conditions in order to solve the indoor climate problems in an accurate way. Future work is to model a complete building, with reasonable calculation time and accuracy. A limited number of grid elements and knowledge of boundary settings are therefore essential. An accurate grid edge size of around 0.1 m was enough to predict the climate according to a grid independency study. Different turbulence models were compared with only small differences in the indoor air velocities and temperatures. The models show that radiation between building surfaces has a large impact on the temperature field inside the building, with the largest differences at the floor level. Simplifying the simulations by modelling the radiator as a surface in the outer wall of the room is appropriate for the calculations. The overall indoor climate is finally compared between three different cases for the outdoor air temperature. The results show a good indoor climate for a low energy building all around the year.

Investigation of thermal indoor climate for a passive house in a sub-Arctic region using computational fluid dynamics

There is currently an increasing trend in Europe to build passive houses. In order to reduce the cost of installation, an air-heating system may be an interesting alternative. Heat supplied through ventilation ducts located at the ceiling was studied with computational fluid dynamics technique. The purpose was to illustrate the thermal indoor climate of the building. To validate the performed simulations, measurements were carried out in several rooms of the building. Furthermore, this study investigated if a designed passive house located above the Arctic Circle could fulfil heat requirements for a Swedish passive house standard. Our results show a heat loss factor of 18.8 W/m2 floor area and an annual specific energy use of 67.9 kWh/m2 floor area, would fulfils the criteria. Validation of simulations through measurements shows good agreement with simulations if the thermal inertia of the building was considered. Calculation of heat losses from a building with a backward weighted moving average outdoor temperature produced correct prediction of the heat losses. To describe the indoor thermal climate correctly, the entire volume needs to be considered, not only one point, which normally is obtained with building simulation software. The supply airflow must carefully be considered to fulfil a good indoor climate.