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Analysis of a solar assisted CaO/Ca(OH)2 chemical heat pump drying system

Author(s): M. I. Fadhela*, Saqaff A. Alkaffa, W. C. Teoa , K. Sopianb
aFaculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, 75450, Melaka, Malaysia
bSolar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
International Journal of Smart Grid and Clean Energy, vol. 4, no. 4, October 2015: pp. 311-315
ISSN: 2315-4462 (Print)
ISSN: 2373-3594 (Online)
Digital Object Identifier: 10.12720/sgce.4.4.311-315


Abstract: Toward the utilization of renewable energy for drying food and to reduce the environmental impact from using a fossil fuel energy, the solar assisted CaO/Ca(OH)2 chemical heat pump drying system proposed to meet the demand in the drying field and for clean environment. In this paper the solar assisted CaO/Ca(OH)2 chemical heat pump drying system designed and evaluated for tropical region. It consists of four main components: solar collector (evacuated tubes type), storage tank, solid-gas chemical heat pump and dryer chamber. The reaction used in the study is CaO/Ca(OH)2. The predicted hourly efficiency of a solar evacuated tubes was recorded in the ranges of 79.65% to 46.33%, where the mean collector temperature and ambient temperature difference was 20oC. The maximum of coefficient of performance achieved for the chemical heat pump (COPh) was 2.87 for 0.6 m2 solar collector area and 0.628 m3 storage tank. The results show the predicted coefficient of performance for chemical heat pump by using calcium chloride with water vapor as working pair is more efficient than using metal chlorides/ammonia. Besides that, the use of water vapor for chemical heat pump is more suitable and safe when compared to ammonia gas.

Keywords: Solar collector,CaO/Ca(OH)2 CHP, coefficient of performance (COPh),drying

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