Open AccessEnvironment Protection by Using a Solar Thermo-Electric Refrigerator for Cooling
Author(s) -
Alexandru Cristea,
R.F. de la Mare
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
bulletin of university of agricultural sciences and veterinary medicine cluj-napoca. agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1843-5386
pISSN - 1843-5246
DOI - 10.15835/buasvmcn-agr:8744
Subject(s) - refrigerator car , refrigeration , refrigerant , solar energy , environmental science , nuclear engineering , free cooling , thermal , materials science , thermodynamics , water cooling , electrical engineering , engineering , physics , gas compressor
The food eaten by people in their daily life must be preserved in good conditions. Therefore and for a better environment protection, the classical refrigeration systems that use a refrigerant had been removed and a solar thermo-electric cooler based on alternative energy sources was adopted. The solar energy was used in order to produce electrical energy, while the thermo-electric energy was responsible for the thermal transfer between the cooling room and the TEC modules, significantly reducing the temperature of the cold room and food products, respectively. The operation of the solar refrigerator was observed during the time of cooling one kilogram of pork meat and one litre of milk. In the case of cooling meat, the minimum temperature achieved was 1.8 ºC, respective 0.2 ºC when refrigerating milk. Considering the food refrigeration rated optimum temperature (0-4 ºC), the analysis of the experimental results highlighted the possibility of preserving meat and liquids in proper conditions by using a solar thermo-electric refrigerator, which is an ecological equipment with the pollution rate extremely low, almost null.