CFD analysis of a solar parabolic trough collector powered adsorption cooling system using nanofluid under Tunisia climate

Abstract

Energy requirements for cooling systems are growing every year, especially in regions with significant solar radiation intensity. This increase causes big electricity consumption and environmental pollution. Hence, using solar energy as a heat source instead electricity for cooling needs is considered as a promising way. In this study, a transient Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation is carried out to investigate the performance of solar Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) powered adsorption refrigeration system using nanofluid under a typical meteorological data of Tozeur, Sahara of Tunisia. The pure oil (Therminol-VP1) and Copper/Therminol-VP1 nanofluid (2% volumetric concentration) are the examined heat transfer fluids (HTF). The model is validated against data reported in the literature suggesting that the CFD approach can accurately predict the examined system. Specific Cooling Power (SCP), thermal system coefficient of performance (COPth) and solar Coefficient of Performance (COPs) were evaluated to assess the system performance. The results indicate that the system using thermal oil (VP1) operates satisfactorily under Tozeur climatic conditions achieving a SCP of 2.7W/kgz, a COPth around 0.378 and it could produce a daily useful cooling of 1920kJ, while the COPs could reach 0.06 for 8kg of Zeolite adsorbent. Furthermore, using a nanofluid of VP1 and nanoparticles of Cu as HTF enhancer increases the system performance by 10.58%.