Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper

ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF SOLAR-POWERED TRIPLE FLUID EINSTEIN REFRIGERATION CYCLE Ahmed M. Qenawy1, Abdel-Wahed F. El-Dib1, and Metwally M. Ghoraba1 1 Mechanical Power Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

ABSTRACT
Solar cooling systems are actively being developed these days. The motivation of the renewed interest in solar cooling systems includes the increase in energy prices, environmental considerations. The economic feasibility of such systems is the controlling factor for successful commercialization of such systems. Egypt, as well as most of the other Middle East countries, enjoys an abundance of solar radiation and, therefore, systems utilizing solar energy are actively being developed. The economics of solar powered Einstein refrigeration system is investigated for the application of ice production for the fishery or food industry. An icemaker like this could be used to refrigerate vaccines, meat, dairy products, or vegetables. The ice can either be sold as a commercial product, or used in a cooler or icebox refrigerator. Solar powered Einstein refrigeration cycle needs solar energy to produce the required cooling effect. Although solar radiant energy is free, the equipment required to convert it to a useful cooling is not. The objective of this economic study is to determine the economic feasibility of solar powered Einstein refrigeration system. The calculated equivalent annual cost of the system (EACsystem) is found to be $225.174/m2 of the solar collector area. The system ice production cost is found to be about 50% more than other conventional refrigeration systems. But the use of the system in rural areas is seen to be essential.

conditioning processes as estimated by the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) (Lucas, 1998). Therefore, nowadays the refrigeration sector is one of the most important in the process industry. But this industry makes a significant contribution to the green house effect directly through the leakage of refrigerant green house gases. Starting with the Montreal Protocol (1987) and continuing to the Kyoto Treaty (1997), global warming has become an issue of great interest to the public. Moreover, this industry encounters large energy loss in converting heat into electricity which is converted later into cooling through electric driven vapor compression refrigeration system. In areas where electrical energy is available, this refrigeration system is the most popular one. In Areas where grid electricity is not available such as villages in rural areas, mountains, desert, and island communities, there is a need of alternative refrigeration systems. One of the major alternatives of vapor compression systems is the absorption refrigerators which can be driven by low grade energy such as solar energy. Recently, solar energy is seen as an attractive source for cooling. Single pressure absorption system, also called diffusion absorption system, is characterized by employing not only absorbing and refrigerant mediums but also a pressure-equalizing medium. Two cycles of this type are found in literature namely; the ammonia-water-hydrogen (AWH) and the Einstein cycles. AWH cycle is one of the most familiar single pressure absorption cycles. Various attempts have been made to investigate the behavior of a solar driven ammonia-water-hydrogen cycle. Effect of a solar driven vapor-lift pump on the performance of AWH cycle is investigated experimentally by Bourseau et al., 1987. Gutirrez, 1988, demonstrated experimentally the feasibility of operation of a solar refrigerator of this type with a flat-plate solar collector as the generator. Solar operated absorption diffusion refrigerating system was reported by Sabry et al., 1993, to be a promising system for the application of solar energy. In that study, the design of a commercially vapor absorption electrical

INTRODUCTION
There is an increased interest in the use and applications of solar energy. Solar energy is a clean and renewable source of energy. The use of solar energy as an energy source tends to reduce both the consumption of fossil fuels and the emission of polluting gases. Earths energy resources are continuously decreasing. Therefore, there is an increased interest in utilizing other alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and/or hydrodynamic sources. Refrigeration sector is the most important in the industrial sector because approximately 15% of all electricity produced worldwide is used for refrigeration and air-

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper refrigerator was changed to make it suitable for running on solar energy. The system was tested and operated in Shebin-El-kom, Egypt. An average system COP was estimated to be in the order of 0.02. An uncovered U.S. patent by Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard issued on November 11, 1930 describes another single pressure, thermally driven refrigeration cycle which uses butane, ammonia and water. In the Einstein cycle, ammonia now acts as an inert gas to lower the partial pressure over the refrigerant, butane, and water later provides separation by absorbing ammonia, Delano, 1998. The most recent work on Einstein cycle found in literature was done at Georgia Institute of Technology by Schaefer, 2000. In that study, the application of the Einstein cycle as a heat pump was examined. Schaefer has found that an Einstein cycle heat pump water heater with COP of 1.5 would cut the operating costs of conventional gas water heater by 33%. The present study examines the economic feasibility of powering the single pressure refrigeration cycle described in U.S. Patent No. 1,781,541 by Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard (the Einstein cycle), Delano, 1998, by solar energy. The economics of using the proposed system for ice production in isolated fish villages in Egypt will be investigated. refrigerant evaporates and leaves the evaporator as a mixture of ammonia-butane solution at state 9. The evaporation process requires heat transfer from the surroundings (refrigeration). The refrigerant and pressure-equalizing vapor mixture (ammonia-butane mixture) becomes superheated in the pre-cooler, and is then enters the condenser/absorber at state 11. Liquid absorbing fluid weak ammonia-water mixture descending from the liquid phase separator (LPS), state 5, is sprayed into the condenser absorber, state 6, as subcooled liquid after being cooled in the preheater. The weak ammonia-water mixture absorbs ammonia vapor from the superheated ammoniabutane mixture entering the condenser\absorber at state 11. Now, the condenser/absorber has two substances strong ammonia-water mixture and pure butane vapor. The refrigerant (pure butane) vapor is then cooled until it condenses. Heats of absorption and condensation are rejected to the environment. The refrigerant is then sent into the evaporator (state 7, as mentioned above), and the pressureequalizing/absorbing fluid mixture (strong ammoniawater mixture) leaves the absorber/condenser at state 1 as saturated liquid. In the pre-heater, the rich ammonia-water mixture stream, state 1, exchanges heat with the weak ammonia-water mixture, state 5. The strong ammonia-water mixture then enters the generator (solar collector) at state 2. In the generator, solar radiation is collected, absorbed and transformed to heat. The working fluid mixture flowing inside the collector is heated to separate the absorbing fluid from the pressure-equalizing fluid. The flow inside the solar collector (generator) is maintained by natural circulation as in the work of Staicovici, 1986. The heated mixture leaves the generator (solar collector) at state 3, and then enters the LPS. In the LPS the vapor phase (ammonia), state 4, is separated from the liquid phase, state 5. The superheated ammonia (pressure-equalizing fluid) is cooled in the pre-cooler to state 10 before entering the evaporator. The liquid absorbing fluid, state 5, then exchanges heat in the pre-heater with the weak ammonia-water mixture stream, state 1, and leaves the pre-heater at state 6. Detailed description of the systems is done by Qenawy, 2005. In Qenawys study the performance of the solar powered Einstein refrigeration cycle is examined. In this study, the Einstein refrigeration cycle is powered by solar energy; to combine the advantages of using solar energy and single pressure absorption refrigeration cycle. A thermodynamic model of the solar powered refrigeration cycle has been formulated to describe the cycles performance. As a result of this study, the system pressure was selected according to the condenser coolant temperature to optimize the cycles performance. The results showed also that the system pressure has a working range the cycle should work within. For

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
In Einstein refrigeration cycle the generator function is to produce a pressure equalizing fluid (ammonia) which will later be admitted to the evaporator. This generated ammonia lowers the liquid butane partial pressure in the evaporator making it to evaporate and produce the cooling effect. In the proposed system, the solar collector acts as the generator Fig.1. Evacuated tube collectors are characterized by their high efficiency, medium price, commercial availability and that their future market is promising, Dufffie and Beckman, 1980. Therefore, evacuated tube solar collector was selected as the generator for this application. The system main components are solar collector (acts as the generator in ordinary absorption cycle), liquid phase separator (LPS), evaporator, pre-heater, precooler, absorber and condenser. The absorber and condenser are combined into a single unit. At state 7, liquid refrigerant (Butane) leaves the condenser/absorber as saturated liquid, passes through a pre-cooler, gets subcooled, and arrives in the evaporator at state 8. The pressure-equalizing fluid (Ammonia) enters the evaporator at state 10. In the evaporator, the refrigerant and pressure equalizing gas both arrive from the pre-cooler in nearly pure form. The refrigerant evaporates in the presence of the pressure equalizing gas due to lowering of the refrigerants partial pressure. The

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper ammonia-butane mixture, which is the working fluid of the investigated cycle, the pressure ranges from 4.2 to 9 bar. The cycle has a COP of 0.1207 to 0.1025 for that range of pressure. The performance of the cycle was evaluated throughout summer and winter days. Effect of various design and operating parameters on the COP was also investigated in that study. the system. The solar energy collection system is an evacuated tube solar collector. The price of evacuated tube solar collector is found to be about $400/m2 of solar collection area. This price is obtained from international dealers. (2) Heat exchangers that include: evaporator, condenser, pre-cooler and pre-heater. Evaporator that produces 620 kgice/day is assumed to cost about $10,710, Syed et al., 2002. For simplicity, the cost of an evaporator that produces 1 kg ice calculated as 17.27 $/kgice. Qenawy, 2005, calculated the monthly ice production from the solar powered Einstein refrigeration cycle and it is shown in Fig 4. The average daily ice production was found to be about 7 kg ice/day for one square meter of collection area.. Thus the evaporator cost for the solar powered Einstein refrigeration cycle can be estimated to cost about 120 $/m2. The other three heat exchangers are assumed to have a cost of about $100/m2 each. (3) Piping system is assumed to have about $25/m2 cost. (4) Land cost has minor cost referred to other components since the system will be located in rural lands that is cheap. It could be assumed to cost about $10/m2. (5) Costs of installation, testing and adjusting is assumed to be $15/m2. Thus, for a unit collection area the initial capital cost of the system is calculated to be about Ci= $870/m2.

METHODS OF COMPARISON
In order to examine the feasibility of solar powered Einstein refrigeration system, it is economically compared with traditional vapor compression system. Comparison between alternatives deals with situations in which one has more than one choice and using engineering economic principles, one needs to decide between the alternatives so as to go with the one that is most economically justified. There are two main methods for alternatives comparison; the present worth method and the annual worth method. The present worth method involves finding the equivalent value of each alternative at the present time. The alternative with the smallest present worth of costs is then recommended The annual worth method involves finding the equivalent end-of-year value of each alternative. The alternative with the smallest equivalent uniform annual cost, or net annual cost is then recommended. Annual worth analysis is the easiest method when the alternatives have different lives however both methods will yield the same results. In this study, the economics of solar powered Einstein refrigeration plant is compared with the traditional vapor compression plant for the ice production application. Because of the lack of information and the complications about the costs of vapor compression plant for ice production, the annual worth method is employed. The cost of onekilogram ice produced by the solar system is then compared with commercial selling price of ice from local sellers where ice is produced by traditional vapor compression refrigeration plant.

OPERATING COST
Constant pressure solar powered Einstein refrigeration system does not need pumps. The only source of energy to power the system is the solar radiation, which is free. The ice harvesting and water replacement are the only tasks of the operator. Because labor work is minimum and the labor cost in Egypt is low, the yearly labor cost of the system is assumed to be Cl= $100/m2 per year The maintenance cost is difficult to quantify because it depends on a large number of variables such as local labor rates, their experience, the age of the system, length of time of operation, etc. Maintenance costs cited in various studies show that the absorption systems yearly maintenance costs range from 0.6% to 1.25% of the initial costs yearly. For the purpose of this investigation the yearly maintenance cost is taken to be 1% of the initial cost yearly. Thus the maintenance cost for a unit collection area is calculated as Cm = $8.7/m2 per year. Thus the operating cost Co is equal to $108.7/m2 per year. The cash flow diagram of the system is shown in Fig. (2). For an expected life of the system of 20 years (N=20 years) Syed et al., 2002, and an inflated interest rate

INITIAL COSTS
Equation 1 shows that the total cost (TC) of any system consists of two main variables, namely the initial cost (Ci) and the operating cost (Co).

Total cost = f (Initial costs, Operating costs)

(1)

The initial costs for the solar powered Einstein refrigeration system includes: (1) Solar energy collection system: The solar energy collection system plays the most significant role in the initial cost of

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper of approximate value of 12% (i=0.12), the equivalent annual cost of the system along its life could be calculated as follows: the initial cost is distributed annually through the life of the system. The EACsystem (Equivalent Annual Cost for the system) is the sum of equivalent annual cost of the initial cost (Ai) and the annual operating costs (Co); that is expressed by Eqn. (2). The uniform series capital recovery factor as expressed in Eqn. (3) is used to determine the amount of each future annuity payment required to dissipate a given present value (initial cost of the system, Ci), by the knowledge of interest rate and number of payments Eqn. (4). Figure (3) represents the yearly equivalent cash flow diagram for the system in which the cost of the system is divided annually through its life years. conventional systems, but its use in isolated areas is necessary. Many isolated areas in Egypt need cooling and specially using ice. The small fishing village of Lake Naser, Aswan, Egypt, is an example of locations away from electrical grid that needs ice. If the fishermen catch is assumed to be 150 kg of fish per day. About 60 kg of ice is enough to keep this amount of fish for several days if preserved in well-insulated ice box. The collector area needed is then about 8 m2. Such a system will cost the fisherman about $6,960. The use of this system will make the fishermen to preserve fish for longer time period and eliminate the need for renting refrigerated trucks to go to market places. This will yield in an estimated annual savings of about $5,000. Therefore, the pay back period of the system is less than two years for those fishermen. So the system will be very economical device for such situation.

EACsystem = Ai + Co Ai = Ci(A/P, i %, N)
i (1 + i ) Ai = Ci . N (1 + i ) 1
N

(2) (3) (4)

CONCLUSION
The construction of a solar refrigerator to preserve sea products is technologically viable and it can be an alternative to provide refrigeration to rural communities which do not have electric service, Qenawy, 2005. In this study, we examined the economic feasibility of that system. Although the initial cost of the solar refrigerator was found relatively high which may make this alternative less economically attractive, it could be an acceptable solution if this equipment is mass produced. Many of its components can be improved and standardized in the future which will lower the costs of the solar refrigerator. The system ice production cost was found to be about 50% more expensive than other conventional refrigeration systems. But the use of the system in rural areas is seen to be essential.

From Eqn.(3), Ai is calculated to equal $116.474/m2.year The calculated equivalent annual cost of the system (EACsystem) is calculated with the help of equation (2) to be $225.174/m2.year. In order to determine the selling price of one kilogram of ice produced by the system, the annual production of ice from the system is needed to be calculated first. Qenawy, 2005, calculated the ice production produced by the system during the average day of each month of the year, and then calculated the monthly and consequently system yearly ice production. T Monthly values of ice production for a unit collection area are shown in Fig. (4), Qenawy 2005. The total annual production of ice was calculated to be 2.7 ton/m2.year with an average daily production of 7.45 kgice / day.m2. The selling price is now calculated for one kg of ice by dividing the total annual cost of the system by the annual production of ice. The selling price for one kg of ice is found to be $0.08339. For equivalent money value the selling price is 0.5 EGP/kgice. Normally the ice is sold in the form of blocks of approximate mass of 25 kg. Then the block price is calculated to be 12.5 EGP. The selling price of one block of ice in Cairo region is about 8 EGP. Thus, the ice produced by the solar system is more expensive than that produced by conventional system by about 50%. Although the solar Einstein system cannot compete with

REFERENCES
Bourseau P., J. C. Mora and R. Bugarel, 1987, Couplage de machine absorption-diffusion et de capteur solaire, Revue Internatinale Du Froid, Vol. 10, pp. 209-216 Delano A. D., 1998, Design analysis of the Einstein refrigeration cycle, Ph.D. Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology Dufffie, J.A. and W. A. Beckman, 1980, Solar Engineering of thermal processes, 2nd edition, John Wiley publication, New York Hammad, M. and Y. Zurigat, 1998, Performance of a seconf generation solar cooling unit, Solar energy, Vol. 62, N. 2, pp. 79-84. Gutirrez F., 1988, Behavior of a household absorption-diffusion refrigerator adapted to

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper autonomous solar operation, Solar Energy, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 17-23 Lucas, 1998, International Institute of Refrigeration news, International Journal of Refrigeration, Vol. 21, N. 2, pp. 88 Pongsid Srikhirin, Satha Aphornratana, 2002, Investigation of a diffusion absorption refrigerator, Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 22, pp. 1181-1193 Qenawy, A. M., 2005 Evaluation and performance study of solar powered Einstein refrigeration cycle, MSc. Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt. Sabry T. I., A. E. Hanafy and A. M. A. Klup, 1993, Performance of an absorption-diffusion refrigerator operated by solar energy, Proceedings of the 8th international conference for mechanical power engineering, Alexandria, Egypt, Vol. 3, pp. 379-393, April 27-29 Schaefer L. A, 2000, Single pressure absorption heat pump analysis, Ph.D. Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology Staicovici M. D., 1986, An autonomous solar ammonia-water refrigeration system, Solar Energy, Vol. 36, N. 2, pp. 115-124 Syed. A., G. G. Maidment, J. F. Missenden, and R. M. Tozer, 2002, A review of solar assisted cooling techniques, South Bank University, Internal Paper

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper List of Figures

1 2 3 4 5 6

Strong ammonia-water mixture Heatted ammonia-water mixture Heatted ammonia-water mixture Superheated ammonia vapor Weak ammonia-water mixture Subcooled ammonia-water mixture

7 8 9 10 11

Saturated liquid butane (Mixture) Subcooled liquid butane Saturated ammonia-butane vapor Ammonia vapor Superheated ammonia-butane vapor

Figure 1. Flow diagram of solar powered Einstein refrigeration cycle, Qenawy 2005.

Expected useful life, years. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 17 18 19 20 Cl Cm Ci Figure 2. Cash flow diagram of solar powered Einstein refrigeration system.

Expected useful life, years. 0 Co Ai EACsystem Figure 3. Yearly equivalent cash flow diagram of solar powered Einstein refrigeration system. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 17 18 19 N= 20

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference Montreal, August 20-24, 2004 Refereed Paper

10 9 8 7
2

kg ice / day m

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 November September December February October January May March April June July August

Months

Figure 4. Monthly values of ice production, Qenawy 2005.