OPTIMIZATION OF SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEM FOR VAPOUR ABSORPTION

REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

S. Christopher a, *, R. Santosha, M. Ponrajan Vikrama, Rajendran Prabakarana, Amrit Kumar Thakura,*,

Huijin Xub
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai-

600025, Tamil Nadu, India

b
China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Abstract

In this work, optimization study of the solar collector integrated with a thermal energy storage tank for

vapour absorption refrigeration system was studied using TRNSYS. The performance of the integrated

system was evaluated considering major contributing parameters such as solar collector area, mass flow

rate of the operating fluids, storage tank volume and height, absorber plate thickness, tube spacing,

absorber tube diameter, insulation thickness and glass thickness/ properties respectively. A physical model

of the complete solar water heating (SWH) and refrigeration system was developed followed by simulation

studies of the major components for optimization and finally the obtained results were compared with the

reported data for validation. The results indicated that, by using the solar power with a serpentine tube type

flat plate collector of area 24 m2 and a storage volume to specific collector area of about 60 l/m2, the

optimized system could meet 65% of the annual thermal energy requirement for the refrigeration unit.

Further, the annual performance of the optimized solar collector in terms of collector efficiency, heat

removal factor and overall heat loss coefficient were found to be about 0.32, 0.87 and 2.99 Wm-2K

respectively. Additionally, the optimization approach that is adopted using TRNSYS in the present study

could be used for optimizing the solar-based energy system for various applications.

This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the
copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process which may lead to differences between this
version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/ep.13489

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: flat plate collector; serpentine tube; solar energy; TRNSYS; vapour absorption refrigeration.

*
Corresponding author email: christophersathya@gmail.com

1 INTRODUCTION

The sun is the major energy source in the universe that releases a large amount of radiation in the

upper atmosphere of the earth. When reaching the earth's surface, the solar radiation decreases twice in its

initial emitted quantity due to the atmospheric (6% by reflection and 16% of absorption) and cloud effect

(20% by reflection and 3% of absorption) respectively [1]. It is evident that despite the attenuation, the total

amount of sun’s energy available on the earth is large but is intermittent in nature. This abundant solar

energy is utilized for the production of heat energy using solar collectors and electricity using solar

photovoltaic technology respectively [2]. The solar collectors are generally classified as non-concentric and

concentric type collectors. The flat plate collectors (FPC) are widely used because of its non-requirement

of a costly and complex tracking system and simple construction. These are most suitable for medium

temperature heating applications (70-95ºC). Although, using the conventional solar collector (header type)

is an option for solar water heating (SWH) applications; it has certain inherent disadvantages. For instance,

low heat removal factor (FR), non-uniform distribution of heat transfer fluid (HTF) and high heat loss from

the collector are eventually present that lowers the collector thermal performance. The above-mentioned

problems could be overcome through the proper arrangement of headers, in the form of serpentine in the

solar collectors [3]. In the serpentine tube solar collector, the fluid flows in a zigzag or serpentine fashion,

which results in the equal distribution of fluid flow and enhanced heat transfer coefficient inside the tube

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[4]. Moreover, there is a high FR along with minimum heat loss at a medium mass flow rate that thrives the

potential use of serpentine in the SWH applications. The major problem associated with any solar thermal

system is time-dependency and the intermittent nature of solar radiation due to seasonal variations. The

energy demand pattern is different from energy supplied and this essentially necessitates the matching of

the thermal system dynamically with respect to different applications. It can be achieved through an

integration of thermal energy storage (TES) to bridge the gap between supply and demand [5]. There are

mainly three types of TES system namely sensible, latent and thermochemical energy storage. During the

charging and discharging in a sensible storage medium, utmost importance should be given for maintaining

a high degree of stratification; if not the collector efficiency will appreciably decrease owing to an increase

in temperature of heat transfer fluid (HTF) at the inlet of the solar collector. The thermal performance of

the SWH unit requires appropriate sizing of its parts as well as a prediction of the useful energy delivered

with respect to the geographical location. For this reason, optimization of the component parameters is

highly essential and it involves time consumption and costlier experimentation respectively. To overcome

the above-said difficulties in the optimization of the SWH units, various computational software and

methods are developed to compute the effect of different performance parameters on the long-term

performance of the SWH system [6].

Among the various energy evaluation software available [7], TRaNsientSYStem (TRNSYS) is an

established simulation software in which the energy component presented in the TRNSYS tool operates

according to reliable standard (ISO 9459-5:2007) [8]. The major advantageous feature of TRNSYS over

the other simulation tools is that, TRNSYS has the option of adding mathematical sub-modules to the

overall system model by integrating the equations and correlations to modify the input or output

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respectively. Further, it is compatible for integration with other software such as MATLAB, CFD tool,

equation energy solver, visual basic, etc. [9]. In addition, TRNSYS also has open-source code facility in

which the pre-existing models can be modified and validated for optimization and the results obtained from

TRNSYS have proved to be reliable and are in good agreement with the experimental results within an

error percentage of about 5% to 10% [10]. Thus, it's convenient modular system approach contributes to

wider adaptability for detailed analysis of individual system components and their effect on overall system

performance for a variety of applications that include solar power plants [11], building heating [12], hybrid

systems [13], desalination [14], energy storage [15], heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) [16]

and SWH [17–26] respectively.

The literature on the validation and optimization of the SWH system using TRNSYS are presented

as follows. Hobbi et al. [17] made an optimized design of both collector and the SWH system using

TRNSYS and the optimized size delivered a solar fraction of 0.83 - 0.97 and 0.30-0.62 in summer and

winter seasons. It was also reported that by replacing non-selective material (copper) with selective

material, there was an increase in the annual solar fraction from 0.54 to 0.69. The thermosyphon solar

water heater was analyzed for Sao Paulo's weather conditions using TRNSYS by Lima et al. [18]. The

result showed that the optimized system can deliver maximum useful energy for the given location.

Similarly, the effect of natural circulation (thermosyphon effect) on the storage tank volume and height for

the temperature range of 50-80 ºC was studied by Shariah et al. [19]. It was reported that the dependence of

the solar fraction on storage tank height was observed to be more important in large tank volumes.

Michaelides et al. [20] used the TRNSYS program to optimize the solar heating system for hotel and

residential applications. This optimization method included the performance and cost-effective analysis of

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the SWH system using key design criteria like the collector to consumer factor and collector to load factor.

A comparative study of single, double and variable effect solar absorption chillers was conducted by Xu

and Wang [21] using TRNSYS. The chiller was energized using compound parabolic solar collectors

(CPC) and the result showed that the variable effect absorption chiller delivered higher solar cooling

fraction compared to the other two refrigeration systems. Xu and Wang [22] studied the performance of a

compound parabolic concentrator driving a 50 kW absorption system using the chiller model. The system

was studied on a sunny day. The simulation study showed that the system could produce an average daily

chiller COP of 0.88. Abdunnabia et al. [23] made an effort to examine the accuracy of TRNSYS

stimulation in the forced circulation SHW system. The result showed that TRNSYS data were in good

agreement with the experimental data and the error between simulated and experiment result for daily

energy gain and outlet temperature were found to be less than 20.2% and 16% respectively. Wongsuwan et

al. [24] made a detailed experiment on forced circulation water heating system under partly cloudy, clear,

and cloudy climatic conditions. The experimental data were used to compare the performance of the system

with the result obtained from the TRNSYS tool and artificial neural network tools. The predicted data from

numerical tools deviated from experiment value by about 2.9 %. Buckles et al. [25] made a simulation

study using TRNSYS for an active circulation system for two test location and the simulation result were

found to be in good agreement with experimental data for the same test location. The simulation model for

thermosyphon solar water heater (natural circulation) was developed and the compiled result was further

validated experimentally at two different locations (Sydney, Australia and Maryland, U.S.A) by Morrison

and Braun. [26]. The result showed that data obtained through the TRNSYS tool were found a good

agreement with experimental data.

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 The above major literature studies show that TRNSYS is predominately used for validation of

experimental results and design optimization of the SWH system with respect to various key design aspects

for various applications. Apart from heat generation and storage for hot applications, SWH systems are also

utilized for the operation of refrigeration systems [27,28]. Therefore, the objective of the present work is to

model, simulate and optimize the SWH system comprising of a serpentine tube solar collector integrated

with a thermal storage tank for a one-ton vapour absorption refrigeration system developed by Giri and

Braves [29]. Further, the optimized SWH system is connected with a refrigeration system to study the

cooling rate for a given heat load. The performance parameters such as solar energy gain, collector

efficiency, heat removal factor and auxiliary heater energy consumption rate are considered for the system

optimization of the SWH system.

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

The proposed solar operated vapour absorption refrigeration (VAR) system consists of a charging

and discharging circuit and the schematic arrangement of the system is illustrated in Figure 1(a). The

charging circuit has a solar collector with serpentine tube arrangement (1), pump (2), sensible heat storage

(SHS) tank (3) and expansion valve (4) circulating the operating fluid with a necessary flow control valve.

The test parameters for the simulation of the SWH system are shown in Table 1. During the charging

process, water is pumped from the bottom of the storage tank to the solar collector with the help of a pump.

Subsequently, hot water enters at the top of the SHS tank and the hot thermal energy is stored by direct

mixing with the water in the SHS tank. The discharging circuit consists of an auxiliary heater (5), an

ammonia-water vapour absorption system (6) and two thermally insulated tanks (7) for the discharging

process. During the discharging process, water from the makeup tank is pumped to the bottom of the

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storage tank where the water is directly mixed with the hot water. It is ensured that there is no

accumulation of mass in the SHS tank and so relatively hot water from the top of the tank starts to flow into

the generator of the VAR system. This hot water is used to generate ammonia vapour in the generator at

elevated temperature and pressure. The refrigerant vapour reaches the condenser followed by the expansion

valve to obtain the liquid refrigerant at lower pressure. The liquid ammonia gets evaporated in the

evaporator to produce the desired cooling effect and the vapour from the evaporator is readily absorbed in

the absorber due to the high solubility of ammonia in the water at low temperature and pressure

respectively. The hot water available at the exit of the generator is returned to the insulated tanks. The

simulation study is performed using TRNSYS with a time step of one hour and the simulation solution of

the successive method is considered in order to achieve a satisfactory sequential resolution. Figure 1(b)

illustrates the TRNSYS flow diagram of the SWH system integrated with the VAR unit.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Effect of solar collector area

The variation in the monthly averaged solar fraction as a function of the solar collector area for a

fluid flow rate of 72 kg hr-1m-2 is shown in Figure 2. Based on IS 12933-5 standard [30], the fluid mass

flow rate of the solar collector was chosen as 72 kg hr-1m-2 and the ratio of the sensible storage tank volume

to collector area was maintained as 60 lit.m-2, as suggested by Duffie and Beckman [31] for forced

circulation SWH system. The weather data used in the present study were taken from ISHRAE

(IND_Chennai-Madras.432790_ISHRAE) for the climatic conditions of Chennai city, India [32]. The

results show that the solar fraction increases with an increase in the collector area and the solar fraction

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drops by about 3.5% and 6.2% when the area of the solar collector reduced from 36 m2 to 30 m2 and 24 m2

respectively. The solar collector with 36 m2 area was able to provide 90-93% of energy demand required to

operate the cooling system during the months of April-June. It is apparent that the solar collector with a

higher area would not be preferred as the reduction in the solar fraction is 9.5% against the decreasing area

of about 16.6%. Therefore, from the above result it is observed that the collector area of 24 m2 is the most

preferable choice.

3.2 Effect of collector mass flow rate

The effect of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) mass flow rate on solar fraction and FR is shown in

Figure 3. The mass flow rate is varied from 60 kg.h-1m-2 to 150 kg.h-1m-2 for an optimized collector area

and volume of the tank per collector area of 24 m2 and 50 lit.m-2 respectively. It can be identified that the

solar fraction and FR increase up to a flow rate of about 72 kg.h-1m-2 due to the high heat transfer

coefficient. With a further increase in the mass flow rate, the trend reverses because of the reduction in the

stratification effect. It can be concluded that 72 kg h-1m2 could be the optimum mass flow rate for a given

application, which can meet the energy requirements and outlet temperature to a great extent. Moreover,

the recommended value of the mass flow rate is found to be in good agreement with the earlier result of

solar water collector given by Indian standard test method for the temperature range of less than 100°C

[30].

3.3 Effect of tank volume and height of storage tank

Considering the insulation around the storage tank as fiberglass, its properties include density (ρs)

of 12.0 kg/m3, specific heat of storage tank insulation (Cps) of 0.844 KJ/kg K and thermal conductivity (Kt)

of 0.04 W/mK as specified by Harris et al. [33] and the over-all losses (Uls) from the storage tank is

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3.8 W/K. The performance of the storage tank based on the variation in the volume to the collector area

(V/Ac) is shown in Figure 4. The results depicted that the annual solar fraction increased with an increase

in V/Ac from 20 to 60 lm-2. After 60 lm-2, the annual solar fraction started to decrease which could be

attributed to the higher heat storage loss from the thermal energy storage tank due to large surface area.

Therefore, the optimum value of V/Ac is set to be 60 lm-2. Moreover, the optimized value of storage

diameter was found to be in good agreement with the V/Ac of the active system suggested by Duffie and

Beckman [31]. The variation in the solar fraction as a function of the storage tank is shown in Figure 5 for

the optimized collector area of 24 m2 with a mass flux of 72 kghr-1m2 and V/Ac ratio of 60 l.m-2

respectively. The result showed that the solar fraction increases with an increase in tank height from 0.8 to

1.2 m due to an increase in solar collection rate compared to heat loss within the storage tank. Further

increase in the tank height does not improve the solar fraction significantly which could be attributed to the

balance formed between the energy collection and energy loss from the storage tank. Hence the height

ranges between 1.2 m-1.6 m is found to be an optimized value.

3.4 Effect of solar collector tube spacing

The tube spacing is one of the important parameters that have a major influence on the performance

of the flat plate collector. The variation in solar fraction and heat removal factor as a function of tube

spacing is shown in Figure. 6. From the figure it can be inferred that the reduction in the tube spacing has a

positive impact on both the solar fraction and heat removal factor because of the increased heat transfer

area. However, it has a disadvantage on the collector weight and overall heat transfer coefficient with more

pressure drop. Therefore, there is a need for optimum tube spacing at which the overall loss coefficient is

very minimum. For the present case, the tube spacing is varied in the range of 0.05-0.14 m with a step size

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of about 0.01 m for the optimized collector area of 24 m2. As seen from Figure 6, the solar fraction does

not change significantly with the change in tube spacing between 0.05 m-0.08 m due to a very minimal

reduction in the fin efficiency of the solar collector. However, the meager decrease in the solar fraction

results from the reduction in fin efficiency with respect to an increase in tube spacing. Further, the increase

in tube spacing also contributes to a drastic increase in bottom loss in addition to the top loss coefficient.

The variation in the heat removal trend as a function of tube spacing is similar to the trend observed for the

solar fraction. It is inferred that the optimal tube spacing in the case of the flat plate collector is 0.08 m for

the present application. Shariah and Shalabi [34] and Moss et al. [35] also reported a similar type of results

with the use of a solar flat plate collector.

3.5 Effect of solar collector tube diameter

The selection of the optimal tube diameter (Td) for a given application has a major impact on the

heat transfer coefficient (hf) between the heat transfer fluid and heat transfer flow to a maximum extent.

The effect of tube diameter on the solar fraction and heat removal factor is shown in Figure 7. The

commercially available tube size of 0.012-0.05 m was chosen for the optimum collector area of 24 m2. The

results indicated that the heat removal factor and solar fraction improved gradually with an increase in the

solar collector tube diameter from 0.012 m to 0.022 m. This can be attributed to the increase in the contact

area between the tube wall and HTF with an increase in the solar collector tube diameter, resulting in an

increased heat transfer coefficient inside the surface of the tube and subsequently leading to enhancement

in the heat removal factor and solar fraction respectively. In the case of the present study, the maximum

increase in the contact area for the HTF was found to be existing for a solar collector tube diameter of

about 0.022 m. With a further increase in the tube diameter, the contact area between the tube wall and

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HTF reduced. As a result, there was a reduction in the difference between the inlet and outlet HTF

temperature that contributed to declination in the solar fraction and heat removal factor respectively. Based

on the above performance parameter results, it can be concluded that the optimum tube diameter of the

solar collector for the present system configuration is 0.022 m, for running the refrigeration system. The

optimum value found through TRNSYS has good agreement with the previous results reported by Shariah

and Shalabi [34] for solar water heating application. Moreover, Moss et al. [35] also reported a similar

trend in the results with different tube diameters for a given flow rate.

3.6 Effect of solar collector absorber plate thickness

The effect of absorber plate thickness on the solar fraction and heat removal factor is shown in

Figure 8. The considered design parameters include collector area, tube diameter and tube spacing of

24 m2, 0.022 m and 0.07 m respectively. The plate thickness ranging from 0.0001 m to 0.002 m with an

emissivity and absorptivity of 0.92 and 0.06 respectively was considered for optimization [36]. It is

observed that the solar fraction and heat removal factor increases significantly as the thickness of the plate

increases from 1×10-4m to 6×10-4 m. With an increase in the absorber plate thickness, the contact area

between the collector tubes and absorber plate increases that contributed to a reduction in the thermal-

conduction resistance. Therefore the heat energy in the absorber plate was easily dissipated to the working

fluid within the collector tubes, thus resulting in an improved solar fraction and heat removal factor

respectively. Further, as no significant effect on the change in performance parameter was identified after

6×10-4 m absorber plate thickness, it is sensible to select the absorber plate thickness of 6×10-4 m for the

chosen conditions in the present study.

3.7 Effect of different solar collector absorber material

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 The variation in the annual solar fraction and FR for four different solar collector tube materials such

as copper (386 W/mK), aluminum (204 W/mK), admiralty (111 W/mK) and steel (45 W/mK) with an

optimum tube diameter of 0.022 m is shown in Figure 9. It can be observed that the solar fraction and heat

removal factor decreases with a reduction in the thermal conductivity value of the material. For instance,

changing the material from copper to aluminum, stainless steel and admiralty reduce the annual solar

fraction and FR by 0.85 %, 1.15 %, 6.6 % and 10.3 %, 24.3 %, 42.6 % respectively due to high thermal

conductivity. The overall heat loss in the copper, aluminum, admiralty and stainless steel material is around

3.86 W/m2K, 3.87 W/m2K, 3.89 W/m2K, and 4 W/m2K respectively. It can be identified that the overall

heat loss coefficient for the studied materials is within the range of 3.86- 4 W/m2K, indicating that the

thermal conductivity has a small effect on the overall loss coefficient. However considering the effect of

absorber tube material selection on performance enhancement, it can be inferred that copper material usage

improves the performance of the proposed integrated system compared to the other three materials.

3.8 Effect of solar collector insulation thickness

The insulation material and its thickness around the solar collector is a very crucial parameter that

plays a major role in the outlet temperature of the HTF to the TES tank. The bottom and sides of the solar

collector are insulated with a rock wool type material that has a thermal conductivity of 0.038 W/mK. The

insulation material thickness range from 0.01 m to 0.08 m. The variations of the annual solar energy gain

and heat removal factor as a function of collector side and bottom insulation thickness are shown in Figure

10(a) and 10(b) respectively. To analyze the performance of the solar collector with insulation, initially the

side insulation thickness (Ts) was varied from 0.01 m to 0.08 m the bottom side insulation thickness (TB)

was considered as 0.01 m respectively. As observed from Figure 10(a), it can be identified that increasing

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the thermal resistance at the side of the solar collector results in an increase of solar fraction and heat

removal factor up to 0.05 m and a further increase in the thickness does not contribute to any significant

effect in the performance of the SWH system.

Further, to optimize the bottom thickness, initially the optimum value of the side thickness (Ts) was

considered as 0.05 and TB was varied from 0.01 m to 0.08 m. From Figure 10(b), it can be observed that as

the bottom thickness of the insulation increases, the bottom loss reduces. For both cases, an increase in the

thickness of insulation lead to an increase in the thermal conduction resistance, which made the collector

not to lose its heat into the environment. Thus, an increase in the solar fraction and heat removal factor was

observed. However, to define the performance of the solar collector accurately, Tabor et al. [37] suggested

that edge insulation of about the same thickness as bottom insulation should be during analysis. By

considering these conditions, Ts is kept as 0.05 m and TB is kept at 0.05 m. Moreover, the insulation of the

bottom thickness above 0.05 m had a very small variation in the solar fraction and heat removal factor,

which is very much negligible. Therefore it was identified from the obtained results that the optimum side

and the bottom insulation thickness of the solar collector for the present application is 0.05 m. Jelle et al.

[38] portrayed that to achieve a very low-temperature gradient in between the surface for an operating

temperature of less than 100°C, it is necessary to keep the insulation thickness within the range of 0.04 m

to 0.05 m.

3.9 Effect of collector glass extinction coefficient and thickness

Thermal properties of the glazing material such as transmittance, reflectance and absorptance are

the important functions of the solar collector performance. Hence, the selection of the glazing material

should focus on enhancing the transmission and decreasing the reflection and absorption effects

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respectively. The extinction coefficient is the property of the glass cover material which indicates how

good a glass material can allow the light to penetrate at a particular wavelength. For measuring the

performance of the solar collector, initially the glass thickness was considered as 0.001 m and the

extinction coefficient was varied from 4 to 32 m-1. The effect of the extinction coefficient on solar fraction

and the collector efficiency is shown in Figure 11(a). It can be identified that an increase in the extinction

coefficient value significantly reduces the solar energy gain and solar collector efficiency due to a

reduction in transmissivity of the absorbed radiation. The absorbed radiation is directly proportional to the

product of the local intensity and radiation penetrating distance in the medium. As the extinction

coefficient is considered, a low value is desirable for an efficient solar collector. In the present case, 4 m-1

is considered as an extinction coefficient, the value that indicates that the glass appears to be water white as

viewed on the edge. This value for glass is most commonly used in solar collector cover material. Further,

the effect of glass thickness (0.001-0.008 m) with the extinction coefficient of 4 m-1 on annual solar

fraction and solar collector efficiency is shown in Figure 11(b). As collector glass thickness increases, the

solar fraction and solar collector efficiency decrease considerably. Generally, an increase in the glass

thickness leads to a decrease in the transmittance/ convective loss with an increase in the glass reflectance.

Therefore, minimum glass thickness should be considered to increase the performance of the collector. For

the present study, a glass thickness of about 0.003 m is considered and it is the minimum thickness of glass

that is available in the market. In general as far as the solar collector is concerned, an extinction coefficient

of about 4 m-1 and glass thickness of 0.003 m is considered to be the optimum glass parameter for

commercial purposes.

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 The optimized design parameters for the climatic conditions of Chennai city, India that includes the

monthly and annual values of solar collector efficiency (η), heat removal factor (FR), solar fraction, thermal

energy loss from the storage tank (QSL) for the efficient operation of the SWH system with a thermal energy

storage tank for powering the vapour absorption refrigeration system are summarized in Table 2. It can be

identified that for the solar refrigeration process, the optimized solar collector system can provide 65% of the

required energy and the rest of the energy can be supplied through an auxiliary heater.

3.10 Simulation of vapour absorption refrigeration system

The above-optimized SWH system is integrated with the vapour absorption refrigeration system

developed by Giri and Braves [29]. The nominal cooling capacity of the refrigeration system is considered

to be 3.5 kW with a COP of about 0.59 at the rated conditions, as the work input to the auxiliary heater is

very small compared to the generator heat input. The COP is calculated without considering the auxiliary

heater. In the present system, the water outlet temperature from the storage tank was considered to be

varying marginally. As expected, the temperature and energy rise in the solar collector increased and

decreased with variation in the radiation levels. The rate of the cooling provided by the refrigeration unit

based on an optimized SWH system for one complete year is shown in Figure 12. It can be observed that

the cooling load is maximum during the month of May and June of about 2.68 kW and minimum during

the month of November of about 2.11 kW. The maximum and minimum values of the cooling load are due

to the energy supplied through the solar collector and the amount of energy stored in the storage tank varies

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based on the solar radiation. The greater the sunshine, the greater is the cooling effect delivered from the

refrigeration system.

4 CONCLUSION

A forced SWH system delivering hot water to energize the vapour absorption refrigeration system

was modeled. Simulation studies involved identification of the optimum parameters for the efficient

operation of the SWH system followed by the analysis of the integrated SWH and refrigeration system to

evaluate the effect of cooling rate based on the solar heat load. Based on the present study, the following

conclusions were reported:

• A SWH system consisting of a serpentine tube solar collector with optimum design parameters such

as a collector area of 24 m2, mass flux of 72 kg/hm2 and volume to collector ratio of 60 l/m2

equipped with copper absorber tube of diameter 0.022 m with tube spacing of 0.08 m, absorber

plate in the range of 5×10-4 m to 6×10-4 m, glass thickness of 0.003 m and glass quality (extension

coefficient) of 4 m-1 having bottom/side fiberglass insulation thickness of 0.05 m integrated with a

TES tank of height greater than 1.2 m was found to be effective in delivering the required energy

for the operation of vapour absorption refrigeration system.

• The optimized solar collector system was able to deliver about 65% of the annual thermal energy

required for the operation of the one-ton vapour absorption refrigeration unit.

• The integrated system delivered a maximum cooling effect (2.68 kW) during the month of May and

June and minimum cooling effect (2.11 kW) during the month of November respectively. The

variation in the cooling rate was predominantly dependent on the energy supplied from the solar

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 collector and the amount of energy stored in the storage tank which is based on the available solar

radiation.

Thus from the present study, it can be concluded that SWH system with TES could be a better energy-

efficient option for the operation of the vapour absorption refrigeration system and could pave way for the

significant usage of solar energy for refrigeration and cooling applications, instead of conventional power

sources in the context of global warming and CO2 emission. Further improvements in the integrated system

performance could be achieved with the use of nano HTF and phase change materials respectively.

NOMENCLATURE

Abbreviations

Ab Absorber plate thickness plate (m)

Abm solar collector tube

Ac Area of the solar collector (m2)

Br Bond resistance (hm2K/ kJ)

FR Heat removal factor

H Height of the storage tank

Kx Extinction coefficient (m-1)

M Mass flow rate (kg)

TB Bottom insulation thickness (m)

Tb Tube spacing (m)

Td Tube diameter (m)

Tg Thickness of glass (m)

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Ts Side insulation thickness (m)

V Volume of the storage tank (m3)

Greek symbols

€r Beam radiation (MJ/h-m2)

£r Diffused radiation (MJ/h-m2)

η Solar collector efficiency

α Absorptivity of the absorber plate

β Tilt angle (0)

ε Emissivity of the absorber plate

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Table 1 Design parameter range of the simulation study

Design Parameters Range of parameter values

Collector area (Ac) 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 m2

Mass flux (m/Ac) 60- 150 kg h-1m-2

Volume of the tank to collector area (V/Ac) 20-90 l m-2

Tank height (H) 0.80-2.00 m

Tube spacing (Tb) 0.05- 0.14 m

Tube diameter (Td) 0.012, 0.015, 0.019, 0.022, 0.025, 0.031, 0.05 m

Absorber plate thickness (Ab) 1×10-4-20×10-4 m

Extinction coefficient (KE) 4-32 m-1

Glass thickness (Tg) 0.001- 0.008 m

Collector tube material (Abm) Copper, Aluminium, Admiralty and Stainless

steel

Bottom and side insulation (TB and TS) 0.01-0.08 m

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Table 2 Optimized design parameters of the solar water heating system

Parameters Values
Collector area (Ac) 24 m2
Mass flux (m/Ac) 72 kg h-1 m2
Volume of the storage tank to collector area (V/Ac) 60 lit.m-2
Tube spacing (Tb) 0.08 m
Solar collector tube diameter (Td) 0.022 m
Absorber plate thickness (Tp) 5×10-4 m- 6×10-4 m
Absorptivity (α) 0.92
Emissivity of the absorber plate (ε) 0.06
Required temperature (TS) 90 0C
Overall loss coefficient of the storage tank (Uls) 3.8 W/K
Bottom thickness (tb) 0.05 m
Side thickness (tS) 0.05 m
Storage tank height 1.2 m - 1.6 m
Thermal conductivity of the collector insulation (K) 0.038 W/mK
Thermal conductivity of thermal storage tank wall (Kt) 0.04 W/mK
Bond resistance (Br) 0.05 hm2K/ kJ
Collector tilt angle (β) 130
Extinction coefficient (KE) 4 m-1
Glass thickness (Tg) 0.003 m
Absorber tube material Copper

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 1 (a) Schematic arrangement of the proposed system

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 1 (b) TRNSYS flow diagram of the SWH system integrated with the refrigeration unit

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 2 Variation of the monthly solar fraction for various collector areas

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 3 Variation of solar fraction and heat removal factor for various mass flow rates

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 4 Variation of the solar fraction for different volume to collector area ratio

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 5 Variation of the solar fraction for various heights of the storage tank

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 6 Variation of annual solar fraction and heat removal factor for various tubes spacing

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 7 Variation of annual solar fraction and heat removal factor for various tube diameters

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 8 Variation of annual solar fraction and heat removal factor for various tube thickness

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 9 Variation of the annual solar fraction and heat removal factor with different solar collector
absorber materials

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 10 Variation of the annual solar fraction and heat removal factor with (a) side insulation and (b)
bottom insulation.

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 11 Variation in the annual solar fraction and solar collector efficiency for different
(a) extinction coefficient and (b) glass thickness

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Accepted Article

FIGURE 12 Cooling rate delivered by the refrigeration system integrated with optimized SWH unit

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