Heat transfer analysis of a flat-plate solar collector running a solid adsorption refrigerator

Abstract

Adsorption solar cooling appears to have prospect in the tropical countries. The present study is a theoretical investigation of the performance of a solar adsorption refrigerator using a flat-plate solar collector. The values of glass cover and absorber plate temperatures obtained from numerical solutions of heat balance equations are used to predict the solar coefficient of performance of the solar refrigerator. The simulation technique takes into account the variations of ambient temperature and solar radiation along the day. The effects of optical parameters of the glass cover such as absorption and transmission coefficients on glass cover and absorber plate temperatures and consequently on the coefficient of performance are analyzed. As a result, it is found that the absorber plate temperature is less to the absorption coefficient than the cover glass temperature. Also the thermal radiation exchange has more effect on the cover glass temperature. The higher values of COP are obtained between 11 and 13 h during the morning when the temperatures of the absorber plate and the ambient temperatures increase. Moreover the COP increases with the coefficient of transmission of the glass cover but the main parameter acting on the variations of the COP remains the temperature of the evaporator. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2014.