Review on solar assisted air conditioning for hospitals isolation units

Abstract

Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Turkey, 19-21 July, 2010.

Hospitals and hospital special units for example operation theatres, isolation units, laboratories are not like any other commercial property as they are required to operate special HVAC systems. To build an effective HVAC system design to enhance the air quality in the healthcare facilities is a great challenge. Indoor air Quality (IAQ) is more critical in healthcare facilities due to the hazardous microbial and chemical agents present and the increased susceptibility of the patients and health care staff. In certain areas, air handling unit dampers are forced to be fully open to allow for 100% of air extraction and, hypo filters are used in conjunction with dampers to ensure the quality of air during twenty four working hours seven days a week. Using no recycled air means more energy, more money and more gas emissions. Solar air conditioning systems can be constructed in a way that eliminates the need for refrigerants such as, Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC). Solar cooling systems are a nice tool for the exploitation of solar energy. They have the advantage of using absolutely harmless working fluids such as water, or a salt solution. They are energy efficient and environmentally safe. They can be used either as stand­-alone systems or with conventional AC, to improve the indoor air quality of all types of buildings. The main goal is to utilize "zero emissions" technologies in order to reduce energy consumption as well as the CO2 emissions.