Performance of a solar absorption cooling system using nanofluids and a membrane-based microchannel desorber Articles uri icon

publication date

  • April 2020

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 16

issue

  • 8 (2761)

volume

  • 10

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 2076-3417

abstract

  • In this work, the performance of a single effect absorption cooling system fed by solar thermal energy is evaluated. The absorption chiller includes a membrane-based microchannel desorber using three types of nanoparticles: Al2O3, CuO, or carbon nanotubes (CNT). Correlations available in the open literature to calculate the thermal conductivity of nanofluids are reviewed. Using experimental
    data for the water-lithium bromide solution (H2O-LiBr) with Al2O3 and CNT nanoparticles, the most
    appropriate correlation for thermal conductivity is selected. Nanofluid properties are evaluated using
    a concentration of nanoparticles of up to 5% in volume. The largest increase in the desorption rate
    (7.9%), with respect to using pure H2O-LiBr solution, is obtained using CNT nanoparticles and the
    maximum concentration of nanoparticles simulated. The performance of the chiller is evaluated and
    the daily solar coe cient of performance (SCOP) for the solar cooling facility is obtained. The best
    improvement with respect to the conventional system (without nanoparticles) represents an increase
    in the cooling effect of up to 6%. The maximum number of desorber modules recommended, always
    lower than 50, has been identified.

keywords

  • absorption refrigeration; microporous flat membranes; rectangular microchannels; h2o-libr; nanoparticles; desorber; nanofluids