Review on solar-driven ejector refrigeration technologies

The objective of this paper is to provide a literature review on solar-driven ejector refrigeration systems and to give useful guidelines regarding background and operating principles of ejector. The development history and recent progress in solar-driven ejector refrigeration systems are reported and categorized. It shows that solar-driven ejector refrigeration technologies are not only can serve the needs for cooling requirements such as air-conditioning and ice-making and medical or food preservation in remote areas, but also can meet demand for energy conservation and environment protection. For these reasons, the research activities in this sector are still increasing to solve the crucial points that make these systems not yet ready to compete with the well-known vapour compression system. However, a lot of research work still needs to be done for large-scale applications in industry and for the replacement of conventional refrigeration machines. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.