Solar Energy 218 (2021) 639–651

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Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

A novel hybrid solar-biomass design for green off-grid cold production,

techno-economic analysis and optimization
Amirmohammad Behzadi a, *, Ahmad Arabkoohsar a, Meisam Sadi a, Krishna Hara Chakravarty b
a
Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark
b
Mash Energy, Denmark

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This work proposes a novel hybrid renewable-based cold production system consisting of an innovative yet
Evacuated plate collector simple design of evacuated solar collectors integrated with a biomass heater, thermal storage tanks, and an
Biomass heater absorption machine. The optimal design, sizing of the components, and operating conditions of the hybrid system
Off-grid green cold supply
are investigated via thorough techno-economic modeling and dual-objective optimizations for a case study in
Techno-economic assessment
Multi-objective optimization
India. In addition, the assessments cover different designs of biomass heaters and various biomass types. Finally,
using the coefficient of performance (COP), the levelized cost of cooling (LCOC), and the emission index as the
prioritization parameters, the most efficient, the most cost-effective, and the most environmentally-friendly
configurations are indicated. The results show that integrating evacuated plate collectors with a specific
design of biomass-heater burning sugarcane baggas is the most appropriate option from all aspects. According to
the optimization results, at the best solution point, emission index and LCOC are, respectively, 440.62 kg/MWh
and 47.1 USD/MWh. Moreover, the scatter distribution of major decision parameters indicates that while the
volume of the hot storage tank is not a sensitive parameter, the chiller temperature and volume of the cold
storage tank should be kept at their lowest bounds.

On the other hand, biomass is the largest and the fourth largest source of
1. Introduction green energy in India and the world, owing to the advantages and po­
tential compared to other types of renewable resources (Sahoo et al.,
The global energy consumption in the building sector (households 2016). Compared to solar energy, biomass is a carbon-free and
and services) is rising every day so that more than one-third of the final controllable energy source that does not need any energy storage for
global consumption is related to the buildings’ end-users today (Ma fluctuation damping. The continuous availability of enough biomass
et al., 2020), where about 82% of that has been supplied by fossil fuel- sources for energy production at large-scale might be, of course, of
based technologies in 2015 (Breum, 2015). Enormous direct and indi­ question. Thus, the hybridization of solar and biomass sources for
rect destructive effects on the environment is another significant generating cost-effective, clean, and stable energy output can be a wise
concern of the building sector, consisting of about 40% of total energy- measure in the availability of both sources (Patel et al., 2017).
related CO2 emissions (Lasemi and Arabkoohsar, 2020). Today, due to In the literature, various research papers investigate solar-based
the increase in the world’s temperature and population, cooling demand systems for cooling products in different world regions from different
growth is accelerating more than other needs with threefold over the last aspects. Considering the case of Islamabad, a different configuration of
thirty years, especially in warmer regions (Ayadi and Al-Dahidi, 2019). solar systems to supply the cooling demand of an educational building
A gradual move from fossil fuels to renewable resources has been energy system was modeled and compared by Ahmad Khan et al.
observed in the last decades to solve the global energy catastrophe, (Shoaib et al., 2018). They concluded that integrating an evacuated tube
along with environmental contamination problems (Behzadi et al., collector (ETC) with a storage tank and auxiliary heater results in a
2020). Solar energy is one of the most plentiful renewable resources. higher energy saving than the use of a storage tank standalone. An
Although technology-wise, solar-based systems have reached acceptable hourly simulation of a solar cooling system for the Jordanian climate
maturities, the high cost of these systems and the intermittency of their was investigated by Tashtoush et al. (Tashtoush et al., 2015). Their
energy outputs have remained challenges yet (Mirnezami et al., 2020). proposed system can supply the peak cold demand with the highest

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Behzadi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.02.065
Received 29 November 2020; Received in revised form 25 February 2021; Accepted 26 February 2021
Available online 23 March 2021
0038-092X/© 2021 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Behzadi et al. Solar Energy 218 (2021) 639–651

Nomenclature Subscripts and abbreviations

T Temperature, K
Ac Collector area, m2 Tc Collector temperature, K
Cb Bond conductance, W/(m.K) Th Temperature of water coming back from solar collector, K
CP Specific heat capacity, J/(kg.K) TL temperature of water going into the chiller, K
Di Inner diameters of risers, mm Tf, in Collector inlet temperature, K
Do Outer diameters of risers, mm Tp Plate’s temperature, K
f Fuel cost, $ U Loss coefficient of the tank, W/(m2.K)
F Fin efficiency factor Ub Bottom loss coefficient, W/(m2.K)
F́ Efficiency factor UL Overall loss coefficient, W/(m2.K)
FR Heat removal factor Us Side loss coefficient, W/(m2.K)
h Enthalpy, J/kg Ut Top loss coefficient, W/(m2.K)
hf
0
Enthalpy of formation, J/mol w Mass of wet biomass,
hw Convective coefficient of wind, W/(m2.K) W Width of the collector, mm
I Investment cost, $ Ẇ Power, W
k Thermal conductivity factor of the absorber plate, W/(m. X Mass fraction
K) Subscripts and abbreviations
L length of the collector, m Amb Ambient
LHV Lower heating value, MJ/kg CHP Combined heat and power
ṁ Mass flow rate, kg/s COP Coefficient of performance
ṁh Mass flow rate of water coming back from solar collector, EES Engineering equation solver
kg/s ETC Evacuated tube collector
ṁL Mass flow rate of water going into the chiller, kg/s LCOE Levelized cost of energy
M Maintenance cost, $ LCOC Levelized cost of cooling
MC Moisture content PTC Parabolic trough collector
n Mole number
N Number of glass Greek Symbols
Q̇ Heat, W β The angle of the collector
Q̇L The rate of heat transfer from the tank, W δ Thickness
Q̇h The rate of heat transfer to the tank, W σ Steffen-Boltzmann constant, W/(m2.K4)
ε CO2 emission index, kg/kWh
Q̇U Heat absorbed by the water, W
εp The emissivity of the absorber plate
r Interest rate
εg The emissivity of the glass cover
S Received solar energy, W/m2

coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.54 in August. The economic and respectively, with a cost-effective payback period. A novel solar-based
environmental feasibility study of parabolic trough collector (PTC) cooling system driven by a photovoltaic thermal panel integrated with
integration with a double-effect absorption chiller in an off-grid resi­ a double-effect absorption chiller, proton exchange membrane, and
dential building in Dubai was carried out by Ghaith and Razzaq (Ghaith thermoelectric generator for cooling and hydrogen production was
and Razzaq, 2017). They concluded the payback period of 2.5 years and investigated by Behzadi et al. (Behzadi et al., 2019). They concluded
reduced CO2 emission of 304 tons per year. Recently, Ibrahim et al. that the solar radiation and the module area have a considerable effect
(Ibrahim et al., 2020) proposed and compared a solar-driven system on thermodynamic and economic standpoints.
integrated with a double-effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller for a cooling The integration of solar-based systems with biomass-fired technolo­
generation under different solar data. They showed that as the solar gies has also been studied in the literature from thermodynamic, eco­
radiation increase from 600 W/m2 to 944 W/m2, the produced cooling nomic, and environmental points of view. Mosleh et al. (Mosleh et al.,
effect increases about 425 kW. Applying the MATLAB program, 2019) investigated a solar-based multi-generation building energy sys­
dynamically thermodynamic, and economic evaluation of a solar cool­ tem integrated with a cold storage tank located in Iran, finding out that
ing system of residential buildings in different European zones was the cooling system can supply the entire demand of the building.
investigated and compared by Buonomano et al. (Buonomano et al., Techno-economic evaluation of novel biomass and solar-based system
2018). They showed that using a thermal-driven auxiliary heater for all comprising a double-effect absorption chiller was investigated by Gha­
cases results in a lower payback period than the electrical-driven one. semi et al. (Ghasemi et al., 2018). Considering the city of Khuzestan,
Arabkoohsar and Sadi (Arabkoohsar and Sadi, 2020a, 2020b) studied a Iran, they showed that the evaporator temperature increase results in
comparative performance assessment of a solar system integrated with higher efficiency and total cost rate. Zhang et al. (Zhang et al., 2019)
single, double, and triple-effect absorption chillers. They concluded that proposed an integrated building energy system in China, consisting of a
double and triple-effect absorption chillers are economically beneficial parabolic trough collector, biomass-fired heater, and heat storage tank.
and result in a better performance compared to the single-effect. A solar- Their results indicated that the proposed renewable-based system results
based district heating-connected cooling system comprising an evacu­ in an energy-saving and annual CO2 reduction of 94.9% and 2961.85
ated tube collector (ETC) and an absorption chiller was introduced by tonnes, respectively. Ishagh and Dincer (Ishaq and Dincer, 2019)
Arabkoohsar and Andresen (Arabkoohsar and Andresen, 2017) to introduced novel biomass and solar-based system for cooling produc­
address the challenges of supplying the required heat of absorption tion. They investigated the effect of main decision parameters on the
chiller on summer days. Considering a hospital in Denmark, they performance/economic aspects, demonstrating the coefficient of per­
showed that the proposed novel configuration could supply 30% and formance of 0.51. In another study, Wang et al. (Wang et al., 2019)
17% of the heat demand of absorption chiller in summer and winter, proposed and modeled a novel multi-generation system equipped with a

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Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the proposed biomass and solar-based hospital cooling system.

solar thermal biomass heater for cooling, power, and heating generation solar energy from an environmental standpoint compared to the
using engineering equation solver (EES) software. They concluded that biomass. The feasibility study of integrated biomass and solar-based
integrating the solar system with biomass heater leads to a 55.09% in­ multi-generation energy system consisting of PTC and lithium bromide
crease in the heating value of product gas and the biomass saving ratio of absorption chiller was proposed by Zhang et al. (Zhang et al., 2016),
9.22% compared to the biomass-based system alone. Considering resulting in an energy-saving ratio of 16.7% compared to the biomass-
different China regions, integrated biomass and solar-based residential based system. The influence of significant decision parameters on
energy system for cooling production were investigated by Xie et al. (Xie thermodynamic and economic facets of a hybrid solar and biomass-
et al., 2017). A parametric study indicated that the volume of the storage powered cooling system was studied by Morais et al. (Morais et al.,
tank has a significant effect on the energy consumption of the proposed 2020). They demonstrated that by increasing the solar radiation, while
system in each region. Hashemian and Noorpoor (Hashemian and the net present value increases, the rate of irreversibility decreases. In
Noorpoor, 2019) investigated biomass and solar-based multi-generation another study, Wu et al. (Wu et al., 2020) evaluated integrating the solar
systems integrated with a double-effect absorption chiller exploiting the system with a biomass-based CCHP system from thermodynamic and
waste heat of PTC. They showed that the absorption chiller should be economic viewpoints, demonstrating a significant benefit from both
modified due to the high rate of irreversibility. Bet Sarkis and Zare (Bet aspects compared to the standalone biomass-based system. Performance
Sarkis and Zare, 2018) compared the thermodynamic and economic and environmental evaluation of biomass and solar-fueled systems using
indicators of a novel solar and biomass-based cogeneration system various biomass types were compared by Karapekmez and Dincer
against the biomass-based standalone system without solar collectors. (Karapekmez and Dincer, 2020) to determine the best option to substi­
They showed that the proposed novel integrated system is superior to tute fossil fuels. It was shown that the highest energy efficiency, as well
the standard model from thermodynamic and environmental points of as the lowest environmental impact, correspond to wet wood and
view due to the lower Levelized cost and CO2 emission of 4.4 $/MWh sawdust, respectively. The sustainability of integrated biomass and a
and 0.17 ton/MWh, respectively. Wang and Yang [17] investigated the solar-based system consisting of an absorption chiller in India was
interaction of biomass and solar energy as prime movers driving a investigated by Sahoo et al. (Sahoo et al., 2015). They concluded that
combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system. They concluded the proposed renewable-based system could supply the demand of a
that in comparison to solar energy, biomass has a more contribution to large section of the population, and in comparison to the conventional
the total produced energy. In contrast, they showed the excellence of system in India, a lower carbon dioxide emission along with a higher

Fig. 2. The schematic and performance curve of an EPC (“TVP Solar,” n.d.).

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Fig. 3. Different scenarios of the proposed off-grid cooling system.

COP is achieved. Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic assessment of a manufacturing process of this collector type much easier. This will result
solar and biomass-based system supplying the cooling and heating de­ in a lower cost than compared to the other evacuated tube collector
mands of a 40 residential buildings complex in Morocco was studied by types. In addition, this design is simpler to maintain and less at the risk
Mouaky and Rachek (Mouaky and Rachek, 2020). They showed that the of breakage, etc. Fig. 2 presents a schematic of this collector type, pro­
size of collectors, along with the price of biomass, is the essential con­ posed and investigated in this work. The figure also demonstrates this
siderations determining whether the system is economically beneficial collector type’s performance curve based on the variation of solar-to-
or not. thermal efficiency with the difference of collector and ambient tem­
This work presents a novel hybrid design for green and stable off-grid peratures. Coming back to the cold supply system, as seen in Fig. 1, cold
cold supply. The performance of the system is simulated and assessed for water goes into the evacuated plate collectors to gain useful solar energy
a case study hospital in India based on a wide range of scenarios in when there is enough radiation. Then, it enters the heat storage tank
accordance with various types of biomass heaters, biomass sources, and working like a battery to store the surplus heat of the sun to be used
a novel solar collector design. This collector design is indeed a simplified later. Monitoring the difference between the outlet temperature of the
version of evacuated tube collectors, making it cheaper to manufacture collector and heat storage tank, the controller determines whether the
and also maintain but as efficient as conventional glass tube evacuated pump should be on or off because the output temperature of the col­
collectors. The system proficiency in different design possibilities is lector drops remarkably in nights and lack of radiation. As depicted, the
assessed via thorough techno-economic analysis. Then, the best design biomass-fired heater is integrated with the proposed renewable-based
among all is optimized in terms of performance conditions and system to make it still independent of the grid when there is not
component sizing using dual-objective optimization techniques. adequate radiation. As shown, the biomass enters the heater to generate
high enthalpy flue gas, heating the cold side outlet water of the storage
2. System description and assumption tank to a specific temperature based on the type of absorption chiller. In
the cooling system, single-effect absorption chillers using lithium bro­
The schematic of the proposed integrated cooling system consisting mide and water as the absorbent and refrigerant are used. In the evap­
of its novel solar thermal collector, heat and cold storage tanks, biomass- orator, the hot side fluid is water heating the refrigerant to be vaporized.
fueled heater, and an absorption chiller system is represented in Fig. 1. Also, the cold storage tank is implemented in the proposed system to
The system is designed grid-independent to supply the cooling demand store the surplus coolant water to cool or adjust the demand of the
of a hospital in Ahmedabad, India. According to the figure, the primary hospital.
source of the energy supply of the system is the solar collector set. As Due to the specific characteristics in design and materials, EPC is an
mentioned before, this collector design is a simplified version of tradi­ ideal thermal energy source for large-scale applications, especially in
tional evacuated tube collectors, so-called evacuated flat plate collectors temperatures between 80 ◦ C and 180 ◦ C. Because of a flat and high
(EPC). Using flat plates with a flat evacuated glass cover makes the vacuum surface simultaneously, EPC has a more active area for

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Table 1 alternative version of the heater (a) with the same configuration but an
Ultimate analysis and lower heating value (LHV) of each biomass (ash-free and external biomass heater leading to a higher heat efficiency because of
dry basis). better control of oxygen flow. Finally, heater (c), a modified version of
Number of Biomass C (wt%) H (wt O (wt%) LHV the heater (b), is equipped with an air-to-air heat exchanger recovering
biomass (db) %) (db) (db) (MJ/kg) the waste heat of exhaust gas for preheating the inlet air. According to
1 Prosopis 50.04 5.76 44.2 13.6 the table, the use of an additional heat exchanger in the heater (c) for
2 Wood chips 53.19 6.05 40.76 18.49 exploiting the exhaust losses heat leads to a considerable increase in
3 Sugarcane 51.25 6.03 42.72 17.7 efficiency compared to the heater (a) and heater (b).
baggas
The value of input variables along with the primary decision pa­
rameters of solar collector, absorption cooling system, storage tank, and
biomass-fired heaters are listed in Table 3. According to the table, the
Table 2 nominal efficiency value equals 71% when the difference between the
Description of each type of biomass heater. collector and ambient temperatures is zero.
Type of configuration Efficiency Biomass
heater (%) consumption rate 3. Modeling
(kg/h)

a A vertical boiler integrated with 40–45 10 MATLAB software is applied to perform the transient modeling of
an internal biomass heater each scenario and carry out the mathematical thermodynamic, eco­
b A vertical boiler integrated with 60–65 50
nomic, and environmental equations of each subsystem comprising solar
an external biomass heater
c A vertical boiler integrated with 70–75 50 collector, biomass-fueled heaters, storage tanks, and absorption chillers.
an external biomass heater and Using the genetic algorithm method, the best scenario is optimized to
an additional air-to-air heat minimize economic and environmental indicators. Finally, the optimum
exchanger
range of significant decision variables is determined through scatter
distribution.

Table 3 3.1. Thermodynamic assessment

Main input parameters of the solar collector, cooling system, biomass-fired
heater, and storage tank. To assess the performance of each scenario from the thermodynamic
Parameter Value Parameter Value aspect, mass and energy balances are written for every component as a
Evacuated plate collector Solution temperature at the 90 control volume to assess the changes in thermodynamic properties and
generator outlet (◦ C) functions over time as below (Ahmadi et al., 2014; Razmi et al., 2020):
Number of tubes 18 Refrigerant vapor temperature 85 ∑ ∑
at the generator outlet (◦ C) ṁin = ṁout (1)
Inner diameter (mm) 20 Low concentration of the 55
solution (%) ∑ ∑
Outer diameter (mm) 22 High concentration of the 60
ṁin Xin = ṁout Xout (2)
solution (%)
∑ ∑
Absorber Length (mm) 1780 Solution temperature at the 65 Q̇ − Ẇ = ṁout hout − ṁin hin (3)
heat exchanger outlet (◦ C)
Absorber Width (mm) 96 Heater
Material of Pipes Copper The efficiency of the heater (a) 40 where X is the mass fraction of lithium bromide in solution, detailed
The thickness of the Absorber 0.5 The efficiency of the heater (b) 60 equations about the mathematical formula of each subsystem are pre­
(mm) sented in the following subsections.
Space of Tubes (mm) 75 The efficiency of the heater (c) 72
The nominal efficiency (%) 71 Tank
The heat lose coefficients 0.508 Number of nodes 6 3.1.1. Evacuated plate collector
(W/(m2.K)) As mentioned in this study, a novel design of a solar thermal collector
Absorption chiller The volume of the cold storage 200 named evacuated plate collector (EPC) is applied. In an EPC, the amount
tank (m3) of heat absorbed by the water is calculated as (Arabkoohsar et al., 2016):
The refrigerant temperature 6 The volume of the hot storage 200
at the evaporator outlet tank (m3) Q̇U = AC FR [S − UL (Tf ,in − Tamb )] (4)
(◦ C)

where AC is the collector area, UL is the overall loss coefficient, FR is the

capturing a more diffuse light under the best performance. Therefore, heat removal factor, and S is the received solar energy. Besides, Tf, in is
compared to other collectors, EPC has the highest peak performance of the inlet temperature of the fluid, and Tamb is the ambient temperature.
500 W/m2 at 180 ◦ C, the lowest cost per Watt, and the highest annual Aside from solar useful energy gain transferred to the working fluid, a
average output. portion of total captured energy is lost through the top, bottom, and side
Overall, in this study, nine scenarios consisting of an evacuated plate of the collector. In this regard, contemplating the radiation and con­
collector (EPC), an absorption chiller, three kinds of biomass, and three vection heat transfers between the absorber and environment, the
types of biomass-based heaters are considered and compared to find the overall heat loss coefficient can be obtained from (Arabkoohsar et al.,
best scenario from various aspects as depicted in Fig. 3. 2016):
The value of lower heating value and ultimate analysis of each type UL = Ut + Ub + Us (5)
of local biomass, which is most commonly available to use in India, is
presented in Table 1. Considering the heat transfer mechanism between the components
A detailed description of each biomass heater comprising the and the sun, the top loss coefficient is presented as (Arabkoohsar et al.,
configuration, heating efficiency, and biomass consumption rate is listed 2016):
in Table 2. As shown, heater (a) consists of a vertical boiler integrated
with an internal biomass heater on which the produced heat is trans­
ferred to the water by a shelling tube heat exchanger. Heater (b) is an

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1 σ (Tp + Tamb )(Tp2 + Tamb

2
) Table 4
Ut = N 1
+ 2N+f − 1+0.13εp
(6) Investment cost of every component and fuel cost of each biomass
[ ]e + (εp + 0.00591Nhw )− 1 + − N
(“MASH Energy – Turning unused resources into value,” n.d., “TVP
hw εg
C Tp − Tamb

Solar,” n.d.).
Tp N+f

Component Cost
f = (1 − 0.04hw + 0.0005h2w )(1 + 0.091N) (7)
Evacuated plate collector 450 $/m2
Biomass 1 40.54 $/ton
N = 365.9(1 − 0.008833β + 0.0001298β ) 2
(8) Biomass 2 135.13 $/ton
Biomass 3 40.54 $/ton
Here, εp and εg are the emissivity of the absorber plate and the glass Biomass 4 54.05 $/ton
cover, respectively. Also, N is the number of glass and β denotes the Heater (a) 5000 $
angle of the collector. Moreover, Tp and hw are the plate’s temperature Heater (b) 6800 $
and the convective coefficient of wind. Similarly, defining L and W as the Heater (c) 10,100 $
Heat storage tank and piping 200 $/m3
length and width of the collector, respectively, the bottom and side loss
Fan coil unit 700 $/TR
coefficients are calculated as below (Arabkoohsar et al., 2016): Single-effect absorption chiller 800–1100 $/TR

kb
Ub = (9)
lb
Q̇L = ṁL CP (T1 − TL ) (16)
ke 2(L + W)H
Ue = × (10)
le L.W Q̇h = ṁh CP (Th − TN ) (17)
The efficiency factor as the criteria of measurement of the perfor­ Three types of biomass-fueled heaters comprising vertical boiler in­
mance of the collector is defined as below (Arabkoohsar et al., 2016): tegrated with an internal biomass heater (model (a)), an external
1/UL biomass heater (model (b)), and an external biomass heater along with
F’ = 1
(11) air to the air heat exchanger (model (c)) are proposed and compared in
+ Do +(W−1 Do )F + C1b
π Di h f
this study. Aside from unlike configurations, the heat efficiency of the
Here F is the fin efficiency factor and is evaluated as (Arabkoohsar heater is another different characteristic of each type. The biomass
et al., 2016): combustion reaction that occurred in the heater is written as (Khalid
et al., 2015):
Tanh(m(W−2 Do ))
F= m(W− Do )
(12) CHa Ob + wH2 O + n1 (O2 + 3.76N2 )→n2 H2 O + n3 CO2 + n4 O2 + n5 N2 (18)
2
Where n1-n5 is the mole number of input air and combustion prod­
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
m= UL /kδ (13) ucts, and w is the mass of wet biomass evaluated as (Sadi et al., 2021):
Mbiomass MC
where δ and k are the thickness and the thermal conductivity factor of w= (19)
18(1 − MC)
the absorber plate, respectively. Finally, defining the Cb, Do, and Di as
the bond conductance, the outer and inner diameters of risers, the heat mwater
removal factor is calculated as (Arabkoohsar et al., 2016): MC = (20)
mwet biomass
⎡ ⎤
ṁf .cp ⎣ − AC .UL .F’ ⎦ Here Mbiomass is the molecular mass of biomass, and MC is the
FR = 1 − exp( ) (14) moisture content of biomass. Furthermore, the energy balance for the
AC .UL ṁf .cp− f
incinerator, which is a prerequisite equation to determine the mole
number of air, can be written as below (Arabkoohsar and Sadi, 2020a,
3.1.2. Storage tank and heater 2020b):
In this study, a multi-node stratified storage tank is implemented to 0 0
save the extra produced energy for later use or balance the energy be­ hf − + w × hf − H2 O + n1 × 4.76 × hair
biomass
( ) ( )
tween the supply and demand. To find the temperature gradient inside 0 0 0
the tank, the N set of energy balance equation for each node in the = n2 hf − H2O + ΔhH2 O + n3 hf − CO2 + ΔhCO2 + n4 (hf − O2

transient state is written as following (Behzadi and Arabkoohsar, ( )

(21)
0
2020a): + ΔhO2 ) + n5 hf − N2 + ΔhN2

dTi
m i CP = αi ṁh CP (Th − Ti ) + βi ṁL CP (TL − Ti ) + UAi (Tenv − Ti ) + γ i CP (Ti− 1 − Ti ) + γi CP (Ti − Ti+1 ) (15)
dt

After writing thermodynamic equations for each subsystem, the

performance objectives should be calculated to determine the best sce­
In this equation, while ṁh, and Th are the mass flow rate and tem­ nario. Accordingly, the coefficient of performance as the efficiency in­
perature of water come back from the solar system, ṁL and TL are the dicator of the overall system is written as:
mass flow rate and temperature of the water going into the chiller,
Qcooling
respectively. Also, U is the tank’s loss coefficient, and αi, βi, and γ i are COP = (22)
Qsun + Qbiomass
control signals (0 or 1). The rate of heat from or to the tank is evaluated
as follow, respectively (Behzadi and Arabkoohsar, 2020b): Finally, the mass of biomass, which is an important parameter to
investigate and compare the performance of each heater and the type of

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Fig. 4. Flow chart of the energy, economic, environmental modeling, and optimization procedure based on genetic algorithm.

Fig. 5. a) The hourly variation of ambient temperature, b) duration curve of ambient temperature, c) the hourly variation of solar radiation, and b) duration curve of
solar radiation (Solar Energy Laboratory, 2006).

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Fig. 6. Variation of a) cooling demand of a hospital located in Ahmedabad and b) the indoor air temperature.

biomass, is calculated as: ∑N Ii +Mi +Fi

i=1 (1+r)i
Q̇demand − Q̇sun LCOC = ∑N (24)
(23)
Qcooling
ṁbiomass = i=1 (1+r)i
LHV biomass

In which, Q̇demand is the heat needed for running the absorption where i and r denote, respectively, the number of years and interest rate.
chiller. Moreover, the latest investment cost of every component of each sce­
nario, which is a required economic data, is tabulated in Table 4.
3.2. Economic and environmental assessment One of the most crucial priorities of the proposed off-grid renewable-
based system is lower environmental contamination than the conven­
In addition to thermodynamic comparison, each scenario is evalu­ tional systems due to the simultaneous use of solar energy and biomass
ated and compared from economic and environmental aspects to as a clean and carbon–neutral fuel. The ratio of generated carbon di­
determine the most cost-effective and environmental-friendly ones. oxide to the produced cooling load as the CO2 emission index is calcu­
Accordingly, defining Ii, Mi, and Fi as the investment, maintenance, and lated to compare each scenario from the environmental facet as below
fuel costs at the ith year, respectively, the Levelized cost of cooling (Fakhari et al., 2020):
(LCOC), which is an essential objective for an economic assessment, is
mass of generated carbon dioxide
calculated as follows: ε= (25)
produced cooling

Fig. 7. A) Daily duration curve, b) daily variation, and c) monthly variation of mass of biomass for each scenario.

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3.3. Dual-objective optimization

In designing engineering systems, we unavoidably face problems

with incompatible objectives needed to be satisfied simultaneously. It is
crystal clear that a lower emission index is obtained using more
expensive equipment in single-objective optimization. Also, when the
economic aspects need to be minimized, the environmental facets must
be sacrificed. A possible solution to address this issue is a dual-objective
optimization method reaching the best point on which both conflictive
objectives are optimized at the same time. In this study, a genetic al­
gorithm method is implemented via MATLAB software to simulta­
neously minimize the Levelized cost of cooling (Eq. (24)) and carbon
dioxide emission index (Eq. (25)) of the best scenario. In the genetic
algorithm method, numerous optimal points are generated through a
Fig. 8. Comparison of the levelized cost of cooling and emission index for
Pareto frontier diagram unexpectedly, among which one point has the
each scenario.
tremendous potential to be considered the best solution point. The flow
chart of the modeling and optimization procedure based on a genetic
algorithm is presented in Fig. 4. preheating the inlet air. Also, as shown, the lower the biomass’s heating
value, the greater the mass of biomass needed to provide the same heat
demand. Therefore, according to the figure, scenario 1, which is inte­
4. Results and discussion
grated with heater (a) using prosopis, has the highest mass of biomass
value. This is rational due to the lowest value of the efficiency of the
Thermodynamic, economic, and environmental assessment of each
heater (a) and the lowest heating value of prosopis compared to the
scenario is transiently performed via developed MATLAB code. In this
other types of heaters and biomass, respectively.
regard, time-dependent diagrams are extracted for a hospital in Ahme­
Furthermore, the figure indicates that of all kinds of biomass, the use
dabad, India, to compare the scenarios and determine the best config­
of woodchips leads to the lowest mass of biomass due to its highest
uration from each aspect. Moreover, applying the genetic algorithm
heating value. Accordingly, the figure shows the best scenarios at the
approach, dual-objective optimization is carried out to determine the
same operating condition: scenario 8 and scenario 9, equipped with
best scenario’s most suitable operating condition. Also, the optimum
heater (c) using wood chips and sugarcane baggas. The significance of
solution points of major decision parameters are determined through
cooling demand in India with a tropical and hot climate can also be
scatter distribution considering the minimum value of LCOC and CO2
concluded from Fig. 7(a). As depicted, in more than 220 days of the year,
emission index at the same time.
each scenario should work with more than 50% of the maximum mass of
The hourly variation and time duration curve of ambient tempera­
biomass capacity. Since the solar radiation increases from winter to
ture, along with the solar radiation of Ahmedabad, India, is represented
summer, the hospital’s cooling need increases; so, the inlet required
in Fig. 5. The figure indicates that while the minimum ambient tem­
mass of biomass increases too, as shown in the figure. Moreover, Fig. 7
perature is 7.36 ◦ C in the coldest hour of the year, it increases to 44 ◦ C in
(c) indicates that the lowest and highest monthly mass of biomass of
the hottest hour. The figure also shows that 43% of the year, the ambient
1363 kg/h and 29245 kg/h occurs in January and May for scenario 8
temperature is above 30 ◦ C, which is considerable. The figure also in­
and scenario 1, respectively.
dicates the significance of providing cooling demand in India because
The comparison of the levelized cost of cooling (LCOC) as the ratio of
only about 13% of the year, the ambient temperature drops below 20 ◦ C,
the sum of investment, maintenance, and fuel costs to the produced
and the weather is hot in the majority of the year. What stands out from
cooling in USD per kWh is shown for each scenario in Fig. 8. The figure
the bottom side of the figure is that the maximum hourly solar radiation
indicates that at the same operating condition, the scenarios fueled by
is 1.03 kWh. Moreover, the mild slope of the solar radiation duration
woodchips (Scenarios 2, 5, and 7) have a higher LCOC than the scenarios
curve reveals the excellence of India for the development of a solar-
fed by prosopis and sugarcane baggas due to the highest fuel cost of
based off-grid system due to a tropical and hot climate with the abun­
woodchips. Also, the effect of the type of heater on the system economic
dance of solar energy in the majority of the year.
aspect is shown in Fig. 8. The figure shows that albeit heater (c) is the
The variation of hourly cooling demand of a hospital located in
most expensive model, it has the lowest LCOC. This is reasonable due to
Ahmedabad, another required data to model the proposed system, and
the highest value of the combustion efficiency of the heater (c), leading
the indoor air temperature is depicted in Fig. 6. This variation over the
to the lowest inlet biomass. Therefore, for the same type of biomass,
year is calculated based on the building’s specification, local weather
scenarios 7, 8, and 9, which are equipped with heater (c), are econom­
information, and comfort regulations using TRNSYS software. Accord­
ically more suitable choices compared to scenarios integrated with
ing to the figure, while in the summer, the maximum cooling demand
heater (a) and (b). The figure further illustrates that using sugarcane
reaches up to 713.3 kW to have an indoor comfort temperature of 20 ◦ C
baggas costs the same as prosopis due to the same value of LCOC for the
(American Society of Heating, n.d.), it has a minimum baseload value of
same type of heater. Finally, the figure shows that scenario 7 has the
50 kW to supply the equipment’s demand (general uses) of the hospital
lowest LCOC of 0.046 USD/kWh because of the simultaneous use of
in winter. From the figure, it can be inferred that since some equipment
heater (c) and prosopis. Conversely, scenario 2 integrated with heater
needs cooling energy even in the coldest hour of the day, the cooling
(a) using woodchips with LCOC of 0.203 USD/kWh is the worst option
demand has a minimum non-zero baseload, as depicted in the figure.
from an economic standpoint, as presented in the figure.
According to Fig. 6(b), the indoor air temperature varies from the
Furthermore, the emission index is presented in Fig. 8 to analyze and
minimum value of 19.81 ◦ C to the maximum value of 31.72 ◦ C, indi­
compare each scenario from an environmental perspective. The com­
cating the significance of cold production in India.
parison is performed by investigating the influence of changing the type
Fig. 7 compares the daily duration curve, daily variation, and
of heater and biomass on the generated CO2 to the produced cooling
monthly variation of mass of biomass entering each scenario’s heater.
load. According to the figure, the value of emission index of scenarios
What stands out from the figure is that the heater’s lower efficiency, the
integrated with heater (c) is lower than the corresponding values of
more mass of biomass it requires. Therefore, heater (c) is the best option
scenarios equipped with heater (a) and heater (b) due to a higher
with the highest efficiency due to an extra air-to-air heat exchanger for

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0.0324 kg/kWh and 0.0325 kg/kWh, respectively. In essence, from

Fig. 7, Fig. 8, it can be concluded that scenario 9, comprising heater (c)
fed by sugarcane baggas, is the best scenario from thermodynamic,
economic, and environmental aspects. Therefore, in the next figures, the
feasibility of the proposed scenario is investigated in detail. It will be
optimized from dual-objective optimization aspects, i.e., economic and
environmental, using the genetic algorithm method.
The monthly variation of the average value of collector outlet tem­
perature for the best scenario, i.e., scenario 9, indicates that the collector
outlet temperature increases in cold months. It is reasonable since as the
ambient temperature and the cooling demand decrease in winter, the
mass rate of working fluid entering the collector decreases to one-third
of the maximum value. Hence, at a constant value of inlet solar energy,
the collector outlet temperature increases.
Fig. 9 illustrates the time duration curve of heat demand needed for
running the absorption chiller generator and the heat produced by the
Fig. 9. Time duration curve of heat demand and heat produced by the biomass- biomass-fired heater and solar collectors. Referring to the figure, the
based heater and solar system for the best scenario. solar collector with a maximum produced heat of 598.2 kWh can supply
the entire or a portion of the total heat demand in 4350 h, which is equal
efficiency resulting in a lower required inlet biomass as well as emitted to 49.5% of the year. This high value of operation hours indicates the
carbon dioxide under the same operating condition. The characteristic significance of a solar-based cooling system in India with a hot climate
of biomass is another significant factor influencing the environmental receiving sunlight all-round the days. Otherwise, when there isn’t
contamination of the proposed hospital cooling system. Accordingly, as enough solar radiation or at night, the cooling system’s heat demand is
the heating value of biomass decreases, the biomass feedstock increases; provided by the biomass-based heater. As depicted in the figure, the
hence, a higher carbon dioxide value will release into the atmosphere. biomass resource provides the required heat of the chiller system at 97%
As shown in the figure, for the same type of heater and under the same of the year (8530 h). Moreover, the figure reveals the importance of a
operating condition, woodchips and sugarcane baggas are, respectively, heat storage tank in storing the extra produced heat of the solar system.
the excellent option from the environmental facet. The figure further Accordingly, in 230 h of the year, the solar system and biomass-based
reveals that scenario 7, which is integrated with heater (c) using pro­ heater are off, and the required heat of the chiller system is supplied
sopis, has a higher emission index compared to scenario 5 and scenario by the heat storage tank, as shown in the figure.
6, comprising heater (b) with woodchips and sugarcane baggas as inlet
fuel, respectively. Eventually, the figure indicates that the worst sce­ Table 5
nario from environmental aspects is scenario 1, with an emission index Selected parameters and their domains as the input of the optimization.
of 0.109 kg/kWh. Driven Temperature of Chiller (◦ C) VHot Storage (m3) VCold Storage (m3)
Additionally, the figure reveals that scenario 8 and scenario 9 are the 85–95 50–500 100–300
best environmentally-friendly scenarios with a carbon dioxide index of

Fig. 10. Variation of heat demand and heat produced by the biomass-based heater and solar system for a day with the maximum cooling demand in a) winter, b)
spring, c) summer d) fall for the best scenario.

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A. Behzadi et al. Solar Energy 218 (2021) 639–651

and fall, the share of solar energy in providing the entire demand of the
cooling system is higher than biomass-fired heater in spring and sum­
mer. The figure further indicates that as the ambient temperature in­
creases from winter to summer, the heat demand value for cooling
production increases; so, the heater’s heat will increase. From the figure,
it can also be concluded that the sum of heat produced by the collector
and heater is not always equal to the total heat demand. In other words,
the extra produced heat by collectors is stored in a heat storage tank to
be used when there isn’t adequate solar radiation or at night.
Dual-objective optimization based on a genetic algorithm is imple­
mented to the best scenario, i.e., scenario 9, to find the most suitable
condition from economic and environmental aspects. For this, three
main parameters with an appropriate domain are selected to be opti­
mized, as tabulated in Table 5.
The levelized cost of cooling and CO2 emission index is contemplated
as the objective function for optimization goals. Pareto frontier diagram
Fig. 11. The Pareto frontier of the levelized cost of cooling and CO2 emis­ comprising the optimal points of the LCOC and emission index is
sion index. demonstrated in Fig. 11. Based on policymakers’ decisions, the desired
point, either A, B, or C, is selected. If minimizing the LCOC is the only
goal, point “A” with the value of 46.09 USD/MWh is a desirable con­
Table 6 dition. However, point “C” with a minimum emission index of 430.28
Results of dual-objective optimization at points A, B, and C. kg/MWh is a suitable condition from an environmental standpoint. As
Decision parameter Objective function depicted in the figure, since the ideal point is a junction of minimum
point Driven VHot VCold LCOC Emission LCOC and emission index, is not on the Pareto curve, the nearest point to
Temperature of Storage Storage (USD/ index (kg/ this ideal point is chosen as the best solution point, point “B.” According
3 3
Chiller (◦ C) (m ) (m ) MWh) MWh) to the figure, the LCOC and CO2 emission index value at the best solution
A 85.1 103.98 100.08 46.09 449.95 point is, respectively, 47.1 USD/MWh and 440.62 kg/MWh.
B 85.317 165.34 102.62 47.1 440.62 The optimum value of objective functions and main decision pa­
C 85.067 297.12 115.74 48.82 430.28 rameters at points A, B, and C are tabulated in Table 6.
Scatter distribution is presented in Fig. 12 to better illustrate the
The comparison of heat demand for running the cooling system and optimum domain of main decision parameters. According to Fig. 12(a),
the heat generated by the heater and solar system for a day with the since all of the optimal points of chiller temperature are around the
maximum cooling demand in each season is shown in Fig. 10 to inves­ lower bound, it is a sensitive parameter and should be kept at 85 ◦ C.
tigate the influence of ambient conditions on the proposed system. The From Fig. 12(b), it can be concluded that the optimum points of hot
comparison of seasonal variation indicates that in comparison to winter storage tank volume are distributed in the whole range from 50 m3 to

Fig. 12. Scatter distribution of a) chiller temperature b) volume of hot storage tank c) volume of the cold storage tank.

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