A Case Study on Solar Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System

Introduction:
Solar refrigeration is used in areas with high insolation levels; where there is a demand for
cooling and the grid power is expensive. Vapour absorption based refrigeration system uses
process heat in a generator as main source of energy to run such system. Many industrial units
generate thermal energy by burning fossil fuel whereas a few uses indirect heat from steam.
After the process, heat is rejected to the surrounding as waste. This waste heat can be recovered
and used in a heat operated refrigeration system, such as an absorption refrigeration cycle. In this
study, the absorption of solar energy as the primary source of energy for an intermittent
absorption refrigeration system is investigated. The energy emitted by the Sun in the form of heat
can be harnessed easily using such technologies.

Klien et al. (2005), reported the sustainability of solar energy. It mentions that refrigeration
systems that use environment friendly refrigerants provide sustainability when compared to other
refrigerant selections. Absorption refrigeration is the least intuitive of the solar refrigeration
alternatives. Unlike the photovoltaic cell driven vapour compression system and hybrid solar
mechanical refrigeration options, the vapour absorption refrigeration system is considered a
“heat driven” system that requires minimal mechanical power for the compression process. It
replaces the energy-intensive compression in a conventional vapour compression system with a
heat activated “thermal compression system”. Ammonia vapour exiting the evaporator is
absorbed in a liquid solution of water-ammonia in the absorber. The process is exothermic and
cooling water is required to carry away the heat of absorption. The principle governing this phase
of the operation is that, a vapour is more readily absorbed into a liquid solution when the
temperature of the liquid solution is reduced. An overall system coefficient of performance
(COP) can be estimated as the ratio of refrigeration capacity to input solar energy.

Satish and Govind (2011) reported a detailed study of Vapour absorption system using
Ammonia-water as refrigerant absorbent pair. They introduced a rectifier to the conventional
design to remove traces of water vapour in ammonia rich solution. However, crystalline salt
usage can eliminate the use of a rectifier; especially salts with less volatility can be used. Some
sand bed or perforated plates can also be used to increase the surface area of con- tact so that
water vapour are condensed and are collected separately in liquid state. Thus separated ammonia
vapour escape and complete the cycle. Refrigerants evaporate faster than other liquids because of
their low boiling point. Cai et al., did a lumped- parameter dynamic model development for an
absorption refrigeration cycle, thus design and operation parameters that affect the cycle
performance are identified. Decrease in Generator and condenser temperature increases the COP.
In present study the design, fabrication and testing of a small vapour absorption system is
reported. The performances and effectiveness of the prototype as domestic refrigerator are
analysed.

Experimental Procedure:
1. Design and Fabrication:

The Experiment is mainly conducted for calculating the COP (Co- efficient of Performance) and
RE (Refrigeration Effect) by observing and recording the temperature value of each component
in the system (Fig. 1). The parabolic collector needs to be positioned in such a way that it is
facing towards North and aligned to East-west direction. The reflector is positioned in such a
way that it is aligned to the median position of the sun’s inclination. The experiment involves
tracking the sun for every 60 minutes interval in both inclination and trajectory of the sun. This
provides a maximum exposure of sunlight perpendicular to the mirrored surface. We recorded
values of the generator temperature, condenser temperature and evaporator temperature. The
complete sunlight received by the reflector is redirected towards the collector tube for heating the
Ammonia-Water mixture in it. The heating of the Ammonia-Water mixture will lead to the
evaporation of the ammonia and makes it to flow into the Dephlegmenter. Here the separation of
Ammonia from water takes place as there is difference in their boiling points and state of being.
This also prevents any mixing of water and ammonia vapour. Water droplets pass through the
bottom of Dephlegmator, and get collected in the absorber after it passes through heat-
exchanger. In this heat-exchanging unit, hot water transfers heat with cold ammonia and water
mixture that is being pumped from the absorber. Ammonia being in gaseous state, it will pass
into the condenser through the upper part of the Dephlegmenter.

A simple helical coiled copper tube placed inside a stainless steel container filled with water is
used as water cooled condenser. Here, hot ammonia releases heat into water placed inside the
condenser. So, the water is heated gradually and a temperature rise can be observed. Since the
system pressure is high, the temperature of the surrounding water is enough to condense the
refrigerant. The condensed refrigerant will pass through expansion device, in order to decrease
its pressure to certain value. Later, due to the gravitational force it flows down to the copper
tubes that are arranged in particular shape which allows ammonia to stay long inside the
Evaporator. The water in the absorber will pull the refrigerant ammonia from the evaporator
which in turn absorbs the heat inside the evaporator this leads to Refrigeration Effect (RE). This
effect basically depends on the quantity of ammonia entering the evaporator. So, in order to
enhance the refrigeration effect cold (< 0oC) concentrated ammonium hydroxide solution should
be used so that more ammonia can be separated by the Dephlegmenter unit. In ideal situation
ammonia gets mixed with water vapour as it enters the generator. To make this refrigeration
cycle continuous a solution pump (small aquarium pump of capacity 4W) is used to pump the
mixture from absorber to generator. This cycle continues through- out the day until there is
enough sunlight to heat up the ammonia- water mixture.
 Fig. 1: Experimental setup

Parameters for designing a parabolic through:

The equation of parabolic trough y = 0.041677 x2 (Eqn. 1) Focal point = 1/ (4a); where a=
aperture =0.41677 inch;

Therefore, focal point= 1/ (4×0.41677) = 6 inch;

Reflector material: Stainless steel 304; Total width of metal sheet: 24 inch; Trough length: 49.16
inch;

Tracking facility is provided with the help of a nut sliding along a groove with a connecting rod
from nut to the reflective surface.

Collector tube material: Double glazed evacuated tube (1 inch dia)

Analysis of Expansion Device:

Simulations help to determine the pressure drop observed in the expansion device (a capillary
tube is the simplest option). The solution is initiated by considering the inlet as the reference
zone. Inlet and outlet boundary conditions parameters for the analysis and simulation are similar.
They reported a numerical simulation of a liquid overfeed system working with pure refrigerants
under steady state condition. Their simulations were capable to predict the operating point of the
system as function of the equipment's characteristics and the prevailing thermodynamic
conditions. Pressures, temperatures, mass and volumetric flow rates were computed at all
relevant points.
 Table 1: Expansion coil parameters
INLET OUTLET
Pressure (kPa) 88 3.45
Temperature (K) 313 305
Total Heat Transfer Rate (kW) 20
Mass Flow Rate(kg/s) 0.0132

Fig.2: Pressure Contour in Expansion Device

From the pressure contour (Fig.2), we observe that there is a major pressure drop which
facilitates the cooling effect. Magnitude of pressure drop and heat transfer rate thus computed is
given in Table 1. A pressure drop of ~85 kPa is associated with a temperature drop of ~8 K when
the mass flow rate is 0.0132 kg/s. Therefore a higher mass flow rate will cause even better heat
transfer.

Experimental Results:
During this test the sun was tracked on a 60-minute basis. The collector was able to concentrate
sunlight available and use it to sustain a reasonable temperature in the collector tube [10]. After
initial heating, maximum temperature of the collector is recorded between 10:30 am and 4:30
pm. The experiment readings were recorded at approximately 10:30 am onwards. The generator
was aligned north-south and facing west, it was then tilted to align with a median point of the
inclination between the start time and the midday point. Temperature of the collector tube,
condenser, and evaporator were recorded using thermocouple and calibrated with the help of a
glass thermometer. Series of readings are taken

For a week and tabulated. Solar flux readings are noted with the help of a flux meter along with
the temperatures. It helps in determining the amount of solar insolation available at our location
(12.9716° N, 77.5946° E). Pump is started 60-90 minutes before the first reading is taken, as
Generator takes time for heating. Because of temperature difference in the collector and the
absorber, a drop in pressure level occurs which drives the refrigerant back to the absorber.
Evaporator was observed to decrease the temperature, compared to the surroundings.
Neglecting the pump work COP can be approximated using the formula:

(Eqn. 2)

In our system, generator temperature (Tg) is the highest followed by condenser temperature (Tc)
is above the atmospheric temperature (~310 K) whereas absorber temperature (Ta), is near to the
atmospheric temperature ~308 K. Temperature inside the refrigerated space was found to be near
~296-298 K during 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm which seems promising considering the atmospheric
temperature to be >308 K. COP values which are given in Table 4 are calculated after taking
readings from the field. During morning (till 11:00 am) each day the temperature inside the
refrigerated space is high hence COP also expected to be high. Coefficient of performance
depends on the temperature difference of the components of system. From the Eqn. (2), actual
COP has been calculated from the recorded field temperatures. COP values are tabulated with
respect to time of the day (Table 3). Graph is plot- ted based on the average generator
temperature which gives more insight (Fig. 9). A fluctuation is visible in performance. Micallef
and Micallef [2010] reported that a vapour absorption refrigeration system with solar collector
may be susceptible to temperature fluctuation throughout the day hence may give an inconsistent
performance. However, a hybrid system with dual heating facility may give a continuous as well
as consistent COP.

Table 3: COP calculation from recorded temperature on field

DATE 10:30AM 12:30PM 2:30PM 4:30PM
09-05-2016 0.94 0.97 0.79 0.57
10-05-2016 0.97 0.81 0.63 0.5
11-05-2016 0.78 0.98 0.42 0.62
12-05-2016 0.95 0.94 0.81 0.59
13-05-2016 0.97 0.94 0.83 0.97
14-05-2016 0.8 0.89 0.87 0.63
15-05-2016 0.82 0.92 0.57 0.47
Conclusion:
To present a test case we selected a solar powered vapor absorption refrigeration system with
Ammonia-water as refrigerant.
Simulations were performed on the important components and different parameters were studied.
The pressure and temperature contour obtained from the analysis may help in deciding the con-
denser geometry and pitch of the expansion coil. Helical coil condenser geometry was selected
considering higher temperature gradient. The set up was then modified and temperatures of differ
ent components were noted. Performance analysis graphs were plotted vis-a-vis the COP. The
results obtained in the experiment were quite promising for the composition of the refrigerant
used and the collector capacity. The system is simple and economical. We could observe cooling
effect in the refrigerated space through- out the day. With evacuated tubes connected to the
parabolic collector that affect a higher generator temperature, the refrigeration effect might
improve in the modified setup in future.

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