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Comparative Thermodynamic Study of Refrigerants to Select the Best Environment-Friendly Refrigerant for Use in a Solar Ejector Cooling System

  • Research Article - Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

In this study, a solar ejector cooling system is theoretically analyzed to evaluate refrigerants and determine their performance characteristics and environment-friendly nature for a fixed ejector geometry under a set of standard operating conditions. The results show that the refrigerant R1234yf is the best choice for the cycle, and is an environment-friendly refrigerant with thermo-physical properties similar to that of R134a. Moreover, it has a high entrainment ratio and is cheap when compared to other refrigerants, nonflammable, and safe. The results indicate that the cooling cycle COP increases during the day hours as the generator temperature increases and reaches a maximum value of 0.59 at an optimum generator temperature of 86 \({^{\circ }}\)C in the middle of the day. The overall efficiency of the system varied in the range 38–45%. Furthermore, it was found that increasing the generator pressure by 40% reduced the COP by 58.5% and increased the critical backpressure by 27.3%.

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Abbreviations

\({A}_{\mathrm{c} }\) :

Area of solar collector (m\(^{2}\))

\({m}_{\mathrm{c} }\) :

Solar collector mass flow rate (kg h\(^{-1}\) m\(^{-2}\))

\({m}_{\mathrm{p}}\) :

Primary mass flow rate (kg s\(^{-1}\))

\({m}_{\mathrm{s}}\) :

Secondary mass flow rate (kg s\(^{-1}\))

\(C_\mathrm{r}\) :

Compression ratio

H:

Enthalpy (kJ kg\(^{-1}\))

\({e}_{\mathrm{r}}\) :

Expansion ratio

\({P}_{\mathrm{cri}}\) :

Critical condenser back pressure (kPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{e}}\) :

Evaporator pressure (kPa)

\({A}_{3}\) :

Area of mixing chamber (m\(^{2}\))

\({A}_{\mathrm{t}}\) :

Area of nozzle throat (m\(^{2}\))

A :

Primary flow location at the inlet of the nozzle

\({V}_\mathrm{s}\) :

Volume of storage tank (\(\hbox {m}^{3}\))

G :

Total irradiance (\(\hbox {W m}^{-2}\))

\(T_{\mathrm{g}}\) :

Temperature of generator (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

\({T}_{\mathrm{c}}\) :

Temperature of condenser (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

A_r:

Ejector area ratio

\({C}_{\mathrm{p}}\) :

Specific heat (\(\hbox {kJ kg}^{-1} \hbox {K}^{-1}\))

\({T}_{\mathrm{e}}\) :

Temperature of evaporator (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

M :

Mach number

R :

Gas constant (kJ kg\(^{-1}\) K\(^{-1}\))

Q :

Heat transfer rate (kW)

\({T}_{\mathrm{out~c}}\) :

Temperature at the exit of solar collector (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

\({T}_\mathrm{out~storage}\) :

Temperature at the exit of storage tank (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

\({T}_{\mathrm{a}}\) :

Temperature of the ambient air (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

\({T}_{\mathrm{cri}}\) :

Critical temperature (\({^{\circ }}\)C)

\({P}_{\mathrm{g}}\) :

Generator pressure (kPa)

COP:

Coefficient of performance

CFC:

Chlorofluorocarbon

EES:

Engineering equation solver

TRNSYS:

TRaNsient SYstem Simulation Program

ODP:

Ozone depletion potential

SECS:

Solar ejector cooling system

GWP:

Global warming potential

JUST:

Jordan University of Science and Technology

1-D:

One-dimensional

G:

Generator

E:

Evaporator

C:

Condenser

P:

Primary flow

P1:

Primary nozzle exit

\({p}_{\mathrm{y}}\) :

Primary flow at section y–y

S:

Secondary flow

M:

Mixing section m–m

\(\Omega \) :

Entrainment ratio

\(\eta _{\mathrm{o}}\) :

SECS overall efficiency

\(\eta _{\mathrm{sc}}\) :

Efficiency for solar collector

\({\gamma }\) :

Specific heat ratio

\({\phi }_{\mathrm{m}}\) :

Coefficient of heat losses

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Scientific Research Support Fund in Jordan (Grant No. ENE/02/02/2012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

    Bourhan Tashtoush & Mai Bani Younes

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  1. Bourhan Tashtoush
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Correspondence to Bourhan Tashtoush.

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Tashtoush, B., Bani Younes, M. Comparative Thermodynamic Study of Refrigerants to Select the Best Environment-Friendly Refrigerant for Use in a Solar Ejector Cooling System. Arab J Sci Eng 44, 1165–1184 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3427-4

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