Thermodynamic and Economic Contrast of an Ionic Solution Operated Solar Absorption Cooling System with LiBr+H2O Pair for a Business Building in India

Abstract

The current study assesses the thermo-economic performance of a H2O[Formula: see text][EMIM][DMP] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethyl phosphate) working fluid-based absorption machine coupled with various solar collectors to cater the cooling load to business building at Gandhinagar city, India. H2O[Formula: see text][EMIM][DMP] could be an alternative to conventional LiBr[Formula: see text]H2O working fluid pair of absorption machines as it can operate without problem of crystallization which is perquisite for the continuous operation of the system. A mathematical model is developed to simulate the proposed system with 10[Formula: see text]kW cooling capacity at 5∘C. The sensitivity assessment is carried out to find the effect of various parameters including heat source temperature on the coefficient of performance (COP) and exergetic efficiency for each collector case. The optimum SCOP of parabolic trough collector (PTC)-based system is 11.43% higher compared to ETC-based system, whereas the ETC-based system is 25.10% economical than the PTC-based system. Furthermore, payback period for ETC-based system is only one month higher than FPC-based system, which altogether exhibits the superiority of ETC-coupled H2O[Formula: see text][EMIM][DMP] absorption refrigeration system over FPC-based system.