Design, Construction and Performance Evaluation of a Solar Powered Evaporative Air Cooler

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2018 in the subject Engineering - Power Engineering, grade: 4.50, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto), course: M.Sc. Renewable Energy, language: English, abstract: Solar powered evaporative cooler using locally available materials such as galvanized iron, thin wooden strips, car radiator fan and submersible water pump of low power types was designed and constructed. Performance of this system was experimentally investigated while cooling a room space of approximately a volume of 43.5m3. This solar evaporative cooler was compared with 1.5hp air-condition (AC) system using six different configurations and encouraging results in terms of temperature reduction ranging from 4.6 C-7.6 C; relative humidity ranging from 24.0%-54.9% and cooling effectiveness ranging from 35.4%-97.3%were found. In this work humidity and temperature control unit was integrated to control water supply there by regulating the humidity level of the room space while cooling. Energy consumption of this air cooler for 6hrs was 0.054kWh while that of AC is 6.75kWh. This technology is cheaper and can efficiently improve indoor air quality and it is suitable for residential application especially for villages, schools and offices where there is a power outage problem or no grid extension.