Title: Thermodynamic investigation of a novel synergetic integration of solar-based Kalina cycle and ejector refrigeration cycle

Authors: Tawfiq Al-Mughanam; Abdul Khaliq

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 380, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Yanbu, Taibah University, Yanbu Al-Bahr 41911, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: This study is aimed to investigate the solar operated combined cycle consisting of tower solar collector, Kalina cycle, and ejector refrigeration cycle (ERC). Mathematically formulated model and numerical simulation through CFD using ANSYS-FLUENT package are employed to ascertain the impact of coil diameter (dc) and oil entry temperature on pressure and temperature of solar heat transfer fluid (SHTF). For entry temperature of 98°C and dc = 400 mm, the maximum rise in temperature of oil touches 19.9% when global radiation (GR) is promoted from 850 to 1,200 W/m². By the increase of expander entry temperature, refrigeration exergy decreases but the system exergy efficiency increases. Increasing ammonia-water basic solution concentration, exergy of refrigeration and power are increased but system efficiencies decreases. Exergy analysis indicates that solar collector entails maximum exergy loss followed by vapour generator. Results show that combined system performance is better than those of separate power and refrigeration systems.

Keywords: helically coiled tubes central receiver; Kalina cycle; ejector refrigeration cycle; ERC; cogeneration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2023.133994

International Journal of Exergy, 2023 Vol.41 No.4, pp.403 - 430

Received: 08 Jan 2023
Accepted: 01 May 2023
Published online: 09 Oct 2023 *

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