Thermal and parametric investigation of solar-powered single-effect absorption cooling system

In this study, a comprehensive thermodynamic analysis was performed to evaluate and optimize the performance of a solar-powered single-effect lithium bromide-water absorption chiller system. A computational model was developed to systematically investigate various design parameters, including the impact of inlet generator, absorber/condenser, and evaporator temperatures on the system's energy and exergy efficiency. Additionally, the study evaluated the influence of solution heat exchanger effectiveness and hot source temperatures. Key performance indicators such as cooling production capacity, coefficient of performance, exergy efficiency, and overall solar cooling system efficiency were considered.

The results indicated that a condenser/absorber temperature of 30 ℃ improved the coefficient of performance to 0.8, and the cooling capacity to 30.05 kW while varying the evaporation temperature between 4.5 to 10.5 ℃ improves the coefficient of performance by approximately 10.38%. Increasing the solution heat exchanger effectiveness resulted in a 16.77 and 16.076% enhancement for both the coefficient of performance and exergy efficiency, with generator temperatures of 74 and 90 ℃. The system achieves its highest performance within a hot source temperature range of 70–75/ ℃. Proper selection of heat exchanger temperatures significantly improved the performance of the absorption subsystem. The intensity of solar irradiance and ambient conditions influenced the system's efficiency.