A year-round dynamic simulation of a solar-driven ejector refrigeration system with iso-butane as a refrigerant

In this paper, the performance of the solar-driven ejector refrigeration system with iso-butane (R600a) as the refrigerant is studied. The effects that both the operating conditions and the solar collector types have on the systemʹs performance are also examined by dynamic simulation. The TRNSYS and EES simulation tools are used to model and analyze the performance of a solar-driven ejector refrigeration system. The whole system is modelled under the TRNSYS environment, but the model of the ejector refrigeration subsystem is developed in the Engineering Equations Solver (EES) program. A solar fraction of 75% is obtained when using the evacuated tube solar collector. In the very hot environment, the system requires relatively high generator temperature, thus a flat plate solar collector is not economically competitive because the high amount of auxiliary heat needed to boost up the generator temperature. The results from the simulation indicate that an efficient ejector system can only work in a region with decent solar radiation and where a sufficiently low condenser temperature can be kept. The average yearly system thermal ratio (STR) is about 0.22, the COP of the cooling subsystem is about 0.48, and the solar collector efficiency is about 0.47 at Te 15 °C, Tc 5 °C above the ambient temperature, evacuated collector area 50 m2 and hot storage tank volume 2 m3.