Title: Energy, exergy and exergoeconomic analyses of a solar refrigeration cycle using nanofluid

Authors: Hossein Asgharian; Ehsan Baniasadi; C. Ozgur Colpan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jerib Ave., Isfahan, 81746-73441, Iran ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jerib Ave., Isfahan, 81746-73441, Iran ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey

Abstract: In this paper, energy, exergy and exergoeconomic analyses of a solar absorption refrigeration cycle with energy storage are conducted. In this cycle, nanofluid is used as the heat transfer fluid (HTF) in a flat plate collector to improve the performance of the cycle. Based on the results of the analyses, the type of nanofluid and working conditions that lead to lower cost of cooling effect and higher COP and exergy efficiency of the cycle are found. The results show that utilisation of CuO and Al₂O₃ nanofluids with 5% volume fraction increases the COP of the solar cycle by 17.98% and 14.51%, respectively, whereas the exergy-based cost rate of cooling decreases by 10.25% and 5.48%, respectively. Utilisation of the CuO nanofluid as the HTF is found to be more favourable for improving the performance of the cycle and decreasing the exergy-based cost of cooling.

Keywords: solar absorption refrigeration cycle; exergoeconomic analysis; exergy efficiency; cooling effect; nanofluid; energy storage.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2019.101625

International Journal of Exergy, 2019 Vol.30 No.1, pp.63 - 85

Received: 14 Nov 2018
Accepted: 23 Feb 2019
Published online: 16 Aug 2019 *

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