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engineeringstud
02-05-2010, 12:44 PM
Hi,
I am a mechanical engineering student and we are working with an African charity to use excess power from a mini hydro water turbine to build a refrigeration system for a remote african town.

I do not have much knowledge of refrigeration and i am finding it tricky to understand how i can calculate the volume i can refrigerate.
We are planning on building our refrigerator system underground, entry being from above. Somewhat simialar to a celler refrigeration system.

We can only use 70Kw during the night and therefore we are hoping to cool to fridge during the night and use insulation throughout the day to keep the contents cool. With entry to the fridge occuring only at night....

Any help regarding how i can calculate the volume we can cool would be amazing.

Thanks

ref717
06-05-2010, 07:14 PM
Sounds interesting and challenging project stude.,but it is not the volume that we calculate but the Refrigerating Capacity. I'm sure you have in your curriculum Refrigeration and Airconditioning subject?,and you need also to do your research for your project to be successful.
As guide, you must first compute your Heat Load for the cellar refrigerator. The contents(products), size, wall insulations (type & thickness), cooling time, etc. should all be considered.
The Heat load will be your basis to match up with the 70KW available electrical power to run your ref. compressor and condenser power requirements. But I doubt that you can keep the fridge cool during the day with insulation only, unless you do not open any doors/walls and the fridge is really air-tight.
Goodluck.:D