FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MMB 511: FINAL YEAR PROJECT

Proposal Report

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A CAR AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

WORKS ON AN ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

By: Louis Mwobobia 201504256 and Thabo Mosweu 201500855

Supervisor: Mr. A. Agarwal

Co-Supervisor: Mr. O. M. Seretse
ABSTRACT
The air conditioning units currently used in motor vehicles are of vapour compression
refrigeration system. This system utilizes power from the engine shaft as the input power to
drive the compressor of the refrigeration system. Hence the engine has to produce extra work
to run the compressor of the refrigerating unit utilizing extra amount of fuel. This loss of
power of the vehicle for refrigeration can be neglected by utilizing another refrigeration
system. That is a vapour absorption refrigeration system.
It is of common knowledge that an internal combustion engine has an efficiency of about 35-
45%, which means that only one – third of the energy in the fuel is converted into useful
work and about 60-65% is wasted to environment. In which about 28-30% is lost by cooling
water and lubricating losses, around 30-32% is lost in the form of exhaust gases and
remainder by radiation. In a vapour absorption refrigeration system, a physicochemical
process substitutes the mechanical process of the vapour compression refrigeration system by
using energy in the form of heat rather than mechanical work. The heat required for running
the vapour absorption refrigeration system can be obtained from that which is wasted into the
atmosphere from an IC engine.
We look to evaluate the performance of the system in our project. We look to study the
fundamentals of the internal combustion engine in relation to the vapour absorption
refrigeration system. We aim to recover the exhaust gas given out by the internal combustion
engine to power the vapour absorption refrigeration system.
Table of Contents
I. LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................................................iv
II. LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................v
III. LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................vi
1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background of Study.............................................................................................................1
1.1.1 Internal Combustion Engine..........................................................................................1
1.1.2 Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System......................................................................3
1.1.3 Vapour Absorption and Internal Combustion................................................................4
1.1 Statement of Problem...........................................................................................................5
1.2 Objectives..............................................................................................................................5
1.3 Justification............................................................................................................................5
1.4 Scope of Study.......................................................................................................................5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................6
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS (METHODOLOGY)............................................................9
3.1 1st Objective...........................................................................................................................9
3.2 2nd Objective..........................................................................................................................9
3.3 3rd Objective: Design of the Prototype.................................................................................11
3.4 Assumptions........................................................................................................................13
4. TIMELINE.................................................................................................................................14
5. BUDGET....................................................................................................................................16
6. REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................17
 I. LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1.1: Diesel cycle Pressure – Volume diagram........................................................................7
Figure 1.1.2 VAR system graphic.........................................................................................................8
Figure 1.1.3 VCR System......................................................................................................................8
YFigure 2.0.1: Ammonia – Water VAR System..................................................................................10
YFigure 3.2.1: VAR System for the Experiment..................................................................................13
YFigure 4.0.1: Gantt Chart...................................................................................................................15
 II. LIST OF TABLES
YTable 3.3.1: Components for the VARS............................................................................................16
YTable 4.0.1: The Timeline of Activities.............................................................................................18
YTable 5.0.1: Breakdown of the Budget..............................................................................................19
III. LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AISI American Iron and Steel Institute

BTU British Thermal Unit
cc Cubic centimetre
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
CI Compression Ignition
COP Coefficient of Refrigeration
EGR Exhaust Gas Recirculation
HFC Hydrofluorocarbons
HCFC Hydro chlorofluorocarbons
IC Internal Combustion
ORC Organic Rankine Cycle
Q Heat energy
RAC Refrigeration and Air – Conditioning
RPM Revolutions per Minute
SFC Specific Fuel Consumption
TEG-DME Tetra-Ethylene Glycol Dimethyl-Ether
TFC Total Fuel Consumption
TR Ton of Refrigeration
VAR Vapour Absorption Refrigeration
VCR Vapour Compression Refrigeration
 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1Background of Study
The world is in a crisis. There are unresolved political, social and economic issues presently
being faced. It is widely known that there is worldwide energy shortage and rising
environment pollution have turned into global issues of collective uncertainty. One of the
biggest culprits to this issue of environmental pollution is, unfortunately, motor vehicles –
more specifically motor engines.
It all starts with the vehicle’s radiator. The job of a car's radiator is to keep the engine cool.
All through operation, the moving parts of an engine's create friction – which produce heat.
Despite using engine oil as a lubricant, the heat from an engine's natural friction can be
enough to bring damage to the engine if it is not kept cool by the radiator. Once the engine
reaches a certain temperature, the radiator is activated to prevent the engine from
overheating, which can cause calamitous damage.
The radiator, which usually sits near the front of the engine bay in a front engine car, is built
of thin, hollow passageways that run between two header tanks. Liquid coolant is pumped
through a series of channels that take it through the engine block, where it is warmed by the
engine's friction. The warmed liquid is then pumped to the radiator, where it makes its way
through the narrow passageways.
The coolant loses its heat to the atmosphere and is then pumped back into the engine where it
absorbs and removes more of the engine's heat. This continuous cycle is controlled by a
thermostat that keeps the engine operating at an optimal temperature near 200°C. This heat
that is lost to the atmosphere adds greatly to the existing pollution problem(Khan, Ali,
Khushnood, Shah, & Ali, 2018).
Thermal energy is primarily released through the coolant and exhaust systems of a typical
internal combustion engine. Approximately 20% of the energy released during combustion
power produced by burning fuel has the potential to be used for work output and remaining
70-80 % as a part of waste heat as friction, exhausts gas and engine cooling system.Such a
waste heat recovery would ultimately reduce the overall energy requirement and also the
impact on global warming.
1.1.1 Internal Combustion Engine
An engine is a machine that converts one form of energy into mechanical energy. An internal
combustion engine is a heat engine in which fuel is burnt in order to create heat that in turn
does the necessary mechanical work. The ignition of fuel is an exothermic process – meaning
that heat is produced as a by-product. Thus reaction is carried out at extremely high pressures
and temperatures.
The major feature of an internal combustion engine is that useful work is carried out by the
hot gases expanding and acting directly to cause movement. This action takes place on
pistons, rotors, or even by pressing on and moving the entire engine itself. The internal
combustion (IC) engine invariably refers to reciprocating engines – meaning the pistons
move back and forth. The fuels predominantly used by IC engines are petrol and diesel. The
petrol engine will not be covered in this report as we are looking to explore the compression
ignition system of the diesel engine.
A diesel engine is a type of IC engine which operates by the use of the diesel cycle. The
compression ratio of diesel engines allows it to have the highest thermal efficiency of any
internal or external combustion engine. The difference between diesel internal combustion
engine and the petrol one is the cycle used. Petrol powered engines operate based on the Otto
cycle by using a lower compression of the air to ignite the fuel rather than using a spark plug.
This is why it is known as compression ignition (CI) and the petrol engine is referred as spark
ignition engine.

Figure 1.1.: Diesel cycle Pressure – Volume diagram(Khan et al., 2018)

Figure 1.1. shows the diesel cycle. It is both a constant pressure and constant volume process.
Process 2 – 3 is the constant pressure heat addition process and process 4 – 1 is the constant
volume heat rejection.
In the diesel engine, only air is introduced into the combustion chamber. The air is then
compressed using a compression ratio typically ranging between 15 and 22 resulting into a 40
bar pressure compared to 14 bar in the gasoline engine. This high compression heats the air to
550 °C. The compression ratio is simply the proportion of the maximum to minimum volume
in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine.
Efficiency of diesel engine is usually between 35-40 % with the remaining energy going
waste. In diesel engines, 30-32% of the energy goes waste in exhaust [CITATION DJJ14 \l 2057 ].
 1.1.2 Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System
Refrigeration is the process of cooling a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain
its temperature below the ambient one. Air conditioning is the process of removing heat and
moisture from the interior of an occupied space to improve the comfort of occupants. Vapour
absorption refrigeration system is often referred to as VAR
The traditional refrigeration cycles are driven by electricity or heat, which massively
increases the consumption of electricity and fossil energy. According to(Jotava, Parmar, &
Shah, 2014), “The International Institute of Refrigeration in Paris (IIF/ IIR) has estimated that
approximately 15% of all the electricity produced in the whole world is employed for
refrigeration and air-conditioning processes.”

Figure 1.1. VAR system (Jotava et al., 2014)

Automobile air conditioning commonly is performed by vapour compression refrigeration

systems as shown in Figure 1.1.3. This refrigeration system means that the refrigerant
undergoes phase changes during the process. The common refrigerants of VCRs are HCFCs
and HFCs. These refrigerants are not environmentally friendly.
Absorption refrigeration systems are presently being considered as feasible replacements for
vapour compression refrigeration system. The VAR system uses waste heat and its lack of
emissions make its case over VCR. Like the VCR, displayed in Figure 1.1.2, the VAR
operates with an evaporator, condenser and expansion valve. Where the two systems differ is
that the VAR does not contain a compressor to raise the vapour pressure (Hİlalİ & Öylemez,
2015).
 Figure 1.1. VCR System(Hİlalİ & Öylemez, 2015)
1.1.3 Vapour Absorption and Internal Combustion
Diesel engines are applied with hefty power output. Large capacity engines are one of the
most extensively used power generation units. Although, close to two-third of input energy is
wasted through exhaust gas and cooling water of these engines.
Waste heat is produced in a process by the combusting of fuel or chemical reaction, and then
discarded to the environment. This happens even though there is still as possibility that it
could still be recycled for some economic and useful purpose. Enormous amounts of hot flue
gases is generated from boilers, furnaces and IC engines, etc. If some of this waste heat could
be recuperated, a substantial quantity of primary fuel could be retrieved(N. Chandana reddy,
2016).
Not all the energy lost in waste gases cannot be totally recovered. However, majority of the
heat could be recovered and losses can be minimised by implementing certain measures like
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and vapour absorption system. A basic absorption cycle
consists of seven different components: absorber, generator, condenser, rectifier, evaporator,
pump and the valve. In a typical vapour absorption system, ammonia is often employed as the
refrigerant because it possesses the desirable properties.
Using exhaust gases to power the vapour absorption system as an alternative to the existing
vapour compression would go a long way in reducing environment pollution. Past
experiments have proved that using natural gas compared to exhaust gas driven system
produces similar performance results – with the exhaust gas system being cleaner. It also
advocated that, provided that the design is cautious, introducing the VAR system generator
into the main engine exhaust system could even improve the performance of the vehicle
propulsion unit.
1.1 Statement of Problem
Too much energy is lost with waste exhaust gasses from the combustion of fuel compression
ignition engine. Up to 32% of energy is wasted in exhaust gases. The efficiency of an IC
engine is 35–40%. This means that only about one-third of the energy in the fuel used is
actually converted to useful work. So the idea is that losing over 60% of energy is way too
much and that some of that energy can be recovered. It is also a detriment to the atmosphere
because those exhaust gases are not environmentally friendly. All this also comes with an
adverse effect on the fuel consumption of the vehicle.
1.2 Objectives
1. Study the principal operation of the diesel engine and reviewing the diesel cycle
2. Study the absorption refrigeration system of a car air conditioning system.
3. To recover energy lost from I.C. engine exhaust gases and use for absorption
refrigeration system.
4. Performance of evaluation system.
1.3 Justification
The reason for this project is that waste heat, which is generated by fuel combustion in the
engine, is dissipated into the environment even though it could still be reused for some useful
and economic purpose. This heat is a function of the temperature of the waste heat gases and
mass flow rate of exhaust gas. Thus the high content of heat from the exhaust can easily be
redirected and reused to provide useful work.
In order to recover the waste heat from the exhaust gas of a combustion engine, an absorption
refrigeration cycle is proposed. The use of this system would mean that no dedicated IC
engine is required for the working of the refrigerating unit. No refrigerant compressor is
required, no extra work is required for the working of the refrigerating unit, reduction in
capital and fuel cost, atmospheric pollution and maintenance and noise pollution.

1.4 Scope of Study

So the purpose of this study is to explore how using the energy for exhaust gases of a diesel
engine car can be used as a refrigerant for the air-conditioning system. The experiment is to
be conducted on just one vehicle at the University of Botswana Plant Engineering lab. We are
to find out whether the VAR system is actually a capable replacement for the more common
VCR system.
 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The idea of using exhaust gases for the VAR system of a car’s air conditioning is certainly
not a new one. In fact, the idea has been around since the 20th century.
This work by (André Aleixo Manzela, Sérgio Morais Hanriot, 2010) displayed an
experimental study of an ammonia-water absorption refrigeration system using the exhaust of
an internal combustion engine as a source of energy. Overall, carbon monoxide emission was
diminished when the absorption refrigerator was installed in the exhaust gas, though
hydrocarbon emissions did rise.
In this paper by (Pavoodath, 2012) study of absorption refrigeration is done. A system of this
type would massively help take of the compressor load of the vehicle engine and would prove
a great percentile of power saving for small capacity engines. Most motor vehicles are rated
higher than 1 TR but the idea is to explore whether using less is possible. Because 1 TR is
equal to using 12 000 BTU/hr, so using around 8 000 BTU would greatly reduce the load on
the engine.
BTU stands for British thermal unit which is an old fashioned way of measuring refrigeration
heat capacity. It is defined by (“British thermal unit,” 2014), “as the amount of heat required
to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.” It is part of the
imperial system of units.
According to (Vazhappilly, Tharayil, & Nagarajan, 2013), in this experimental paper, the
heating coil generator system of absorption refrigeration system was replaced by plate frame
type heat exchanger, thus employing the exhaust gases of the IC engine. Moreover, the
available heat in the exhaust gases has to be estimated based on actual IC engine driving
cycles. The work cycle has to be simulated, and a comprehensive model to calculate the two-
phase binary flow of the condenser and absorber has to be developed and verified. The design
of such a system would carry major modifications that includes structural and design
modifications and the requirement of a heat transfer system to transfer the heat from exhaust
to the generator.
 Figure 2.0.: Ammonia – Water VAR System(Vazhappilly et al., 2013)
The engine used in this experiment was a 550 cc, one cylinder engine. Its maximum power
was 3.7 kW @ 1500 RPM. The VAR system, as shown in Figure 2.0., had a refrigeration
capacity of 100 TR and the refrigerants used were water and ammonia. A plate frame heat
exchanger was made from AISI 304 stainless steel was used.
The work done by (S.Manojprabhakar, R.C.Ravindranath, R.V.Vinothkumar, A.Selvakumar,
& K.Visagavel, 2014), in this paper, demonstrates an experimental study refrigeration
system, using VAR system is presented. The COP of the system is low, that means that the
system is expected to use a lot of energy with respect to the cooling it offers. Although, this
was not necessarily a drawback for the air – conditioning system used in this experiment.
This is because the energy was obtained from the exhaust gas which came from the engine. It
proved that air – conditioning does not need electricity to function. From the results obtained
from the experiment in this report, it showed that the COP increased with an increase in
temperature.
COP stands for Coefficient of Performance. It is simply the measure of efficiency of a
refrigerator, heat pump or air – conditioner. It is the ratio of energy usage to the amount of
useful cooling. A higher COP represents a greater efficiency of the system.
A simulation of performance done by, (Agra, Espiritu, Padilla, Singh, & Cruz, 2014), of the
system using waste heat, a Bunsen burner was used which was attached to a propane tank via
a rubber hose with a regulator. The small scale model with maximum COP 0.3685 at
evaporator temperature 28°C was attained. In order to improve the performance of the system
it is suggested to use high concentration of aqua ammonia solution.
The maximum attainable COP of this aqua ammonia system was 0.8. However, the
experiment never came close to this because the necessary amount of aqua ammonia was not
available. Although, there was a sufficient cooling effect that was reached.
A study of absorption refrigeration was done by (S.Thanga mohan raja, 2015), was done in
his paper. It was found that waste heat energy available in exhaust gas has a direct
proportional to the engine speed and exhaust gas flow rate. This project is practical because
of its environmental and economic benefits. The results of the experiment on this paper came
to the conclusion that the diesel engine can be a potential energy source for the VAR system.
The VAR system had both greater mechanical and brake thermal efficiency as well as less
Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) and Total Fuel Consumption (TFC) – all of this was in
comparison with the brake power. The absorption refrigeration system may be able exploit of
the exhaust gas power availability and deliver the cooling capacity required for automotive
air conditioning. This experiment took place on a four stroke, one cylinder diesel engine that
was water cooled. Also, Electrolux refrigeration system of that had a 40L volume capacity
was used.
In this paper, (Tambe & Ghuge, 2015), gave more focus to the design and manufacturing of
the system with 80 cc internal combustion petrol engine. The experiments conducted on the
system, prove that the concept is feasible and could be used for refrigeration in traction and
non-traction application of engine. For this experiment, the temperatures and pressures of the
evaporator and condenser were measured at various engine speeds. From the measured
results, the exhaust gas temperature and exhaust heat increase with engine RPM.
This paper by (K L Rixon, T Sanoj, Christy Mathew, & Tedy Thomas, 2015), explores the
possibility of VAR using wasted heat energy of the vehicle’s engine exhaust gases to produce
refrigerating effect inside the automobile’s cabin. Using a VAR system within an automobile
as an air conditioner reduces the fuel consumption of the vehicle. In addition to that, it will
also provide numerous other advantages like the efficiency of the engine is not decreased
significantly.
The use of a VAR system will produce refrigeration using exhaust from the engine which is
low grade energy but will also avert the loss of power from the vehicles engine in this
experiment. Hot air from the exhaust goes up to 400°C and gets fed into the heat exchanger
where it is transferred from air to working fluid of vapour absorption system. This air then
comes into contact with an aluminium sheet that extracts the heat from the hot air. Thus the
heat from engine exhaust, which is lost to atmosphere is utilized to produce cold air which
can be used for air conditioning.
An extensive literature study on the subject of absorption refrigeration had revealed that
exhaust of vehicles has enough energy that can be utilized to power an air-conditioning sys-
tem. Absorption refrigeration system has low COP and it is an indication to improve it.
An in depth overview by (Chandana & Yadav, 2015), given in this report discusses the
utilisation of waste heat with a brief literature of the current related research is studied. The
paper also considers other possible applications which might benefit from the use of
ammonia as refrigerant. The problem of loss of power of the vehicle for refrigeration can be
neglected by utilizing another refrigeration system that is the VAR system. A maximum
power consumption of 42.38% is saved using proposed system compared to existing system –
VCR system.
 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS (METHODOLOGY)
So as it was discussed earlier in this report, up to 32% of energy is wasted in exhaust gases.
The efficiency of an IC engine is 35–40%. This means that only about one-third of the energy
in the fuel used is actually converted to useful work. To achieve the stated objectives, the
following will be done:
3.1 Principal Operation of the Diesel Engine and Reviewing the Diesel Cycle
The researchers intend to study credible text, journals and articles with relevant data on the
diesel engine cycle, its components and operation to grab the full understanding of the cycle.
The University facilities such as the library and internet will be made use of. Furthermore,
experiments will be carried out considering conditions in Botswana, using the Diesel engine
model found at the University Of Botswana refrigeration lab. In these experiments,
correlation between the engine speed vs. heat of flue gases, energy balance vs. the engine
speed, the Fuel Energy Rate vs. Engine Speed as well as other relevant experiments will be
conducted and the results tabulated using graphical representations.
3.2 Absorption Refrigeration System of a Car Air Conditioning System
A look into the VAR system in terms of its operation, comparison to the commonly used
VCR system, its advantages and disadvantages as well as the study of pros, cons and scope
for improvement of the system. This procedure will involve performing background research
of product requirement such as materials, product design and validation.
With the aid of results obtained from the lab experiment’s conducted at the University
refrigeration lab using the Diesel engine model as well as simulation using the Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software, information such as the amount of waste heat available in
the exhaust gases and cooling water, flow rates, pressures, temperatures of various
components will be used to find the coefficient of performance (COP) of the proposed
refrigeration system required to provide the desired cooling effect.

Figure 3.2.: VAR System for the Experiment(Aman Shukla, Abhishek Mishra, Devesh
Shukla, 2015)
Since the vapour absorption system is made up of a condenser, evaporator, absorber, pump,
heat exchanger and generator, a few of formulas will be employed to come up with the
system COP.
Let:
m = mass flow rate of refrigerant, kg/s
mss = mass flow rate of strong solution, kg/s
mws = mass flow rate of weak solution, kg/s
Some of the formulas include:
At the Condenser:
m7 = m8= m (1)
Qc = m (h7−¿h8), kJ/s (2)
At the Expansion Valve
m8 = m9 = m (3)
h8 = h9 (isenthalpic), kJ / kg (4)

At the Evaporator
m9 = m8 = m (5)
QE = m (h9-h8), kJ/s (6)
At the Absorber
From total Mass balance
m +mss =m ws (7)
At the Solution Pump
m1 = m2 =m ws (8)
W p = (1+λ) mV sol ( pc − p E) kJ/s (9)

Where V sol is specific volume of solution which can be taken as approximately 0.00055
m3/kg.
At the Solution Heat Exchanger
m2 = m3= mws (10)
 m4 = m5 =m ss (11)
QHX= (1+λ) m (h3-h2) = λ m (h4-h5), kJ/s (12)
At the Generator
m3 = m4+m7 (13)
Heat input to the Generator:
QG = mh7 + λmh4 - (1+λ) m3, kJ/s (14)
In this system the total refrigerating effect in the system is dependent on the heat absorbed by
the refrigerant – Ammonia – in the evaporator. The total energy supplied to the system is the
sum total of the work done by the pump and the heat supplied in the generator. Therefore, the
Coefficient of performance (COP) of the system as theoretically known is the ratio of the heat
absorbed in the evaporator to the sum of the work done by the pump and the heat supplied in
the generator(Aman Shukla, Abhishek Mishra, Devesh Shukla, 2015).
QG
COP = (15)
Q G +W P

3.3 Design of the Prototype

The key processes in the absorption refrigeration system are the absorption and desorption of
the refrigerant. A simple absorption system has five main components: the generator, the
condenser, the evaporator, the absorber, and the solution heat exchanger.
The standard working fluids used in absorption refrigeration plants are water and ammonia,
Lithium-Bromide and water, Tetra-Ethylene Glycol Dimethyl-Ether (TEG-DME) and R-22.
Of these combinations, we will use water and ammonia because they cause no threat to the
environment and thus preferable for this application. Ammonia is highly soluble in water and
this ensures low solution circulation rates. Both constituents are obtainable at minimal cost.
The choice of Ammonia-water combination is not made without considering certain
disadvantages: ammonia attacks copper and its alloys when it has been hydrated. Therefore,
all components will be made from mild steel or stainless steel. In order to reduce the toxicity
problem, we will use water or glycol as a secondary fluid to transfer the heat from the
passenger space to the evaporator. In this manner, the chance of ammonia getting in contact
with the passengers is minimised (Vicatos, Gryzagoridis, & Wang, 2008).
Table 3.3. 1 shows the various components of the VAR system as well as brief descriptions.
 Table 3.3.: Components for the VARS(B.A. Wadekar, 2017)

Component Description Quantity

It is basically a container where the solution will be
Generator/ Shell and maintained at constant level. The exhaust pipe is passed
Tube Generator or through it and its heat is extracted in the generator. It has 1 unit
Heat Exchanger two exits and an inlet. From the tow exits, one is for the
flow of refrigerant to the condenser and the other for the
flow of solution back to absorber. It is made mostly of mild
steel.
The refrigerant from the expansion valve enters the
evaporator where the cold refrigerant absorbs heat from the
surrounding. To have maximum heat transfer from
Evaporator surrounding to the refrigerant the evaporator is made of 1 unit
copper tubes, but since the Aqua-ammonia solution is
corrosive we may have to find a way to replace the tubes
with a different material.
Accumulator This is simply an energy storage device. It takes in energy, 1 unit
stores it and releases it whenever necessary.
It is made of aluminium to have easy transfer of heat from
the refrigerant coming from generator to the atmosphere. A
Condenser large number of fins are provided to increase the surface 1 unit
area and thereby increasing the heat transferred from the
refrigerant to the atmosphere.
This is an electrical device that allows for conversion of
Rectifier alternating current (AC) to a direct current (DC). It ensures 1 unit
that the current only flows in one direction and it
strengthens the direction of current.
Since the system is small the flow rate required is also
Pump small. Hence a fuel pump would be equally suitable to 1 unit
pump the solution from the absorber to the generator. The
power to run the pump is derived from the engine battery.
This is placed in between the generator and the absorber to
bring the solution pressure from high pressure to low
Control valve pressure. The control valve maybe another needle valve 1 unit
which could also be used to control the flow rate of the
weak solution back to the absorber.
This is a container containing coiled tubes through which
the solution passes. It is placed in between the generator
and the pump of the absorber. Cooling water from the
engine is passed through the container, i.e. it is placed in
Pre-heater the path way of hot water flowing from the engine jacket to 1 unit
the radiator. The quantity of cooling water inside water
inside the pre-heater is always fixed. The coils for the flow
of solution are made of copper to have maximum heat
transfer from the cooling water to the solution and
remaining parts are made of cast iron.
This is the refrigerant being used to be used in the vapour
Aqua-ammonia absorption system. This is the refrigerant solution to be 5 litres
used. It’s a mixture of water and ammonia. Ammonia is the
 refrigerant and water is the absorbent. The vapour that is
produced contains a small proportion of water.

To recover the heat from the exhaust gases, the modelled VAR System would be attached to
the exhaust shaft of the diesel engine model and the engine will be run at various speeds to
test the suggested theory. This will be done using the components from Table 3.3.. The
results obtained will be compared to the experimental as well as the simulation results.
3.4 Assumptions
As far as the integrated system is concerned, the experiments will be focused on the heat
distribution of the diesel engine and effect on the performance of the absorption refrigeration
system. At full load condition, the assumption is performance of the refrigeration system will
be higher because of higher exhaust gas temperature.
If more heat is recovered from the exhaust gas of the IC engine, then more heat will be
transferred to the generator and hence this would cause an increase on the cooling capacity of
the experimental refrigeration system. This is due to the fact that, in the refrigeration system,
the cooling capacity is directly proportional to the heat input to the generator.
 4. TIMELINE
Table 4.0.: The Timeline of Activities

Dates Activities

Start End
26/08/2019 05/09/2019 Write up of proposal report
06/09/2019 - Submission of Signed Project
Proposal Report to the
Coordinators
09/09/2019 30/09/2019 Research in depth about existing
VAR systems used in vehicles and
design suitable for Botswana
conditions.
13/09/2019 - Project Proposal Presentation

30/09/2019 25/10/2019 Carry out experiments on engine

performance, heat rejected and
tabulation of results to find
correlations. Use of graphical
presentations.
16/10/2019 27/10/2019 Explore various way to exploit the
heat rejected and possible
improvements of the proposed
model by incorporating other heat
rejecting/ carrying systems from
the engine.

23/10/2019 03/11/2019 Write up of progress report

- Submission of signed copies (2)

04/11/2019 of Project Progress Report to the
Project Coordinators

-
08/11/2019 Presentation of Project Progress
Report
 2019/0... 2019/0... 2019/0... 2019/1... 2019/1...

Write up of proposal re...

Submission of Signed Project Proposal Report to the Coordina...

Project Proposal Presenta...

Research in depth about existing VAR systems used in vehicles and design suitable for Botswana conditi...

Carry out experiments on engine performance, heat rejected and tabulation of results to find correlations. Use of graphical presentatio...

Write up of progress re...

Submission of signed copies (2) of Project Progress Report to the Project Coordina...

Presentation of Project Progress Re...

Figure 4.0.: Gantt chart

The Gantt chart breaks down the timeline of event during the conduction of the project in
Figure 4.0..
 5. BUDGET
Table 5.0.: Breakdown of the Budget

Component Price (BWP) Quantity

Condenser 300 1
Evaporator 300 1
Accumulator 500 1
Generator/ Shell and 700 1
Tube Generator or
Heat Exchanger
Rectifier 400 1
Pump - 1
Control valve - 1
Pre-heater 800 1
Ammonia -
(refrigerant)
Diesel fuel 9.50 per litre 10 litres
TOTAL 3095.00
6. REFERENCES
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Development of an Absorption Air – Conditioning System Using Aqua – Ammonia
Solution. 1–6.
2. Aman Shukla, Abhishek Mishra, Devesh Shukla, K. C. (2015). © I a E M E C . O . P
Derivation and Thermodynamic Calculation of Ammonia-Water Vapor. Engineering
and Technology, 6(5), 72–81.
3. André Aleixo Manzela, Sérgio Morais Hanriot, L. C.-G. and J. R. S. (2010). Using
engine exhaust gas as energy source for an absorption refrigeration system. 87(4),
1141–1148. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306-
2619(09)00308-0
4. B.A. Wadekar. (2017). Automobile Air-Conditioning based on VAC using Exhaust
Heat.
5. British thermal unit. (2014). Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit accessed on 6th September 2019
6. Chandana, N., & Yadav, G. M. P. (2015). Performance Analysis of VARS Using
Exhaust Gas Heat of C . I Engine. 3(I), 332–341.
7. Hİlalİ, İ., & Öylemez, S. S. (2015). An Application of Engine Exhaust Gas Driven
Cooling System in Automobile Air-Conditioning System. Isı Bilimi ve Tekniği
Dergisi, 35(1), 27–34.
8. Jotava, D. J., Parmar, D. J., & Shah, J. V. (2014). Experimental Investigation of Heat
Recovery from Engine Exhausts Gas and Its Application in Electrolux Refrigeration
System : A Review. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology,
3(1), 2560–2563.
9. K L Rixon, T Sanoj, Christy Mathew, & Tedy Thomas. (2015). Air Cooling Inside
Vehicles using Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System. International Journal of
Engineering Research And, V4(12), 125–128.
https://doi.org/10.17577/ijertv4is120215
10. Khan, A., Ali, H. M., Khushnood, S., Shah, S. S., & Ali, M. N. (2018). Utilization of
Exhaust Heat of Internal Combustion Engines for Cooling Purpose : A Review. 23(2),
24–34.
11. N.Chandana reddy, G. M. P. Y. (2016). Suitability and Performance Analysis of
Vapour Absorption System Using Engine Exhaust Energy. 2(5), 50–54.
12. Pavoodath, I. M. (2012). Absorption AC in Vehicles Using Exhaust Gas. 21–22.
13. S.Manojprabhakar, R.C.Ravindranath, R.V.Vinothkumar, A.Selvakumar, &
K.Visagavel. (2014). Fabrication and Testing of Refrigeration Using Engine. 299–
304.
14. S.Thanga mohan raja, P. G. (2015). PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF DIESEL
ENGINE USING ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION CYCLE IN AIR
CONDITIONING SYSTEM BY UTILIZING THE WASTE HEAT. (6), 260–261.
15. Tambe, Y. D., & Ghuge, N. C. (2015). “ Waste heat recovery of 80 cc petrol engine
for refrigeration with VAC system .” 1(1), 1–6.
16. Vazhappilly, C. V, Tharayil, T., & Nagarajan, A. P. (2013). Modeling and
Experimental Analysis of Generator in Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System. Int.
Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 3(5), 63–67.
17. Vicatos, G., Gryzagoridis, J., & Wang, S. (2008). A car air-conditioning system based
on an absorption refrigeration cycle using energy from exhaust gas of an internal
combustion engine. Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, 19(4), 6–11.
https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2008/v19i4a3331