Performance of non-CFC refrigerator driven by chilled water from 35 kW LiBr/H2O solar absorption cooling system

Abstract

In this study, the temperature profiles inside the refrigerated space and loads of a non-CFC refrigerator driven by chilled water from 35 kW LiBr/H2O solar absorption cooling system (SACS) was investigated. Furthermore, the performance of this system in terms of the coefficient of performance (COP) and energy efficiency ratio (EER) was evaluated in order to compare with commercial refrigerator. A 0.14 m2 commercial fridge was converted and used as the main body, in which a cooling coil unit with the surface area of heat exchange of 1.06 m2, a fan of 0.08 kW for forced air circulation, and a pump of 0.1 kW for chilled water circulation were installed. Thirty-eight 500 cm3 bottles of drinking water resulting in 18.39 kgs of weight were put into the prototype refrigerator as the load. The results showed that during a 700 min fully operational test, the inlet chilled water (refrigerant) was maintained in the range of 7-10°C and circulated to the evaporator (cooling coil) by the pump. After applying the refrigerant to the refrigerated space, the space temperature decreased and kept constant at about 7.58°C within 350 mins, corresponding to load temperatures decreased from 21.88°C to 11.10°C. The COP and EER of this refrigerator were found to be 0.76 and 2.39, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed non-CFC refrigerator can be used to preserve food and beverages. This can be applied in an industry where excess cold water is available.