Solar-powered solid absorption ice maker

This is a kind of prospective refrigeration cycle, which has some advantages, such as no energy consumption, reliable properties, simple structure, convenient operation and maintenance, long service life and so on. In this paper, the design and working principle of a solar-powered solid absorption ice maker using calcium chloride as absorbent and ammonia as refrigerant was proposed. A flat-plate collector with selective absorption film was adopted and the effective lighting area was equal to 1.6 square meters. The operating results show when the daily solar insolation on the horizontal level is 20 MJ, the ice maker can produce 2 Kg ice per square meter of collector area. That means the properties of the ice maker are superior to those of the same type.