Islamic University of Gaza

Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department

Design & Simulate a Prototype of Absorption Air

Conditioner With a Three Ton Cooling Capacity
:Prepared By
Abdel Aziz Y. Lulu

Ali A. Alashi

Ibrahim A. Albaik

:Supervised By
.Mohammed Abuhaiba Ph.D., P.E

Khaled I. Abou Sheikh

OUTLINE
ABSTRACT
MOTIVATION AND NEED
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
PROJECT OVERVIEW
GENERAL COMPONENTS
PROTOTYPE DESIGN
FEASIBILITY STUDY
FINAL RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS

ABSTRACT
This presents the design and development of a three ton AC prototype
The prototype is a thermally driven ammonia-water absorption cycle
Energy, mass and exergy analysis
All components and detailed parts were simulated using SolidWorks
Overall design: the ease of assembly, disassembly and maintenance
The prototype is developed with a goal to minimize the overall
compactness
The feasibility study demonstrate the feasibility of the prototype

MOTIVATION AND NEED

Engineering and Gaza troubles
Electrical supply shortage
Energy conservation
Exploiting the available heat resources
Flexible idea
Green device

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Studying the ammonia-water absorption cycle
Designing every components of an air conditioner unit and /or
Refrigerator
Contribution in solving community crisis
Creating our own opportunity
Supplying the local market with a new commodity

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Project overview
General components
Prototype design

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Refrigeration cycle
Absorption refrigeration cycle
Comparison between RC & AC
Prototype specification
Justification of specifications

REFRIGERATION CYCLE(RC)

REFRIGERATION CYCLE(RC) (CONT.)

ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION CYCLE

ABSORPTION CYCLE (AC)

COMPARISON BETWEEN RC & AC

Compression
Systems

Absorption System

Work
High
Regular

Heat
Low
Very low

Higher

Less

Noise and
vibration

Economical when
electricity is available

Economical where low-cost fuels or

waste heat is available

Economic

Operating
COP
Maintenance
required

PROTOTYPE SPECIFICATION
Cooling capacity : 3 ton ( 10 KW)
Condenser Temperature : 40 C
Evaporator Temperature : 7.5 C
Max pressure : 15.5 bar
Min pressure : 5.5 bar
Material : Stainless steel

JUSTIFICATION OF SPECIFICATIONS
Why cooling capacity is 3 tons ??
The minimum size of the components that can be establish
To minimize the investment cost as possible
It is an experimental model

Why Condenser Temperature is 40 C

Air cooled condenser
Worst case scenario

JUSTIFICATION OF SPECIFICATIONS
Why Evaporator Temperature is 7.5 C
Increase COP

Why we use Stainless steel material ??

Stainless steel isn't corrosive with ammonia
Cant use aluminum and steel(carbon<0.2) corrosive with ammonia

GENERAL COMPONENTS

ABSORBER
Using Packed absorber
Mixing ammonia weak solution
and water vapor
Exothermic reaction between
ammonia and water
Cooling this reaction to maintain
dissolving ammonia in water

ABSORBER (CONT.)
Using 30 m water pipes to
cool the absorber
Cooling the water using
air cooled heat exchanger
The total thermal energy
rejected is 18 KW

ABSORBERS HEAT EXCHANGER

Using air cooled tube fin heat exchanger
Circulating the fluid by using 0.15 KW centrifugal pump
using three fans with total power consumption 0.3KW

THE SOLUTION PUMP SELECTION

The flow rate is low and the pressure is high
This two conditions mate only displacement pump category
Type: Diaphragm pump
Functions: increasing the pressure(5.5 bar to 15.5bar) and
circulating the flow

HEAT EXCHANGER
Type: Shell and tube
Addition to improve the overall COP
Heat to be transferred 11.5 kW

GENRATOR
Transfer the thermal energy from
heat sources to a strong solution
Stripping the ammonia gas from
the strong solution at a high pressure
. and temperature (superheated vapor)
The total thermal energy is 20KW

RECTIFIER
Condensation of the water vapor
that carried by ammonia gas
Using plates to increase
the time and the surface area
Using fins to dispose 1.8KW

CONDENSER

Type: Tube fin

Used to condense Ammonia
Heat to be removed 11 kW
Assuming ambient air temperature 25C
Fan power is 130 W

EXPANSION VALVE SELECTION

Type: thermal expansion valve
Brand: Danfoss
Function: decreasing the pressure and temperature (from 15.5 bar
to 5.5 bar)
Material: stainless steel 316

EVAPORATOR

Type: Tube fin

Used to extract heat from the living rooms
Heat to be extracted is 11 kW
Fan power is 180 W

PROTOTYPE DESIGN

SIDE VIEW
1.5m

2.6m

FRONT VIEW

TOP VIEW

1.5m

1.6m
1.6m

FEASIBILITY STUDY

Cost analysis and top-down approach

Supposing that there is no political troubles
Alternative A : Conventional system
Alternative B : Ammonia Absorption Air Conditioner Unit

Capacit
Daily
y
working
hrs
8
Alternativ tons 3
eA
8
Alternativ tons 3

Energy
(W.hr)

Cost /
hour

Cost/
year

3000

0.395 $

1,147.56 $

800

0.065 $

306.02 $

FEASIBILITY STUDY
B

$ 18,050

$ 1,970

Capital Investment(I)

$ 1,065

$ 2,410

Expenses(E)

$ 880

$ 1,260

Annual O & M expenses

15

15

Life (N)

10 %

10 %

%i(MARR)

$ -24,925

$ -20,050

PW(10%)

FINAL RESULTS
The COP in thermodynamic analysis is 0.52
The total high grade energy input ( fans, diaphragm pump, centrifugal
pump) to the system is 0.8KW
The final COP after designing the mechanical components is 0.50

CONCLUSIONS
The final physical design was successfully achieved
A compact and small dimensioned system was prepared
Because of air cooled heat exchangers, the temperature of generator is
high, so the COP is low.
The maximum exergy losses is in generator and absorber
The size was as small as possible to decrease the cost
The feasibility study of this project revealed that it is economically
infeasible due to high investment cost

RECOMMENDATIONS
Build a system for higher cooling load
Replace the air cooling system with a cooling tower
Replace the expansion valve with a turbine
Further modifications are advisable for larger system e.g. double and
triple stages, condenser precooler
Import the components to minimize the investment cost

CASE STUDY
Arab Palestinian Company for Warehousing & Cooling

ARAB PALESTINIAN COMPANY FOR

WAREHOUSING & COOLING
14 cooling room with an 6800 square meters
The storage capacity to store a total of 5,000 tons of fresh fruits and
vegetables
Refrigeration specifications:
Conventional vapor refrigeration cycle
Using ammonia as a working fluid
The cooling and freezing capacity is 500 ton

ARAB PALESTINIAN COMPANY FOR

WAREHOUSING & COOLING
Four compressors
(150hp, 150hp, 250hp, 250hp)

Electricity costs
70,000 NIS per month

Operating hours
Air conditioner is 6 Hrs/day

The connections pipes

Made of steel

Cooling tower
For the condenser

ARAB PALESTINIAN COMPANY FOR

WAREHOUSING & COOLING
Suggestions
Remove compressors and use absorption cycle
decreasing the power consumption from 800KW to 40KW
Exploit the free area above the floor (6 m2) and install a solar collector
system with a capacity of 3000KW
The temperature of generator will be only 80C

SIMULATION VIDEO
Video