STUDY, DESIGN AND FABRICATION

OF A SOLAR POWERED ABSORPTION

REFRIGERATION SYSTEM
 INTRODUCTION
Air-conditioning is the dominant energy consuming service in buildings in many countries.
The world demand for cooling and dehumidification of indoor air is growing due to
increasing comfort expectations and increasing cooling loads, as well as building
architectural characteristics and trends.
The main type of systems used for air-conditioning of buildings, are vapor compression
systems. These systems have high energy consumption, cause high electricity peak loads
and employ chlorine bearing refrigerants which have negative environmental impacts.
Bearing in mind that in Pakistan there are prevailing electricity shortages and ever
increasing energy prices, there is now a great need for cooling systems that use working
cycles that are reasonably priced and can be driven by renewable energy sources.

The earths surface receives a daily solar

dose of 10E+8 kw-hr, which is equivalent
to 500 000 billion oil barrels that is one
thousand times any oil reserve known to
man.
 In hot climates, one energy source abundantly available is solar energy, which could
be used to power solar cooling system based on absorption cycle.
Lithium bromide (LiBr)-water absorption units are more suitable for solar
application since their operating (generator) temperature is lower and thus more
readily obtainable with low-cost solar collectors.
Conventional vapor-compression cooling systems are powered by electricity, which
is expensive and its production is mainly dependent on fossil fuel. Reducing the use
of vapor-compression air conditioning systems will also reduce their effect on
global warming and ozone layer depletion.

Today absorption chillers

deliver 50% of the
commercial space
cooling load worldwide.
 AIM & OBJECTIVE
It show the extremely high heat transfer coefficient
in the dropwise condensation regime, occur due to
The aim of project is surface tension instability (one in which the surface
tension ofofthe
Study, design and fabrication mixture
a solar has aabsorption
powered negative gradient with system.
refrigeration
the mass fraction of the volatile component, such as
To See the effect of water
adding- using pinand
ethanol fin tubes
water to the system.mixtures.)
- ammonium
To see the effect of using Marangoni Condensation effect by adding Ethanol.
To make effective refrigerator using solar energy.
To make use in rural areas.
Pollution free system.
Refrigeration system having low maintenance cost
One time investment with minimum running expense to make refrigerator with less
moving parts
 LITERATURE REVIEW
Some of the works carried earlier on absorption system usage for cooling purpose
supports the fact.
M. Carmo Elvas et.al: In 1858 a French scientist named Ferdinand Carr invented
an absorption cooling system using water and sulphuric acid.
K. Lingeswaran et.al: He explained the working process of absorption refrigeration
system by giving heat energy using parabolic reflector and he also stated that
working range is 80-150C with 35% concentration ammonia and he used helium to
maintain the constant pressure of 8 bars. He also explained the dimensions of
required parabolic reflectors to achieve effective refrigeration.
Dharamvir Mangal et.al: He suggests evacuated vacuum tube over flat plate solar
collectors. Vacuum tube uses thermo siphon system, it has two tubes separated by
vacuum which reduces the conductive and convective heat loss from tube, as a
result it is more efficient than flat plate collector this paper also gives
specification of evacuated vacuum tube.
 Dimitrios A. Kouremenos et.al: He compares H2/NH3 and he2/NH3 gas mixture by
considering all type of boundary conditions like thermodynamic properties
(enthalpy, entropy..Etc.) And transportation properties(density, viscosity.Etc.).
Then he concludes by saying that helium is better substitute to hydrogen for
ammonia absorption system.
O.B Akinbisoye et.al: They used activated carbon & methanol as refrigerant and he
analyzed the amount of heat absorbed in different time intervals during the day
and results are plotted by using graphs. The amount of heat absorbed or rejected
during each process is studied and given formula to calculate. He has used flat
plate solar collector to run the refrigerator.
R T Dobson et.al: He describes a natural circulation of closed loop thermosyphon
system that can transfer heat over large distances without any moving parts such
as active control sand pumps. In this paper, a theoretical basis on which to analysis
and predict the flow and heat transfer per the physical layout of the loop to be
theoretically modelled in this paper.
 SOLAR ENERGY AND ABSORPTION AIR-CONDITIONING
SYSTEMS
SOLAR ENERGY
Sun is a continuous fusion reactor in which hydrogen is turned into helium. Total
energy output from the sun is 3.8 x 10 20 MW, which is equal to 63 MW/m2 of
sun surface. Earth receives only a tiny fraction of this emitted energy, equal to 1.74
x 1011 MW (or 341 W/ m2 average). However, even with this small fraction, it is
estimated that 84 minutes of solar radiations falling on earth can satisfy world
energy demand for one year (about 900 E joules).
The amount of solar energy available at any specified place depends upon three factors:
Location (latitude and longitude)
Date
Time of the day
SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTION
The major component of a solar thermal air conditioning system is solar collector. These are
heat exchangers that absorb solar radiation energy, convert it into heat and transfer this heat
to heat transfer fluid (air, water or oil).This collected thermal energy either can be used
directly for air-conditioning or can be stored in thermal energy storage tanks for later use at
night times when sun is not available. There are two types of solar collectors: stationary (non-
concentrating) and concentrating.
Solar Collector
Two classifications are stationary collectors and axis tracking collectors. Stationary collectors
are selected for this study since they are relatively cheap and easily available.
Flat plate vs. Evacuated tube collector
Flat plate collector (FPC) type of collector which absorbs the incident solar radiation on a
flat surface whose absorptivity is very high and transmit that energy to fluid running through
different channels. FPC is by far the most used type of collector. They are inefficient for
high temperature applications such as steam generation but are cost effective for low
temperature applications. Well established technology and higher life time are few of the
desirable properties. Disadvantages include increased heat losses at higher temperatures due
to highly exposed surface area and inability to bear intensive weathering conditions.
 Evacuated tube collector (ETC) comprises of many evacuated tubes connected in
series that absorb solar radiation and convert them to thermal energy. The outer
tube has small reflectivity and absorptivity but high transmissivity. The space
between outer and inner tube is vacuum (hence the name evacuated) so that no
convective heat loss takes place. The inner plate has high absorptivity and it
performs the function of transferring this energy as heat to the fluid. This
construction ensures its efficient performance at high temperatures.
For a given absorber area, evacuated tubes can maintain their efficiency over a
wide range of ambient temperatures and heating requirements. Another advantage
is easy maintenance of such systems due to modular design of the commercially
available collectors. One disadvantage is that efficiency is strongly dependent on
weather conditions. It drops significantly in cloudy or rainy weather.
 SOLAR ABSORPTION SYSTEM MODELLING
Solar absorption system consists of two portions. First one is solar portion
consisting of solar collectors, storage tank and auxiliary heater etc. Second portion
consists of the absorption cycle, cooling tower and refrigerated space.
Absorption cycle thermodynamically, constitutes a heat engine driving a heat pump.
The absorption cooling cycle can be described in three phases:
Evaporation: A liquid refrigerant evaporates in a low partial pressure environment,
thus extracting heat from its surroundings the refrigerator.
Absorption: the gaseous refrigerant is absorbed dissolved into another liquid -
reducing its partial pressure in the evaporator and allowing more liquid to
evaporate.
Regeneration: the refrigerant-laden liquid is heated, causing the refrigerant to
evaporate. It is then condensed in condenser to replenish the supply of liquid
refrigerant in evaporator.
 METHODOLOGY
In the experimental setup of vapor absorption refrigeration system, different pin
fin dimension tubes and ethanol will be used. The whole setup will consist of
condenser, expansion valve, evaporator, absorber, pump, generator and pin-fin
tubes.
 Condenser:just like in the traditional condenser of the vapor compression cycle,
the refrigerant enters the condenser at high pressure and temperature and gets
condensed.
Expansion valve or restriction:when the refrigerant passes through the
expansion valve, its pressure and temperature reduces suddenly. This refrigerant
(ammonia in this case) then enters the evaporator.
Evaporator:the refrigerant at very low pressure and temperature enters the
evaporator and produces the cooling effect. This refrigerant flows to the absorber
that acts as the suction part of the refrigeration cycle.
Absorber:the absorber is a sort of vessel consisting of water that acts as the
absorbent, and the previous absorbed refrigerant. Thus the absorber consists of
the weak solution of the refrigerant and absorbent .
 Pump:when the absorbent absorbs the refrigerant strong solution
of refrigerant-absorbent (ammonia-water) is formed. This solution is
pumped by the pump at high pressure to the generator. Thus pump
increases the pressure of the solution to about 10bar.
Generator:the refrigerant-ammonia solution in the generator is
heated by solar energy. Due to heating the temperature of the
solution increases. The refrigerant in the solution gets vaporized and
it leaves the solution at high pressure. The high pressure and the
high temperature refrigerant then enters the condenser.
 RESULT EXPECTED

As suggested by the previous researchers, it expected that

the COP of absorption refrigeration is between 0.104 to
0.12 an average of 0.11.
We are expected that after our experimental work
methodology we can increase its cop up-to 0.14.
 UTILIZATION OF RESEARCH RESULT

The increased surface area result by using pin fin tube with
best geometry like circumferential fin spacing, pin height
and optimum vapor velocity and ethanol can be used in new
designed condensers to increase the heat transfer and
overall COP of the absorption refrigeration system.