Design optimization and experimental investigation of solar assisted 1 Ton (3.516 KW) vapor absorption air conditioning system

Solar Energy is one of the most attractive and well-known source among all known renewable energy resources therefore, solar assisted air-conditioning systems attract researcher´s interests. Solar cooling technology is environment friendly and contributes to a significant decrease of the CO2 emissions which cause the greenhouse effect and thus helpful in reduction of Ozone depletion. According to the operating temperature of driving thermal source, single - effect Li Br/H2O absorption chillers have the advantage of being powered by ordinary flat-plate or evacuated tube solar collectors available in the market. The objective of this work is to develop an experimental rig based on the simulation results of an optimized - single-effect absorption air conditioning system using LiBr/H2O solution as working fluid assisted by solar thermal energy. Detailed mathematical design is prepared by applying energy and mass balances on each component. Afterwards parametric analysis is performed on EES to determine the effects of evaporator temperature, condenser temperature, and generator temperature on COP of the system. Then simulation based optimization of the proposed design is conducted on dynamic simulation program TRNSYS and GenOpt, based on local weather profile of Taxila. The results of the simulation of the absorption chiller indicate a thermal performance coefficient, COP of 0.756. The results of the simulation are validated by the locally fabricated experimental rig.