Design Optimization and Simulation of an Ice Plant Working by Solar Adsorption Technology

Abstract

This research presents a design optimization of a solar adsorption ice plant using activated carbon and methanol as working pairs in the climate of Makkah to produce a ton of ice per day. The plant consists of six adsorption refrigeration units. Each unit has 72 separate cylindrical adsorbent beds connected with its own condenser, valve, and evaporator. The unit is heated by seven evacuated-tube collectors connected in parallel. Then the total number of collectors are 42 collectors. The beds are filled by estimated amount of 540 kg of activated carbon with 178 kg of methanol. Selection and dimensioning of each component were carried out based on previous recommended values. A mathematical model and simulation were developed to validate the system performance along the year. The results showed that plant could produce up to ton of ice daily along the year. The coefficient of performance can reach 0.9 with condenser and evaporator temperatures of 35°C and -5°C respectively. The performance of the system is greatly affected by ambient temperature than solar radiation. Therefore, the best performance and largest amount of ice was found in the winter season.