Design, development and evaluation of a solar powered absorption cooling system for South African conditions

Abstract

Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.

Solar assisted adsorption cooling is one current research area where scientists study the development of new and safe cooling technologies; so that the conventional vapour compression refrigeration; with its many disadvantages; might be discarded. It has been investigated during the last decade, with some success. One problem facing researchers is to do detail comparisons for the two systems on the cost effectiveness, so that the best option is identified. This study presents an experimental analysis of a solar assisted adsorption fridge, and compares its cost effectiveness with the conventional vapour compression system, so that a cost effective fridge can be found for South African conditions. The machine is operated by a solar powered flat plate, with collectors containing the adsorbent. The adsorbent – adsorbate pair chosen for this study is water and silica gel. The cooling machine was designed, developed and tested. Preliminary results show that chilled water at temperatures of 6 0C and 12 0C is produced. The cost effective comparisons shows that a solar adsorption cooling machine represent an energy saving machine with a good economic competitiveness.