118
M. Muttakin et al.
Keywords Adsorption chiller · Evacuated tube collector · Mathematical
modelling · Solar collector
8.1 Introduction
Global environmental concern and the increasing cost of fossil fuels press scientists
to make renewable energy sources more sustainable and cost effective. Solar energy
has been found to be the most widely used renewable energy sources over the last
few decades. The early researches on solar energy had been conducted in the early’
40s by Hottel (1942). He (Hottel 1954; Zarem and Erway 1963; Hottel and Whillier
1955) continued his extensive research on solar energy, and all the early works are
summarized by Duffie and Beckman (1974) in his book. Later Kalogirou (2004)
presented a summary on various types of solar thermal collectors and their applications. Solar thermal collectors convert solar radiation into heat energy, which can be
utilized in various applications. One of the promising application of thermal energy
is cooling and dehumidification through the utilization of adsorption refrigeration
technology.
With the rapid growth of the economy and development of infrastructure, energy
consumption is increasing at a fast pace, and it is estimated to rise 28% within the
next 20 years (Conti et al. 2016). Furthermore, according to the estimation of the
International Institute of Refrigeration in Paris (Coulomb 2006), 15% of the world’s
total produced electricity is spent on air-conditioning and refrigeration processes of
various kinds. In the present scenario, vapor compression refrigeration technology
is predominant in the market, which is highly energy intensive. Furthermore, it uses
CFC, HCFC based refrigerants, which are being considered as the major culprits for
global warming and ozone depletion. Adsorption based refrigeration technology is
environmentally benign, as it can use natural refrigerants (e.g. water, CO 2 ). Instead
of electricity, it is primarily driven by low grade heat having a temperature of as low
as 60 °C (Muttakin et al. 2018; Mitra et al. 2017; Saha et al. 2006). A typical low cost
flat plate solar collector is able to provide heat at such low temperature. Hence solar
thermal powered adsorption chiller is gaining considerable attention, particularly by
the environmental scientists.
Scientists (Muttakin 2013) worked on the modeling and optimization of solar
thermal systems utilizing various computer based simulation programs. Modelling
of adsorption chiller (Wang 2001) is also necessary to make the system efficient
and economically viable. The computer modelling of any system has numerous
advantages (Kalogirou and Papamarcou 2000),
• Prediction of system performance.
• Optimization of the system to make it more economical and energy efficient.
• Reduction or elimination of the cost of building prototypes.
• Estimation of system performance under variable operating conditions.
• Sensitivity analysis of different design parameters.
M. Muttakin et al.
Keywords Adsorption chiller · Evacuated tube collector · Mathematical
modelling · Solar collector
8.1 Introduction
Global environmental concern and the increasing cost of fossil fuels press scientists
to make renewable energy sources more sustainable and cost effective. Solar energy
has been found to be the most widely used renewable energy sources over the last
few decades. The early researches on solar energy had been conducted in the early’
40s by Hottel (1942). He (Hottel 1954; Zarem and Erway 1963; Hottel and Whillier
1955) continued his extensive research on solar energy, and all the early works are
summarized by Duffie and Beckman (1974) in his book. Later Kalogirou (2004)
presented a summary on various types of solar thermal collectors and their applications. Solar thermal collectors convert solar radiation into heat energy, which can be
utilized in various applications. One of the promising application of thermal energy
is cooling and dehumidification through the utilization of adsorption refrigeration
technology.
With the rapid growth of the economy and development of infrastructure, energy
consumption is increasing at a fast pace, and it is estimated to rise 28% within the
next 20 years (Conti et al. 2016). Furthermore, according to the estimation of the
International Institute of Refrigeration in Paris (Coulomb 2006), 15% of the world’s
total produced electricity is spent on air-conditioning and refrigeration processes of
various kinds. In the present scenario, vapor compression refrigeration technology
is predominant in the market, which is highly energy intensive. Furthermore, it uses
CFC, HCFC based refrigerants, which are being considered as the major culprits for
global warming and ozone depletion. Adsorption based refrigeration technology is
environmentally benign, as it can use natural refrigerants (e.g. water, CO 2 ). Instead
of electricity, it is primarily driven by low grade heat having a temperature of as low
as 60 °C (Muttakin et al. 2018; Mitra et al. 2017; Saha et al. 2006). A typical low cost
flat plate solar collector is able to provide heat at such low temperature. Hence solar
thermal powered adsorption chiller is gaining considerable attention, particularly by
the environmental scientists.
Scientists (Muttakin 2013) worked on the modeling and optimization of solar
thermal systems utilizing various computer based simulation programs. Modelling
of adsorption chiller (Wang 2001) is also necessary to make the system efficient
and economically viable. The computer modelling of any system has numerous
advantages (Kalogirou and Papamarcou 2000),
• Prediction of system performance.
• Optimization of the system to make it more economical and energy efficient.
• Reduction or elimination of the cost of building prototypes.
• Estimation of system performance under variable operating conditions.
• Sensitivity analysis of different design parameters.