Evaluation of vapor jet refrigeration cycle driven by solar thermal energy for air conditioning applications: Case study

Abstract

The need for air conditioning in rural areas where there is no source of electricity, leads to look for alternative solutions. Usage of Solar thermal system drive vapor jet refrigeration cycle (VJRC) instead of the traditional air conditioning systems, contributes in the reduction of the Global Worming and Ozone Depletion. The main objective of this paper is to test the visibility of using VJRC driven by solar thermal energy in rural areas to cover the cooling load demand of a typical movable house unit (TMH). After the mathematical modeling of the VJRC, the characteristic curves and tables where obtained by using engineering equation solver (EES) software assuming a constant evaporator temperature and various generator and condenser temperatures. TRNBuild subsystem in TRNSYS software was used to emulate TMH cooling load demand using weather data for two selected locations (Hebron and Jericho cities). TRNSYS software was used to investigate the validity of the proposed system in summer (May to September) for the two suggested locations. Three main parameters were studied in the proposed system, location, evacuated tube solar collector (ETC) area and hot storage tank volume. The results of the overall simulation of the proposed system indicated that the system efficiency in Hebron city was much higher than Jericho city due to climate and design conditions. In addition, it is found that there were many options for the system size can be selected to provide a percentage of the human comfort.