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Comparative Energetic and Exergetic Assessment of Different Cooling Systems in Vegetable Cold Storage Applications

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Abstract

In this study, four different cooling systems have been thermodynamically analysed for vegetable cold storage application, considering a fixed cooling demand of 10 kW. Both vapour absorption refrigeration (VAR) and compression refrigeration (VCR) cycles are considered, each with two different working fluids. For the VCR cycles, R410A and R134a are considered as refrigerants, whereas for the VAR cycles, NH3–water and LiBr–water solutions are considered as refrigerant–absorbent pairs. Both energetic and exergetic performances are assessed and compared between the cycles. The system performances are assessed by varying the conditions of the evaporator and condenser. The effects of ambient temperature on the system performances are also studied. The study reveals that VAR systems can provide feasible alternatives to VCR systems for the cold space temperature range applicable for vegetable storage with the exception that LiBr–H2O cycle cannot be used for cold space temperature below 2 °C. Exergetic performance (ECOP) of the LiBr–H2O-based cooling system matches well with that of VCR systems for evaporator temperature 2–5 °C, and it exceeds the ECOP of R410A cycle at 2 °C evaporator temperature. When the ambient temperature is reached above 35 °C, the exergetic performance of LiBr–H2O-based system is better than that of both the VCR systems. For higher condenser temperature also (40 °C and above), the VAR and VCR cycles show closer ECOP values.

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Abbreviations

ABS:

Absorber

CON:

Condenser

COP:

Coefficient of performance

ECOP:

Exergetic coefficient of performance

EVP:

Evaporator

GEN:

Generator

REV:

Refrigerant expansion valve

SEV:

Solution expansion valve

SHX:

Solution heat exchanger

SP:

Solution pump

VAR:

Vapour absorption refrigeration

VCR:

Vapour compression refrigeration

η :

Efficiency (%)

ρ :

Density (kg/m3)

Δ:

Change in enthalpy or pressure (-)

Ex:

Exergy rate (kW)

h :

Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)

m :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

p :

Pressure (kPa)

Q :

Rate of heat transfer (kW)

T :

Temperature (°C)

W :

Power (kW)

abs:

Absorber

c :

Compressor

con:

Condenser

e :

Evaporator

gen:

Generator

i :

Isentropic

r :

Refrigerant

R :

Refrigeration

s :

Solution

sp:

Solution pump

o :

Dead state

1, 2:

State points of Fig. 1

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Acknowledgements

The first author acknowledges the support provided by the Thermal Simulation and Computation (TSC) Lab at Mechanical Engineering Department of IIEST, Shibpur, for carrying out the research work and also acknowledges the support provided by the MHRD, Government of India, for the research fellowship.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, P.O. - B. Garden, Howrah, 711103, West Bengal, India

    Suman Chattopadhyay & Sudip Ghosh

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  1. Suman Chattopadhyay
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Correspondence to Sudip Ghosh.

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Chattopadhyay, S., Ghosh, S. Comparative Energetic and Exergetic Assessment of Different Cooling Systems in Vegetable Cold Storage Applications. J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. C 101, 643–650 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40032-020-00579-2

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