Integration of solar charged PCM storage with VAR system for low capacity vegetable cold storage

Abstract

Abstract In this work a solar-assisted vapour absorption refrigeration (VAR) system, suitable for 10 MT vegetable cold storage for a small village, has been modelled and analysed for day-night operation. Solar parabolic trough collector (PTC) has been considered for integration with a LiBr-H2O based VAR system. Thermal energy from solar thermal system is stored in a phase change material (PCM) energy storage, which is integrated with the VAR system. Apart from system integration, operational strategy of the storage based system has been evolved and performance of the system on hourly basis for representative days has been reported. The PCM quantity and the number of PTC modules have been decided based on the cooling demand. Hitec salt has been considered as PCM material. The study reveals that 5 PTC modules, each of 30 m2aperture area, and a PCM mass of 12.5 ton can effectively cater the energy demand of the VAR system to successfully maintain the 10 MT cold room at 6 °C.