Design of a cooling system using geothermal energy for storage of agricultural products with emphasis on Irish potatoes in Rwanda, Africa

This study focuses on the design of a cooling system for storage of agricultural products. An absorption refrigeration unit which uses a geothermal heat source to drive the absorption cycle in a chilling process, in a 25°C environment with a compartment temperature of 5°C. This system is to provide the cooling to the cold storage with a heat load of 140 kWt. The parameters mainly monitored are COP, heat transfer rates, mass flow of a geothermal fluid and the power required to run the cycle. Thermodynamic analysis of the cycle concluded that the COP of the absorption refrigeration cycle is 0.49, but can go as high as 0.6 when a heat exchanger is used.