Development of a Quadcon Refrigerated Container with First Generation Prototype Solar Adsorption Refrigeration System
Abstract
Report for Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Congressional Plus-up. The Army recognizes the merits of using renewable energy to power refrigeration systems aboard mobile cold-storage systems used for perishable rations in operational theaters. This report documents efforts to develop a solar-powered adsorption refrigerator for food refrigeration in a QuadCon container. The work was performed between October 2007 and April 2010 under a Broad Agency Announcement project funded as a Congressional Plus-Up by the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). Plate-style heat-exchanger generators for the device were developed, the equipment was assembled and tested at laboratory scale, and it was shipped to the high insolation region of Tucson, AZ for on-site testing. The plan was to operate the unit for a month to develop ideal operational conditions and then compare performance alongside an electrically-powered QuadCool. Although the system operated safely without any external electric power for 6 weeks at the test location in March and April 2010 and many aspects of the system functioned well, performance did not meet expectations, and final testing was foreshortened. Improvements in the design of the generators, the carbon, and the evaporator are necessary for future developments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA545685
Entities
People
- J. D. Carruthers