LAUSR

Abstract This paper deals with the performance modeling of a cold room used for food storage in the south of Tunisia. The cooling process is properly carried out in the purpose to insure high quality and safety of products. An overview of the system is presented. A theoretical model is developed discerning the thermal load for the date's refrigeration. The heat supplied to the generator is provided by a solar thermal collector. An error of about 1.5% is noticed between theoretical and experimental results. It could be well-thought-out as a good agreement. To make the program of universal usage, an interface application is carried out to predict the required cooling load for any considered operating conditions. Furthermore, the main optimal parameters could be achieved by improving the room wall insulation or controlling the working conditions (working hours, number of workers). The required refrigeration capacity is generated in the evaporator of an ammonia/water absorption system. A computer code based on thermodynamic properties of ammonia-water mixture is performed to optimize the refrigeration cycle performances. For an optimal coefficient of performance (COP) of about 0.74 and a cooling load of 8 kW, the required heat flux in the generator is about 11 kW.