Experimental Assessment of the Influence of the Design on the Performance of Novel Evaporators with Latent Energy Storage Ability  
[PERSON]  
1 GREIA Research Group, Universitat de Lleida, Pere [PERSON] s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (B.D.M. ); gabriel.zsembinszki@ud. In response to these essential concerns and to develop more compact and efficient systems, recent studies focused on developing three-media heat exchangers. Major contributions noted in the literature include the recent outputs obtained within the HYBUILD project involving novel \"refrigerant-PCM-HTF heat exchangers\" acting as evaporators and desuperheaters [13]. For the first case, where the novel \"refrigerant-PCM-HTF exchangers\" are used as the evaporators, the studies include the introduction of the novel concept of compact direct integration of PCM into a refrigeration system performed in [14]. The study included a parametric analysis that assessed the charging and discharging of the novel evaporator-TES module focusing on the PCM behaviour. The results showed that a homogenous charging of the PCM was achieved at a lower compressor power, whereas charging at a higher compressor power led to a pronounced stratification effect and compressor shutdown for security reasons before the PCM was completely charged. Another study consisted of a detailed energy analysis highlighting the energy contribution in each material and the performance of the whole component in three operating modes and different boundary conditions [15]. The results showed that the highest charging/discharging power was around the PCM phase change temperature and, although the sensible material accounted for 87% of the total weight, more than 54% of the energy was stored in the PCM, due to its high energy density. Moreover, a study was carried out on the novel evaporator-TES module in a complex hybrid system that includes a sorption module working as a topping cycle in a cascade configuration of a compression heat pump (HP) [16]. The results showed that the energy efficiency of the heat pump in cascade operation was double compared with compression-only configuration and that, when the system operated in simultaneously charging and discharging of the latent storage mode in a cascade configuration, there was no penalization in terms of efficiency compared with the compression-only configuration. Furthermore, an energy assessment was performed based on a semi-dynamic model of a vapour compression chiller coupled with the novel evaporator-TES module [17]. The model was built in TRNSYS, based on custom-built lumped parameters, and was used to assess the performance of the proposed system on annual basis. The results indicated an enhanced solar fraction, especially for partial cooling loads, and enhanced performance when using the system with the novel module in comparison with the conventional system. In the second case, where the novel modules are used as the desuperheater in HPs, the studies developed include a techno-economic analysis to optimize the size of the novel three-media module in [18]. In the study, a model of the whole system was developed and validated to assess the performance of the system operated for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water (DHW) in three buildings of different typology, located at three climate zones. The results showed increased energy savings with the novel module compared with a standard system, and significant energy savings in hot climates, whereas from an economic point of view the system is more suitable in a low-energy building in cold climates. Furthermore, a dynamic system operation and control was examined, with the novel module used as a desuperheater in the HP to generate DHW more efficiently by taking profit of the hot refrigerant at the compressor discharge in [19; 20]. The PCM charging and discharging, as well as three-fluids HEX operating mode were analysed, based on several weeks of operation.