Design of solar powered absorption chiller

• Main Author: Muhammad Hazim Bin Md Idris
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Solar; Chiller; Heat storage

This thesis is about the designing process of a solar powered absorption chiller system that will be used to provide cool air to UNITEN BN Building (first floor) only. This project seeks to utilize the solar energy by implementing a solar heat storage to provide continuous supply of hot water to the absorption chiller and the feasibility of the system towards the designated cooling area. Besides that, by utilizing the solar energy the system is expected to be able to reduce the electricity consumption cost. The design process comprises of reviewing several available researches on solar power absorption chiller system and the conventional air-conditioning system. The designing process of the solar powered absorption chiller can be divided into several steps which is determining the cooling load, chiller selection, the design of hot water circuit and cool water circuit. Lastly, the comparison of cost analysis of both absorption chiller and conventional air-conditioning system was done to estimate the worth of the design. It is found that the design solar powered absorption chiller is feasible to be used for BN Building (first floor) in which the final temperature of the day is 92ºC. The auxiliary heater is only used during start-up and during low solar radiation level. Moreover, the system can save about RM4431.90 of electricity consumption cost. Lastly, the solar power absorption chiller system can be concluded that it is not worth of an investment due to high initial cost of installation.