A resorption refrigerator driven by low grade thermal energy

Highlights: → A resorption refrigerator employing MnCl2-NH3 and NH4Cl-NH3 was designed and investigated. → The experiments were operated under different ambient temperatures from 20 to 35 oC. → The refrigerator provided simultaneously two cooling levels: at 0-6 oC and at -16 ∼ -14.5 oC. → With 3 h operation the total cooling capacity was 475 kJ per kg of NH4Cl salt. → The effective cooling production was 25-42% of the total cooling capacity. -- Abstract: A small refrigerator based on resorption technique, employed MnCl2 and NH4Cl as sorbent salts and ammonia as refrigerant, was presented for simultaneously cooling at 0-6 oC and freezing at -16 to -14.5 oC in this work. The cooling capacity of this device was investigated by measuring the mass amount of the ice generated during a certain period of 3 h operation, and the experiments were conducted at different ambient temperature ranging from 20 oC to 35 oC. The total cooling capacity was calculated 475 kJ per kg of NH4Cl salt, and the mean specific cooling power (SCP) was 43 W per kg of NH4Cl salt, the effective cooling production responsible for making ice accounted for 25-42% of the total cooling capacity depending on the different operating conditions studied in this work.