The design and evaluation of a solar-powered adsorption refrigerator for African conditions.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Mechanical Engineering)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2008.The sun is known to be the main source of energy to earth. It is further more outstanding since it is clean and comes to the earth with no costs. However, mankind does not utilize most of this precious energy effectively. In South Africa, emerging farmers need their agricultural products preserved in storage or in transit. Solar adsorption cooling machines would be of benefit to these farmers as they do not require any additional source of energy and are completely autonomous. This study presents a theoretical and experimental analysis of a solar assisted adsorption fridge, as well as the cost effectiveness when compared with the vapour compression method. The cooling machine was designed, developed and tested. It does not contain any moving part; nor consume any mechanical energy. The results show that the refrigerator can chill 25 litres of water from 35 to 5 °C per day. Vegetables and fruits with preservation temperatures in the range 4 -10 °C are within the scope of the present system. The best useful cooling obtained was 1785 kJ per day, and the best coefficient of performance was 0.058