Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia

The global rise in energy demands has become a prominent issue that requires urgent intervention. This is largely due to the surge in greenhouse gas emissions, which could result to a global warming predicament. Moreover, from research studies, it is observed that air-conditioning and refrigeration...

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Main Author:	Ravindranathan, Rashvin
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2022
Subjects:	TP Chemical technology
Online Access:	http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/101744/1/RashvinRavindranathanMSChE2022.pdf.pdf
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id	my-utm-ep.101744
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spelling	my-utm-ep.1017442023-07-09T01:45:03Z Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia 2022 Ravindranathan, Rashvin TP Chemical technology The global rise in energy demands has become a prominent issue that requires urgent intervention. This is largely due to the surge in greenhouse gas emissions, which could result to a global warming predicament. Moreover, from research studies, it is observed that air-conditioning and refrigeration systems are one of the biggest contributors to this increase in energy needs. Therefore, alternative solutions to conventional air conditioning systems are required in combatting this issue. One being through the implementation of an absorption refrigeration system which utilizes GHG free working fluids (zero emission of greenhouse gases). However, this system is yet to be widely commercialized due to its poor technical and commercial feasibility. For instance, its low COP value of below one would instead require more electricity to be consumed through the grid, ultimately increasing the GHG output. Now, in this project, methods such as incorporating solar energy to improve the absorption chiller's efficiency and to reduce the energy intake from the grid would be explored in depth. Hence, the main output of this research is to create a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system in Malaysia. Besides that, to also compare absorption refrigeration from a commercial perspective against current available conventional cooling systems such as the ductless split (direct refrigerant) and air conditioning systems powered by solar electricity. An EXCEL program is used in modelling out the desirable framework due the software’s versatility. Next, the framework is applied on a case study of a commercial building (academic centre) to ensure and prove the credibility of the developed framework. Here, a few observations were made based on the study outcome, where, it is seen that by introducing and integrating solar energy to the absorption refrigeration system, the life cycle cost was reduced by half compared to a conventional split air conditioning system. Besides that, it was also concluded that the solar based absorption chiller would provide a higher internal rate of return of 9% and a reduction in GHG emission of 83.21%, compared to a solar PV powered air conditioner with values of 6% and 54.64% respectively for a study period of 20 years. 2022 Thesis http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/101744/ http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/101744/1/RashvinRavindranathanMSChE2022.pdf.pdf application/pdf en public http://dms.library.utm.my:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:152365 masters Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Faculty of Engineering - School of Chemical & Energy Engineering
institution	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
collection	UTM Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	TP Chemical technology
spellingShingle	TP Chemical technology Ravindranathan, Rashvin Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia
description	The global rise in energy demands has become a prominent issue that requires urgent intervention. This is largely due to the surge in greenhouse gas emissions, which could result to a global warming predicament. Moreover, from research studies, it is observed that air-conditioning and refrigeration systems are one of the biggest contributors to this increase in energy needs. Therefore, alternative solutions to conventional air conditioning systems are required in combatting this issue. One being through the implementation of an absorption refrigeration system which utilizes GHG free working fluids (zero emission of greenhouse gases). However, this system is yet to be widely commercialized due to its poor technical and commercial feasibility. For instance, its low COP value of below one would instead require more electricity to be consumed through the grid, ultimately increasing the GHG output. Now, in this project, methods such as incorporating solar energy to improve the absorption chiller's efficiency and to reduce the energy intake from the grid would be explored in depth. Hence, the main output of this research is to create a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system in Malaysia. Besides that, to also compare absorption refrigeration from a commercial perspective against current available conventional cooling systems such as the ductless split (direct refrigerant) and air conditioning systems powered by solar electricity. An EXCEL program is used in modelling out the desirable framework due the software’s versatility. Next, the framework is applied on a case study of a commercial building (academic centre) to ensure and prove the credibility of the developed framework. Here, a few observations were made based on the study outcome, where, it is seen that by introducing and integrating solar energy to the absorption refrigeration system, the life cycle cost was reduced by half compared to a conventional split air conditioning system. Besides that, it was also concluded that the solar based absorption chiller would provide a higher internal rate of return of 9% and a reduction in GHG emission of 83.21%, compared to a solar PV powered air conditioner with values of 6% and 54.64% respectively for a study period of 20 years.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Ravindranathan, Rashvin
author_facet	Ravindranathan, Rashvin
author_sort	Ravindranathan, Rashvin
title	Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia
title_short	Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia
title_full	Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia
title_fullStr	Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia
title_sort	development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in malaysia
granting_institution	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
granting_department	Faculty of Engineering - School of Chemical & Energy Engineering
publishDate	2022
url	http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/101744/1/RashvinRavindranathanMSChE2022.pdf.pdf
_version_	1776100761156976640

Development of a framework to study and enhance the feasibility of an absorption refrigeration system for space cooling in Malaysia

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