Utilization of Geothermal Fluid as a Heat Source for Absorption Refrigeration System for Food Preservation – A Case of Bwanda and Gwisho Hotsprings

Zambia has significant geothermal resources with over 86 hotsprings identified. Installation of a 250kW off-grid pilot binary-cycle power plant is currently underway at the Bwanda and Gwisho goethermal site. It is estimated that there is 90,000 herd of cattle in the villages around the pilot power plant. Little milk from these herds of cattle reaches the market due to scarce collection points with cooling facilities. This study assesses the applicability of utilizing exhaust geothermal fluid from a binary-cycle geothermal power plant for powering an absorption refrigeration system (ARS) for storing food, specifically milk. Two absorption systems; Lithium Bromide-water and the ammonia-water ARS are compared. The COPs, energy input and mass flowrates required to produce various cooling loads (40kW – 160kW) are compared. The results show that the exhaust geothermal fluid energy (504kW) is sufficient for powering both ARSs for storing milk to its suitable storage temperature of 4^oC. The results also show that the Lithium Bromide-water system is more suitable for this application, because it produces a higher maximum COP (0.76) compared to the ammonia-water system’s maximum COP (0.64), it produces a higher maximum cooling capacity (380kW) compared to the ammonia-water systems maximum capacity (216kW). It requires lower input mass flowrate and pump work at all cooling capacities (40kW – 160kW). Therefore, a Lithium Bromide-water absorption chiller for storing the amounts of milk currently collected in the study area is designed. Optimized design specifications are provided.