DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER-AIDED APPLICATION FOR DOUBLE-EFFECT VAPOUR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Increases in the cost of electricity and environmental concerns have made the heat from renewable energy sources for absorption refrigeration systems attractive for application in residential, commercial and industrial sectors. The design of a double-effect vapour absorption refrigeration system requires a lot of calculations and selection of parameters from tables. There has not been any readily available model for determining the design data parameters for a double-effect reverse-parallel vapour absorption refrigeration system (VARS). In this research work, mathematical models for a double-effect reverse-parallel vapour absorption refrigeration system were developed using mass and energy balance equations. With available data, a software was developed for the system using MATLAB program. The software was simulated and the other design parameters needed for the analysis of the system were generated. The model was validated by comparing its result with those from literature and showed good agreement with an average deviation of 20%. Using the model, the effect of refrigerating capacity on coefficient of performance (COP) was evaluated, it was observed that COP increased with an increase in refrigerating capacity. Also, COP is maximum when concentration of the diluted solution in the evaporator is 62.2% while the COP increases with increasing concentration of the concentrated solution in the absorber. This computer software can be used to predict design parameters for a double-effect reverse-parallel VARS over a wide range of heat input