Title: Performance evaluation of locality-based compact solar refrigeration system

Authors: M. Achuthan; Rangasamygounder Rathnasamy

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608002, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608002, India

Abstract: Cooling system with low capacity utilising solar power can be widely used for remote and rural cooling applications. This paper describes the trend of solar insolation for a period of one year at Tiruvannamalai town, a district capital in Tamil Nadu state, South India which is geographically located at latitude 12.229 N, longitude 79.076 E. The performance of a compact solar refrigeration system attached with micro spray nozzles in the evaporator chamber during specified period was studied. The analysis of the result shows that the coefficient of performance of the compact solar refrigeration system is consistent in the range between 0.3 and 0.5 during the period when the solar insolation was high and also performs well during low solar insolation days due to the fewer loads on the system. The trend signifies that the area of the solar collector can be reduced to 20 to 30 percentages for the required load during winter seasons. Also the cost analysis made for operating the system with conventional vapour compression refrigeration system of the same capacity was compared and the proposed system was found economical during operation.

Keywords: solar insolation; compact solar refrigeration systems; CSRS; solar collectors; coefficient of performance; COP; rural refrigeration; solar energy; solar power. cooling systems; India; performance evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETP.2011.045233

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, 2011 Vol.7 No.5/6, pp.407 - 416

Received: 04 Jul 2011
Accepted: 14 Aug 2011
Published online: 26 Mar 2015 *

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