Modeling of Solar-Powered Single-Effect Absorption Cooling System and Supermarket Refrigeration/HVAC System

This thesis consists of two different research problems. In the first one, the aim is to model and simulate a solar-powered, single-effect, absorption refrigeration system using a flat-plate solar collector and LiBr-H2O mixture as the working fluid. The cooling capacity and the coefficient of performance of the system are analyzed by varying all independent parameters, namely: evaporator pressure, condenser pressure, mass flow rate, LiBr concentration, and inlet generator temperature. The cooling performance of the system is compared with conventional vapor-compression systems for different refrigerants (R-134a, R-32, and R-22). The cooling performance is also assessed for a typical year in Tampa, Florida. Higher COP values are obtained for a lower LiBr concentration in the solution. The effects of evaporator and condenser pressures on the cooling capacity and cooling performance are found to be negligible. The LiBr-H2O solution shows higher cooling performance compared to other mixtures under the same absorption cooling cycle conditions. For typical year in Tampa, Florida, the model shows a constant coefficient of performance of 0.94. In the second problem, a numerical model is developed for a typical food retail store refrigeration/HVAC system to study the effects of indoor space conditions on supermarket energy consumption. Refrigerated display cases are normally rated at a store environment of 24ºC (75ºF) and a relative humidity of 55%. If the store can be maintained at lower relative humidity, significant quantities of refrigeration energy, defrost energy and anti-sweat heater energy can be saved. The numerical simulation is performed for a typical day in a standard store for each month of the year using the climate data for Tampa, Florida. This results in a 24 hour variation in the store relative humidity. Using these calculated hourly values of relative humidity for a typical 24 hour day, the store relative humidity distribution is calculated for a full year. The annual average supermarket relative humidity is found to be 51.1%. It is shown that for a 5% reduction in store relative humidity that the display case refrigeration load is reduced by 9.25%, and that results in total store energy load reduction of 4.84%. The results show good agreement with available experimental data