An experimental study on absorption refrigeration system driven by engine exhaust gas for vehicles

This thesis includes the analysis of a designed and constructed absorption refrigeration system. The system uses an aqua-Lithiumbromide solution with water as the refrigerant and Lithiumbromide as the absorbent. The system has a design cooling capacity of 2 kW. A 1.3 liter internal combustion engine was also analyzed experimentally to determine whether it was capable of driving the experimental refrigeration system via its exhaust heat. This required a study of the power and heat distribution of the diesel engine under various speed and load conditions. As far as the integrated system is concerned, the experiments were focused on the effect on the performance of the engine and effect on the performance of the absorption refrigeration system. Introducing the refrigeration system into the exhaust system of the engine caused an increase on the engine back pressure and this caused higher fuel consumption and lower efficiency. The effect can be reduced by designing a generator with a minimum pressure drop. But more heat recovered from the exhaust gas of the IC engine the more heat transferred to the generator and hence this caused an increase on the cooling capacity of the experimental refrigeration system. This is due to the fact that, in the refrigeration system, the cooling capacity is directly proportional to the heat input to the generator Keywords: Refrigeration, Absorption Refrigeration, Road Transport Refrigeration, Internal Combustion Engine