Energy CoraJers.Mgmt Vol. 37, No. I, pp.

51-58, 1996
Pergamon 0196-8904(95)00019-4 Copyright 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0196-8904/95 $9.50 + 0.00

I N V E S T I G A T I O N OF T H E R M A L P E R F O R M A N C E OF A SOLAR P O W E R E D A B S O R P T I O N R E F R I G E R A T I O N SYSTEM IBRAHIM DINCER,t MUSTAFA EDIN and I. ENGIN TURE

Department of Energy Systems, Tubitak-Marmara Research Centre, Gebze 41470, Kocaeli, Turkey

(Received 25 April 1994; receivedfor publication 8 February 1995)

Abstract--It is well known that the energy consumption of refrigerating and air-conditioning units is as high as heating systems. It is also clear that cooling loads and availability of solar radiation are approximately in phase. Turkey is located in an ideal position to benefit from solar energy for not only water-heating but also cooling. The use of solar powered absorption refrigerating and air-conditioning systems will save energy, especially in the summer season. The contribution of these systems to the Turkish energy sector and, consequently, to the economy will be considerably high. In this study, a combined water-heating and cooling system based on absorption refrigeration was designed and constructed. The system consists of four flat plate collectors, an evaporator, an absorber, a generator, a condenser, a solution pump and two heat exchangers. Each part was custom designed to provide 4000 kcal/h cooling load. In this system, a mixture of R22 and DMETEG (DiMethyl Ether Tetra Ethylene Glycol) is used as the working fluid. The R22, which has a less damaging effect on the ozone layer compared to other CFCs, was employed as refrigerant. The thermodynamic results of the experimental system were compared with theoretical calculations, and a reasonably good agreement was found. The results show that the present system is efficient and effective. Solar energy Absorption refrigeration system Experimental and theoretical COP

NOMENCLATURE
C O P = Coefficient of performance

Cp

Specific heat (kJ/kgC)

(m2/collector) G = Flow rate of circulation pump (l/min) h = Enthalpy (kJ/kg) L = Latitude n = Number of collectors M = Flow rate of water in collector system (1/day) m= Mass flow rate (kg/h) Q= Heat load (kW) Qth Average solar radiation on horizontal surface (kcal/m2 day) Qo Useful solar heat collected by collector system (kcal/m 2 day) P = Pressure (bar) R = Conversion factor from horizontal surface to inclined surface S = Collector angle T = Temperature (C) V = Volume of water tank (m3) W-- Pump heat load (kW) Factor (m3/m2 collector) Factor (l/m2 min collector)

Pc= Collector area (m2) f= Manufacturer's factor

E = Efficiency

Subscript
a= c= cw = e= g= m= p = weak solution; absorber condenser; collector cooling water evaporator generator; refrigerant collector system

pump r = required s = strong solution; tap water w = water circulated in collector system

?To whom all correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 3P6. 51

52

DINCER et aL: THERMALPERFORMANCEOF A REFRIGERATION SYSTEM INTRODUCTION

During the last few decades, an increasing interest, based on research and development, has been concentrated on utilization of non-conventional energy sources, namely solar energy, wind energy, tidal waves, biogas, geothermal energy, hydropower, hydrogen energy, etc. Among these sources, solar energy, which is an energy source for cooling applications, is a highly popular source due to the following facts: direct and easy usability, renewable and continuity, maintaining the same quality, being safe, being free, being environment friendly and not being under the monopoly of anyone. The absorption refrigeration system, which has some advantages, such as silent operation, high reliability, long service life, simpler capacity control mechanism, easier implementation, and low maintenance, is widely acknowledged as a prospective candidate for efficient and economic use of solar energy for cooling applications. Also, the absorption refrigeration cycle is usually a preferable alternative, since it uses the thermal energy collected from the sun without the need to convert this energy into mechanical energy as required by the vapor compression cycle. Also, the absorption cycle uses thermal energy at a lower temperature than that dictated by the vapor compression cycle [1-8]. The average period and total incident radiation for Turkey are 2640 h/yr and 290 W/m 2, respectively. These values are found to be much higher than the average values for the European countries, which are 1500 h/yr and 105 W / m 2, respectively. In this respect, Turkey is situated in the most advantageous position in Europe. The use of solar powered absorption refrigeration systems will save energy, especially during the summer season. The contribution of these systems to the Turkish energy sector and, consequently, to the economy will be considerably high [2, 10]. More than 25% of the total energy in the world is consumed for heating and cooling of buildings and provision of hot water. Therefore, the diversion of this particular energy demand to an alternate source would result in a substantial reduction in nations' dependence on fossil fuels. The annual incidence of solar energy on buildings in the U.S.A. is several times the amount required to heat these buildings; approx. 10t5 kWh of solar energy are received on earth annually. It has been projected that by the year 2020, from 25 to 50% of the thermal energy for buildings could be provided from the sun [4]. Solar operated absorption refrigeration systems have, so far, achieved limited commercial viability because of their high cost-benefit ratios. The main factor responsible for this drawback is the low coefficient of performance (COP) associated with these systems, which generally operate on conventional thermodynamic cycles and with common working fluid combinations. In order to improve the performance of solar driven refrigeration systems, it is essential to investigate the possibility of the application of alternative working fluids, operating on new thermodynamic cycles. Attempts are made to develop solar powered systems for cooling applications, but they are not yet economical. Although vapor absorption refrigeration systems are suitable for use with solar energy, existing absorption systems show limitations in the evaporator temperature range -20-10C. It is widely realized that new refrigerant-absorbent combinations may be more suitable [2, 6]. The cycle efficiency and operation characteristics of an absorption unit are dependent on the properties of the refrigerant, the absorbent and their mixtures. The most important criteria for the selection of the working fluids are vapor pressure, solubility, density, viscosity and thermal stability. Knowledge of these properties and the calculation of the major characteristic parameters affecting performance, size and cost of an absorption refrigeration unit is required. Limited studies have been conducted on absorption refrigeration systems using new alternative working fluids[6, 9, 11-16]. In these studies, several alternate refrigerant-absorbent combinations have been investigated, and the results of these working fluids, as NH3-H2 O, R123a-ETFE, R22-DMETEG, R123a-DTG, R123a-DTrG, have been presented. The main objective of this study is to present the results of experimental and theoretical performances of a solar energized absorption refrigeration system using R22 and DMETEG as the working fluid.

MATHEMATICAL

MODELING

A theoretical analysi s was undertaken in order to estimate the required heat capacities and parameters, as well as the properties, before implementing the design of the solar powered

D I N C E R et al.:

T H E R M A L P E R F O R M A N C E OF A R E F R I G E R A T I O N SYSTEM

53

absorption refrigeration system. This analysis section includes the modeling for both the solar collector and the absorption refrigeration units [2].

Solar collector system The following modelling is used to estimate the parameters in terms of solar radiation, useful solar heat, collector area, number of collectors, water tank capacity, water pump power, etc. This is given below:

Q~=Qth. R.E.Em.Eg Q~=m'Cp'(T~-Ts) F~=Q~/Q. n =Fdf V=E-Fc G=f.Fc

S=L.0.9.

(1) (2) (3) (4)

(5)
(6) (7)

Absorption refrigeration system In order to obtain the parameters and their values for designing the solar energized absorption cooling system, the following assumptions are made: (a) single-stage system, (b) perfect heat exchange between the strong and weak solutions and (c) pressure drops are neglected in the components of the system. Detailed knowledge on the simulation technique is given in Refs [2, 9]. The following calculation procedure can be applied. Absorber
Energy balance ma" hi .mg. hi3
-

ms" h2 - -

Qa = 0

(8)

Mass balance m~ + mg - ms = 0

(9)

where state 2 is a saturated liquid at the lowest temperature in the absorber, determined by the temperature of the available cooling water.

Solution pump
Wp - ms(h 3 - h2) = 0 where T3 = 7"2 is considered, and the compression is assumed isothermal.
i

(10)

Expansion valve 1 h7=h ~

(11)

where equation (11) is valid for the isenthalpic pressure reduction. It is assumed that the liquid before the expansion valve is subcooled to a temperature lower than the bubble point temperature at Pc-

Heat exchanger 1 ms(h4-h3)-ma(h6-h7)=O. Generator

ms" h4 + Qg - ma" h6 - mg. hs = 0

(12)

(13)

where the temperature 7'5, which is the highest temperature in the generator, is determined by the temperature of the hot water supplied from the solar collector system.

54
Condenser

DINCER et al.: THERMALPERFORMANCEOF A REFRIGERATIONSYSTEM

Qc -- ms"(ha - - h 9 ) = 0 where the temperature T9 is determined by the temperature of the cooling air.
Heat exchanger 2

(14)

mg(h9 - hlo) - ms(hi3 - h|2) = 0.

Expansion valve 2

05)
(16)

hll = ht0.
Evaporator

0 (17) where the temperature T~I is determined by the arriving temperature of the medium to be cooled. The overall energy balance of the absorption cooling system (assuming no losses to the environment) can be written as
=

Qe - ms(hi2 - hll)

Qe+ Qg+ Wp = Qc + QaThe coefficient of performance (COP) of the system is defined as COP = (QdQg + Wp).
EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

(18) (19)

The experimental system used a working fluid combining R22 as refrigerant and DMETEG as absorbent. The cycle efficiencyand operational characteristics of an absorption refrigeration system are dependent on the properties of the refrigerant, the absorbent and their relative mixtures. The combination of R22 and DMETEG has been suggested as one new alternative combination and was employed in the present system. mg
8~

I
I Condens~/~Qc 9

~~
,/'\

Gen;iv~QI g

13 m 10 12t .~ Expansion Ill~l~valve

Pcl

PI
W Pump

7 Expansion 1 XValve bsorber Water in 2 Water out

[ Evaporator Evaporat [//Qe

Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of the solar powered absorption refrigeration system.

DINCER et al.:

THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF A REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

55

A schematic diagram of the solar powered absorption refrigeration system built in the Solar Energy Laboratory of the Energy Systems Department at Marmara Research Centre is depicted in Fig. 1. Generally, the system is considered as one which incorporates solar energy equipment with a conventional absorption refrigerating unit. The basic elements of the system were four fiat-plate collectors, an evaporator, an absorber, a generator, a condenser, a solution pump and two heat exchangers. The system has been designed specifically to provide 4000 kcal/h cooling load in the evaporator. Although the construction of the components of the system follows closely that of Van Den Buick et al. [13], some modifications were introduced into the individual components of the system, not only to achieve the desired design parameters, but also to improve the operation of the absorption refrigeration system. For instance, a 1.2 m long and 1.3 cm dia copper pipe with 2 mm holes in every 3 cm of length was employed in the absorber to provide a homogeneous, fast and effective absorption of DMETEG and R22 vapor. The operation of the system can be described as follows. Starting from the change of R22 from liquid to gas via the throttling effect of the expansion valve, the resulting R22 vapor begins to absorb heat from its immediate surroundings in a conventional natural convection type evaporator. Cool vapor leaving the evaporator passes through the second heat exchanger into the absorber, where it combines with DMETEG which absorbs the gaseous R22. Absorption proceeds because of the chemical affinity between the absorbent DMETEG and refrigerant R22 molecules. This absorption activity lowers the pressure in the absorber to cause the vapor to flow from the evaporator. When the vapor goes into liquid solution, it releases both its latent heat and heat of dilution. This energy release has to be continuously dissipated by the cooling water. When the effective cooling is achieved, the process continues until the liquid solution reaches the equilibrium saturation condition, which exists for each absorber temperature and pressure. Because of physical limitations, complete equilibrium saturation may not be reached in the absorber, and the strong liquid leaving the absorber may not be as fully saturated with R22 as its pressure and temperature 165 160 155 150 145 140
eL0 135
m

130 125 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 85 80 75 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

Weight fraction (~)

Fig. 2. Enthalpy-coneentration diagram for the combination of the R22-DMETEG [1 l].

56

DINCER et

al.:

THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF A REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

would require. The resulting liquid solution reaches the equilibrium saturation condition consistent with the temperature and pressure of the absorbent. This strong solution, fully saturated with R22, now passes through a solution pump which raises the pressure, passing it through the first heat exchanger and into the generator. The generator, meanwhile, is being heated by circulating hot water in the higher pressure portion of the system, whose heat is derived from the solar collectors. The temperature of the strong R 2 2 / D M E T E G solution increases, driving off R22 and a small amount of D M E T E G vapor. The weak solution returns to the absorber through the first heat exchanger, while warming the upward flowing strong solution. It is then throttled into the absorber by the expansion valve, to be further cooled as it picks up a new charge of R22 coming from the second heat exchanger. Meanwhile, the hot R22 vapor driven off in the generator passes to the condenser where it loses energy and passes into the liquid phase. The liquid R22, after passing through the second heat exchanger, experiences a drop in pressure and enters the evaporator as the low portion of the system to complete the cycle. The reduction in pressure through this valve 2 facilitates the vaporization of R22 which ultimately effects the heat removal from the environment. The cycle is completed when the desired cooling load is achieved in the evaporator. It can be seen that there are essentially three circuits for the absorption cooling system: (a) the almost pure R22 circuit--condenser, heat exchanger 2, evaporator and heat exchanger 2 to the absorber; (b) the strong solution circuit--absorber, pump and heat exchanger 1 to the generator; and (c) the weak solution circuit--from the generator through the heat exchanger 1 and into the absorber. R E S U L T S AND D I S C U S S I O N All the required parameters for the design of a solar powered absorption cooling system were obtained by using calculation techniques for the individual components. In the theoretical calculations for the design of the absorption refrigeration system, an enthalpy-concentration diagram for the R 2 2 - D M E T E G pair (Fig. 2) was used. Some obtained results are as follows: T l . . . T B = 39, 30, 30, 65, 90, 87, 53, 82, 40, 27, - 5 , - 5 and 20C; Tow= 20C; Pe = 4.8 bar; Pc = 16 bar; Qe = 4.65 kW; Q = 5.0 kW; Qa = 7.5 kW; Qg = 7.6 kW; Wp = 0.25 kW; COP = 0.6; ms = 290.6 kg/h; mg = 90.0 kg/h; ma = 200.6 kg/h. In addition, some results related to the collector system are as follows: L = 4046'; S = 36; Qth = 4313 kcal/m2-day; R =-1.08; Ec = 0.65; Em = 0.60; E~ = 0.80; Tw = 45C; Ts = 18-7C; Qu = 1450 kcal/m2-day; m = 420 kg/day; Cp = 1 kcal/kg-C; F = 8 m2; n = 4; V = 0.48 m3; G = 8 l/min; El = 0.06 m3/m2; ~ = 1 1/min.m2; Qr = 11,046 kcal/day.

1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 L~ 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 20
i I I i I i I I I

Theoretical <> Experimental

22

24

26

28

30

Ta-Te (C) Fig. 3. Variation of COP vs evaporator temperature.

DINCER et al.: THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF A REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

1.0--

57

0.90.80.7-

0.60.50.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 80

I I I I I I I I I I [ I I I I I I [ I

Theoretical Experimental

82

84

86

88

90 Tg (C)

92

94

96

98

100

Fig. 4. Variation of COP vs generator temperature.

Under a working regime, the measured experimental and theoretical values were used to derive the values of COP which were plotted against the variations in evaporator temperature. This graph is shown as Fig. 3. In order to eliminate the negative evaporator temperatures, the term, (Ta - Te) was used, where T, is the initial evaporator temperature, and its average value was around 20C. The experimental evaporator temperature values, which were found to be lower than that of the theoretical ones, clearly indicated some heat losses in the system. Similarly, when the actual and theoretical values of COP were plotted against the variation of generator temperature (Fig. 4), a slight increase in COP with increasing temperature was observed. This indicated that the operation performance of the system can be considered stable in that range of temperatures. This will allow absorption refrigeration systems to be successfully used in almost all regions of Turkey. Although the cost of the system is slightly more than that of compression refrigerators of equivalent performance, it is believed that the basic design is amenable to low cost mass production techniques. This makes it attractive for wide spread use, especially in developing countries. In addition, it must be remembered that this system was developed and built as a one-off research prototype. Refinement of the manufacturing process and economical selection of materials will further reduce the cost per unit. CONCLUSIONS A R22-DMETEG absorption refrigeration system was designed and built to achieve a design parameter of 4000 kcal/h cooling load. The coefficient of performance (COP) for theory and experiment were found to be 0.6 and 0.45, respectively, at a generator temperature of 90C. It should be noted that, although R22-DMETEG was a very satisfactory fluid from the point of view of performance, due to the hazardous effect of R22 on the ozone layer, this substance must be replaced by another which does not have such a detrimental effect on the environment. Our current research is assessing the viability of using R134a instead of R22. The preliminary test results indicated that the production of absorption refrigeration systems will be very beneficial, especially in poor and developing countries. Nevertheless, an economic analysis should be made before such a system is manufactured for marketing.
REFERENCES
1. I. Dincer, Muhendis ve Makina 386, 22 (1992) (in Turkish). 2. I. Dincer and I. E. Ture, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency, p. 198, Ankara (1993).

58

DINCER et al.: THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF A REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

3. I. Dincer, I. E. Ture and M. Edin, Proceedings of the Energy Conservation Seminar, p. 236, lstanbul (1993). 4. A. R. Patton, Solar Energy for Heating and Cooling of Buildings. Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge (1975). 5. C. A. Zuritz and H. Perez-Blanco, A novel solar assisted absorption refrigeration system for cold storage of perishable agricultural products. Presented at International Congress COLD'92, Buenos Aires (1992). 6. K. Stephan, Int. J. Refrig. 6, 160 (1983). 7. L. Mattarolo, Int. J. Refrig. 6, 371 (1982). 8. G. Lorentzen, Int. J. Refrig. 2, 3 (1979). 9. H. J. H. Knudsen, Static simulation of absorption refrigeration system. IIR-Commission B, B2, El and E2-Mons (Belgium), p. 239 0980). 10. Anon., Turkish solar energy potential. E1EI Report, Ankara 0983). I I. M. Jelinek, I. Yaron and I. Borde, Measurement of vapour-liquid equilibria and determination of enthalpyconcentration diagrams of refrigerant absorbent combinations. I.I.R.-Commisions Bl, B2, El, E2-Mons (Belgium, p. 57 (1980). 12. P. Dung Dan and S. S. Murthy, Int. J. Energy Res. 13, 1 (1989). 13. E. Van Den Buick, J. Trommelmans and J. Berghmans, Proceedings of Solar Energy for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, LI.R. Comm. El-E2, March 14 15, 83 (1982). 14. R. E. Critoph, Sol. Energy 41, 21 (1988). 15. R. K. Suri, K. Al-Madani and S. Ayyash, Sol. Energy 32, 181 (1984). 16. D. S. Ward, Sol. Energy 22, 259 (1979).