Experimental analysis of different small scale combined cooling, heating and power systems based on a natural gas-fired reciprocating internal combustion engine

In the last decade Southern European countries during warm seasons have been interested by an increasing energy demand forspace cooling in domestic and light commercial sectors generally satisfied by electrically-driven units; the consequence of thischange has required an increase electric power generation capacity and a summer electric peak load with the related problem ofelectric black-out. This situation has produced an increasing interest to small scale polygeneration systems fuelled by naturalgas, especially in the warmer countries. An usually adopted polygeneration system in industrial and tertiary sector (hotel,sports centres, …) consists of a cogenerator coupled to a cooling energy “production” system generally based on a thermallyactivated heat hump, such as an absorption heat pump. Currently, thanks to a strong effort in R&D activity, small scaleabsorption and adsorption heat pumps, that could be driven by thermal energy delivered by cogeneration systems, are availableon the market; in this way the problem due to the use of thermal energy available from cogenerator during hot season could besolved, even if, these thermal activated equipments have low performance. Further systems that could be considered are hybridHVAC system equipped with a desiccant wheel where the cogenerator supplies thermal power to the regeneration of thesorption material of the desiccant wheel and electric power for air handling unit self consumptions (fans, pumps, …) and todrive the electric chiller. A further polygeneration system consists of an electric heat pump driven by the electricity deliveredby a cogenerator. In this configuration it is important to find the right user that can use as much thermal energy available fromcogenerator as possible particularly in cooling mode. This paper deals with the experimental analysis, directed to energyconversion efficiency evaluation, of different small scale polygeneration systems located in the Southern Italy. These systemsare driven by the same cogenerator, that is based on a natural gas-fired reciprocating internal combustion engine.