Experimental analysis of the operation of a solar adsorption refrigerator under Sahelian climatic conditions: case of Burkina Faso

This work is an experimental analysis of the operation of a solar adsorption refrigerator designed for the conservation of pharmaceutical products. The experiment consisted to measure incident solar radiation on the collector-adsorber, temperature of all the components of the collector-adsorber, of the condenser, the evaporator and the storage tank. Experimental results indicated that the maximum temperature of the front face of the absorbent plate varied from 70 °C to 80 °C and that of the condenser varied from 45 °C to 53 °C. The minimum temperature reached by the evaporator was + 4 °C. With a total energy received of about 19 MJ/m2, this solar adsorption refrigeration device can provide a SCOP ranging from 0.09 to 0.185. These results demonstrate the technical feasibility of the prototype solar adsorption refrigerator that we have experimented.