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Go to Editorial ManagerThe thermal performance of an absorption refrigeration system powered by solar pond heat was studied, simulated, and evaluated under the climatic conditions of Basra, Iraq. The simulation used MATLAB to solve the heat and mass transfer equations within the three layers of the solar pond (assuming NaCl as the salinity gradient medium) and linked them via a heat exchanger to the absorption refrigeration system to determine the temperatures supplied to the absorption cycle. The absorption cooling system operates on a lithium bromide-water pair and contains an internal heat exchanger between the generator and absorber with an assumed efficiency of 80%. The simulation was conducted over several months of the year, from March to October, and daily climatic variables such as solar radiation and ambient temperature specific to Basra were considered, allowing the system's performance to be evaluated under realistic climatic conditions. The objective was to evaluate the coefficient of performance (COP) of absorption refrigeration systems and demonstrate the feasibility of using solar ponds as a sustainable heat source for cooling in hot regions. The study demonstrated the feasibility of operating an absorption refrigeration system using the thermal energy stored in the lower layer of the solar pond, while maintaining good thermal stability in that layer throughout the day, especially in areas with high solar radiation, such as Basra. The simulation model was developed entirely in MATLAB using fundamental physical equations that describe each component of the solar pond and absorption refrigeration system, without relying on pre-existing components or tables. This provides greater modeling flexibility and a deeper understanding of system behavior under hot climate conditions.
This study presents both experimental and theoretical investigations of an absorption refrigeration system using environmentally friendly working fluids, specifically the acetone–zinc bromide (Acetone/ZnBr₂) pair. The system was designed to operate under outdoor climatic conditions in Hilla City, Iraq, utilizing hot water as the heat source. Performance evaluation was carried out under various operating conditions, including changes in heat source, absorber, condenser, and evaporator temperatures. Experimental testing was conducted during September 2019. The results indicated that the coefficient of performance (COP) of the absorption cooling system ranged from 0.13 to 0.487, with an evaporator temperature drop of approximately 16 °C. Condensation and absorption temperatures remained below 41 °C, while the maximum driving water temperature reached 80 °C. A steady-state theoretical model was developed using the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) program, applying mass and energy balance equations to predict operating parameters such as temperature, pressure, and COP. Model predictions showed good agreement with the experimental measurements. Furthermore, the results confirmed that generator temperature has a significant influence on overall system performance.
A household refrigerator represents an essential device for all houses nowadays. The electric energy consumed by the refrigerator and the fluctuation of the temperature inside the fresh food cabin is the main two problems affecting its performance. Incorporating phase change material (PCM) inside the refrigerator is one of the solutions for the previous mentioned problems. In the present study, a water PCM is added to the cabinet of 220-litters double door refrigerator. The PCM (0.5 ml of water) is added at three different locations, touch the front of the evaporator part inside the cabin, touch the rear of the evaporator part in the cabin, and far away from the evaporator part inside the cabin. The location of the PCM determines how much energy is released and stored from the evaporator. The use of phase change material (PCM) touch to the evaporator increases the rate of heat transfer due to the conduction method being used throughout the whole heat transfer process from the evaporator to the phase change material (PCM), which raises the refrigeration system's COP (coefficient of performance). The experimental test period is 24 hours for each day. Firstly, the refrigerator is tested without using PCM, and the power consumption, the temperatures at different points for the refrigerator, suction pressure, discharge pressure, the ambient temperature, and the time on period and time off period of the compressor are measured. Secondly, for same testing period all previous parameters are measured with using PCM at different locations inside the refrigerator. The results show that, adding the PCM (water) behind the evaporator led to increase the COP by 21.97%, increase the compressor off time by 73 minutes, reduction in power consumption of 14.4%, decrease of exergy losses of the system by 8% and temperature fluctuation reduced inside the fresh food cabin, that enhance the quality of stored food. Adding the PCM front the evaporator improve the previous parameters but less than that of the first case. The third location, adding the PCM far away from the evaporator has no improvement on the refrigerator's performance.
This study presents the impacts of suitable refrigerant charge to test the performance of laboratory refrigerator rig for using three refrigerants of (R134a, R600a and R290) instead of R12 .The coefficient of performance and maximum consumption amperes are taken as function to evaluate the optimum charge of these refrigerants. The results imply that the over refrigerant charge will reduce the system performance. Compared the optimum refrigerant charge of R600a is (45g), R290 is (70 g) and R134a is (60g), instead of R12. The results show that the refrigerator with R134a gives lowest capacity reduction with same performance to R12 from other alternative refrigerant, and can be taken as the best alternative refrigerant.
The aim of the present study is to perform analytical simulation for the single-effect LiBr- water absorption refrigerating system (ARS) in order to scan for all possibilities of operating the cycle among most available operating variables to obtain the best performance and determine what are the proper parameter needed to be changed so that the refrigerator can operate using ambient air instead of water and cooling tower accessories to dissipate the hear at the condenser and absorber. The COPs of the cycle was obtained as a function of the different temperature of the cycle and solution concentration. The performance characteristics of the cycle were examined by changing the temperature of the heating source supplied at the generator, the temperatures at the condenser, absorber, and evaporator. It can be concluded that the concept of air cooled absorption chiller is feasible with coefficient of performance of 0.43 10 0.79 depending on the evaporator temperature for any cooling capacity in some applications, where the chilled water supply temperature is not necessary to be too cold.