Date of Award

6-7-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2016.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Hohyun Lee

Abstract

Lack of refrigeration contributes to the death of over 3.7 million children and the loss of 200 tonnes of food every year in developing countries. While 1.21 billion people in developing countries do not have access to electricity to operate traditional refrigerators, 38% of individuals within developing countries use biomass fuel to cook. The scope of my project was to produce a viable solution for refrigeration for these individuals in developing countries through the use of thermosyphons that utilize reclaimed thermal energy from cook stoves to power absorption chillers. Over the span of my project I was able to confirm the feasibility of the concept and produce a working prototype. The prototype could allow the absorption chiller to operate for approximately thirty minutes without the need for electricity. It was concluded that a ½ inch, Glycerol thermosyphon, with a 30% working fluid volume fill ratio, could safely provide a viable solution for refrigeration in developing countries that use cook stoves. Future recommendations include: improved manufacturing techniques to fix leaks in the thermosyphon allowing the product to run indefinitely and improved refrigerator insulation to maintain internal temperature when not operational.

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