DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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Item Simulation and optimisation of a solar-powered adsorption refrigeration module(Indian Centre For Advanced Scientific And Technological Research, 2010) Odesola, I. F.Adsorption refrigeration technology has been intensively investigated in many countries of the world because of its potential for competing with conventional vapour compression refrigeration and its environmental friendliness. A solar-powered adsorption refrigerator using activated carbon/methanol pair was designed and fabricated. A mathematical model was developed based on the thermodynamics of the adsorption process, heat and mass transfer equations of the collector/generator/absorber components and simplified idealization of the condenser and evaporator components. The partial differential equations generated from the analysis were transformed into explicit finite difference forms for numerical solution. The model was used to compute the collector plate, bond and adsorbent temperatures, and the COP. The model was validated by using data from experiments performed on a solar powered activated carbon/methanol refrigerator and from published works. The predicted peak plate, tube and adsorbent temperatures were 102, 88 and 86°C respectively which compared favourably with 109 peak plate, 95 tube, and 85°C adsorbent temperatures from published works. The COP of the modelled refrigerator using imported activated carbon ranged from 0.0340 to 0.0345 compared to 0.0300 to 0.0550 recorded in the literature while the COP achieved from the experimental rig using locally manufactured activated carbon ranged from 0.0163 to 0.0200. Reducing the tube thickness from 5mm to 1.5mm led to a gain of 80.0% in COP. The adsorbent parking density of 550 kg/m3 gave an optimum COP, while a decrease of plate thickness from 1.5mm to 1.0mm increased the COP from 0.0338 to 0.0352.Item The development and evaluation of a solar-powered refrigerator using activated carbon/ methanol pair(2009) Odesola, I. F.A solar-powered adsorption refrigerator using activated carbon/methanol pair was designed and fabricated. The refrigerator has three major components: collector-condenser, and evaporator. A 3 mm thick flat glass was used as flat plate collector. The condenser was made of spirally coiled copper tube immersed in pool of stagnant water contained in a reinforced sancrete tank. The .evaporator was fabricated from standard 15.6 mm diameter copper tubing. The activated carbon used as adsorbent was manufactured locally from shells of a palm kernel. The maximum temperature of 108°C attained in the solar collector was adequate for methanol generation, while maximum received insolation of 1000 kW/m2 was sufficient for methanol desorption. The solar coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigerator ranged from 0.0339 to 0.0345 compared to 0.03 to 0.055 recorded in the literature. The study shows that a solar powered adsorption refrigerator will operate In Nigeria's tropical climate with satisfactory coefficient of performance.