Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of Solar-Biogas Hybrid Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System for dairy farmers
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Date
2019-10-11
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MPUT, UDAIPUR
Abstract
India is the premier producer as well as the largest consumer of milk
worldwide. Milk provides income to dairy farmers and rural prosperity for the Indian
economy. Dairy farming in India provides an excellent opportunity for selfemployment.
The demand of milk and dairy products is increasing rapidly and there is
an immense scope of dairy farming in our country.
Refrigeration is one of the most important part in dairy farming, aimed to
control the temperature of a confined region and preserve milk or dairy food products.
India having tropical atmospheric conditions, refrigeration is most commonly used
resulting in high consumption of energy. Energy one of the most crucial factor on
which the development of a country depends, its demand is increasing with increasing
population. According to international institute of refrigeration Paris (IIR) 15 % of the
total electrical energy produced in India is consumed in refrigeration process. This
situation provides a scope of research in the field of refrigeration, so that alternative
energy sources can be developed and utilized in refrigeration process. If the
renewable source of energy can be utilized for refrigeration then a considerable
amount of electricity from grid can be saved.
Major refrigeration systems are vapour compression and vapour absorption.
Vapour compression is widely used owing to its low cost and better performance. One
of the limiting factor of using vapour compression is the use of high grade electrical
energy and environmental conditions. On the other hand, vapour absorption system
uses heat energy. The main advantage of vapour absorption system lies in the
possibility of utilizing renewable energy as the input for producing refrigeration
effects.
It is inevitable that vapour absorption refrigeration system uses heat energy,
therefore renewable energy source such as solar energy or biogas could be utilized for
producing refrigeration effect. Some of the commercial fuels can be replaced by
biogas and biogas refrigeration can be adapted commercially.
In the present research work a biogas based vapour absorption refrigeration
system is designed, fabricated and installed in CTAE, Udaipur in the Department of
renewable energy engineering. This refrigeration system is developed for dairy
farmers to meet their requirements for refrigeration and preserving dairy food
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products. Further the system is developed as hybrid renewable powered vapour
absorption refrigeration system using solar thermal water heater and PV panel in
combination with biogas.
A refrigeration system is termed as hybrid refrigeration system if it utilizes at
least two different sources of energy for producing refrigeration effect. The hybrid
refrigeration system is more complex however provides the scope of using renewable
energy for refrigeration.
The system was operated using biogas as fuel its performance was majorly
evaluated on the basis of parameters like COP and refrigeration effect produced.
During experimentation for generator temperature 135°C to 140°C, evaporator
cabinet temperature 2°C to 4°C, the COP was attained in the range of 0.1 to 0.13
The developed refrigeration system was powered by different renewable
energy resources during experimentation. The system was first powered by heat
energy obtained by combustion of biogas. Further the system was powered by heat
supplied by solar thermal water heater and finally it was supplied DC power obtained
from solar PV panel. The performance analysis for each type of refrigeration system
was done by evaluating COP and the refrigeration effect produced. Further the
experimentation was done on solar biogas powered hybrid refrigeration system using
solar thermal water heater and biogas. For this type of hybrid system for generator
temperature 160°C, evaporator cabinet temperature 2°C and COP was evaluated. It
was found in the range of 0.07 to 0.1 when biogas was used as heat source. On the
other side when the solar radiation reached its peak, the refrigeration system was
shifted on solar water heater but in this case generator temperature was achieved up to
70°C and at this temperature no cooling effect was produced in the evaporator
cabinet. Cabinet temperature was found same as the room temperature.
Finally when operated by solar water heater, generator temperature did not
achieved its desired range of 135°C to 140°C. After that when solar radiations are
available the system was kept on DC supply for operating DC heater which supplies
heat to generator. In this case generator and evaporator achieved its desired
temperature range of 135°C to 140°C at which refrigerant vaporized and it produced
cooling effect in evaporator cabinet. Cabinet temperature was achieved in the range of
2°C to 4°C. The COP was obtained in the range of 0.07 to 0.10
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Comparing the developed refrigeration systems, solar PV panel biogas hybrid
powered refrigeration system was found better in performance due to the use of
renewable energy sources as heat source. The developed refrigeration system was
operated for 24 hours by renewable energy sources like biogas from biogas plant, hot
water from solar water heater and DC supply by solar PV panel.
Benefit cost ratio of solar PV- biogas hybrid powered vapour absorption
refrigeration system was found to be 2.99, Benefit cost ratio of biogas powered
vapour absorption refrigeration system was 3.24 and that of solar water heater –
biogas powered hybrid vapour absorption refrigeration was 4.15.
Pay back period of solar PV- biogas hybrid powered vapour absorption
refrigeration system was found to be 3.75 years, payback period of biogas powered
vapour absorption refrigeration system was 2.98 years and that of solar water heater –
biogas powered hybrid vapour absorption refrigeration was 4.04 years.
Net profit worth of solar PV- biogas hybrid powered vapour absorption
refrigeration system was found to be Rs.43733, Net profit worth of biogas powered
vapour absorption refrigeration system was Rs. 36817 and that of solar water heater –
biogas powered hybrid vapour absorption refrigeration was Rs.104829.
Internal rate of returned of solar PV- biogas hybrid powered vapour
absorption refrigeration system was found to be 27%, Internal rate of returned of
biogas powered vapour absorption refrigeration system was 30% and that of solar
water heater – biogas powered hybrid vapour absorption refrigeration was 39%.
Description
Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of Solar-Biogas Hybrid Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System for dairy farmers
Keywords
Citation
Sankhla V. S. And sharma D.