International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 2834 www.elsevier.

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Distillation column congurations in ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems

Ferna ndez-Seara*, Jaime Sieres, Manuel Va zquez Jose
rea de Ma quinas y Motores Te rmicos, Escuela Te cnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad de Vigo, A Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, N 9, 36200 Vigo, Spain Received 29 October 2001; received in revised form 30 May 2002; accepted 7 June 2002

Abstract In ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems a purication process to reduce the water content in the vapour leaving the generator is required. During this process the water content in the vapour must be reduced to a minimum, otherwise it tends to accumulate in the evaporator and strongly deteriorates the eciency of the system. The vapour purication can be carried out by partial condensation, by establishing a liquidvapour counter ow or by combining both methods. In systems with partial condensation, the distillation column can be composed of one or more rectiers using dierent cooling mediums, and the rectifying and stripping sections. In complete condensation systems only the rectifying and stripping sections can be used. Therefore dierent distillation column arrangements should be considered. This paper presents a study of several distillation column congurations for single stage ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems with partial and complete condensation. In order to evaluate and compare the different congurations, a parameter that indicates the ratio of the ammonia vapour concentration increase in each part of the column to the total ammonia purication has been dened. The analysis has been based on the system COP. Finally the eciency in each part of the column has been calculated to estimate its design requirements. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Refrigerating system; Absorption system; Ammoniawater; Distillation column; Design

` mes Congurations des colonnes de distillation des syste ` absorption a ` ammoniac/eau frigoriques a
` me frigorique ; Syste ` me a ` absorption ; Ammoniac-eau ; Colonne de distillation ; Conception Mots cles : Syste

1. Introduction This work is circumscribed to ammoniawater absorption systems. This technology, applied to refrigeration, dates its rst practical applications around 1860. From
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-986-812605; fax: +34986-812201. ndez-Seara). E-mail address: jseara@uvigo.es (J. Ferna

this time on the understanding of the processes involved in these systems has been increasing, to the point where today the applied technology is considered well known. However, some pitfalls must be avoided in designing and building a prototype or an industrial system in order to obtain an eective behaviour and performance. Some of these drawbacks can derive from a decient ammonia vapour purication process of the regenerated vapour from the system generator.

0140-7007/03/$20.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved. PII: S0140-7007(02)00037-3

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Nomenclature COP Cp Gr h : m P %Pur Re : Q T x coecient of performance specic heat (J kg1 K1) temperature gradient (K) specic enthalpy (J kg1) mass ow (kg s1) pressure (Pa) purication ratio (%) internal reux ratio heat ow (W) temperature (K) ammonia mass concentration (kg kg1)

Greek symbols " mass transfer eciency  energy eciency Subscripts A absorber b bomb C condenser E evaporator G generator l liquid R refrigerant rect rectifying section Rss strong solution cooled rectier Rw water cooled rectier ss strong solution strip stripping section v vapour w water ws weak solution

This paper deals with the ammonia purication process in ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems. In this type of systems the vapour pressure of water (sorbent) is not negligible compared to the vapour pressure of ammonia (refrigerant). Therefore the vapour leaving the generator always contains a small part of water. The water content in the vapour must be reduced, because it tends to accumulate in the evaporator. The presence of water in the evaporator diminishes the evaporation pressure and strongly deteriorates the eciency of the system. Ignoring the water content in the regenerated vapour constitutes one of the major pitfalls in designing an ammoniawater refrigeration system, as pointed out by Bogart [1]. On the other hand, the processes used to reduce the vapour water content always involve the condensation and return of a vapour fraction back to the generator. This means that part of the heat input in the generator is used to generate vapour which does not produce refrigeration. Consequently, the system eciency is reduced.

The eectiveness of the purication process has become a crucial issue in order to guarantee a reliable and ecient system operation. The vapour purication process can be carried out by partial condensation, by establishing a liquidvapour counter-ow or by combining both methods. In partial condensation the vapour is cooled, so that a small part with a high water content condenses. The condensate is called reux. The cooling process can be carried out using dierent cooling mediums. The heat exchanger where the partial condensation takes place is usually named as rectier or reux cooler. The counter ow processes are established in a distillation column. The vapour stream from the generator enters at the bottom of the column and rises in counter-ow to a liquid stream, so that heat and mass transfer processes between both phases are enabled. The liquid stream can be produced by condensation of the vapour at the column top, or can be the strong solution (or a fraction) from the absorber. The liquid stream at the column top can be obtained by partial condensation or by returning part of the condensed liquid from the condenser. The last is usually denominated complete condensation. The contact zone between the vapour and the reux is known as the rectifying section. When the liquid stream is the strong solution, then the vapour liquid contact is established below the column feed entry point. This contact zone is known as the stripping section. If the distillation column is composed of rectifying and stripping section, then the liquid stream in the stripping section is the mixture of the reux from the rectifying section and the strong solution from the absorber. In systems with partial condensation, the distillation column can be composed of one or more rectiers and the rectifying and stripping sections. In complete condensation systems only the rectifying and stripping sections can be used. Therefore the ammonia purication process can be carried out with dierent distillation column congurations. In this paper a single stage ammoniawater absorption refrigeration system has been studied. Dierent possibilities of distillation column congurations have been analysed for partial and complete condensation. In partial condensation the rectier cooling medium can be either an external uid or the strong solution when a single stage cycle with rectier heat integration is considered. The evaluation of the dierent column congurations has been based on the system COP. Moreover the eciency in each part of the column is calculated in order to estimate its design requirements.

2. System description The single stage ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems with partial and complete condensation

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examined in this paper are depicted schematically in Fig. 1. The components of the distillation column in the partial condensation system are the stripping and the rectifying sections, a heat integrated rectier with the strong solution as coolant and a water cooled rectier at the top of the column. For the complete condensation system only the rectifying and stripping sections are considered (dashed line in Fig. 1).

3. Mathematical model A lumped steady state model has been developed in order to study the vapour purication process in single stage ammoniawater absorption refrigeration systems with partial and complete condensation. The mathematical model is based on the application of global mass, species and energy balances and heat and mass transfer equations. In formulating the model the following assumptions have been made: heat losses to the environment are negligible, pressure drops are considered only between the evaporator and absorber, the condensed liquid from the condenser and the weak solution leaving the generator are saturated, as well as the liquid and the vapour currents inside the column. The irreversibilities in the absorber, solution and liquidvapour heat exchangers and in the solution pump are dened by means of their eciencies. State equations used for the ammoniawater equilibrium and thermodynamic properties have been calculated from Ziegler and Trepp [2]. The mathematical model has been used to determine the thermodynamic state at every representative point of the cycle, outside of the distillation column, for the

partial and complete condensation systems. As a result, the conditions of the streams entering and leaving the column are known. In order to determine the liquid and vapour state conditions inside the column an appropriate parameter has been introduced. It has been named ammonia purication ratio (%Pur) and is dened as the quotient of the ammonia vapour enrichment achieved in any component of the column to the ammonia concentration dierence between the vapour leaving the column and the vapour produced in the generator. The equations applied to the rectifying and stripping sections of the column and to the rectiers are reported in the following sections. The model equations of the remainder system components are not presented here for the sake of simplicity and brevity, but they are described in detail in Refs. [3,4]. 3.1. Rectifying and stripping sections Applying global mass, species and energy balances over the rectifying section the corresponding equations are obtained. The vapour ammonia purication ratio for the rectifying section (%Purrect) is calculated using Eq. (1), according to its denition and nomenclature in Fig. 1. %Purrect x19 x17 x23 x13 1

For the stripping section the corresponding equations for the global mass, species and energy balances and for the ammonia purication ratio have been derived. At the feed entry point, it is assumed that the liquid and vapour fractions of the feed ow mix with the downward liquid from the rectifying section and with the upward vapour from the stripping section, respectively. Thus, the liquid and vapour conditions at the top of the stripping section can be determined. 3.2. Rectiers Global mass, species and energy balances over the water cooled rectier are also obtained. For the water cooled rectier, the purication ratio is dened in Eq. (2). %PurRw x23 x21 x23 x13 2

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the distillation column with partial or complete condensation.

In the literature concerning mass transfer operations, the liquid and vapour phases leaving a rectier are usually considered to be in thermodynamic equilibrium and therefore the rectier is assumed to be equivalent to a theoretical stage [5]. However, in this paper this assumption is not made and an eciency term () that

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expresses the vapour concentration deviation from thermodynamic equilibrium conditions is taken into account. For the water cooled rectier, the eciency used is given in Eq. (3). "Rw xT23 T22 x21 x23 x21 3

also the cases of systems where some of these components are not used. 4.1.1. Eect of vapour purication ratios distribution on the system COP Fig. 2 shows the system COP as a function of the ammonia vapour purication ratio carried out in the rectiers. The rectiers purication ratio was varied from 0 to 90% of the total ammonia purication process in the column (from x13 to x23) while a constant value of 10% was established for the rectifying section (%Purrect=10%). Thus, the special cases when one of the rectiers is not used (%PurRw=0% or%PurRss= 0%), none are used (%PurRw=0% and%PurRss= 0%) or the stripping section is not used (%PurRw+% PurRss=90%) are included in this gure. Fig. 2 reveals that solutions can not be obtained for the whole range considered. This means that for the operating conditions in Table 1, the specied ammonia concentration can not always be attained. For a xed value of the ammonia purication ratio in the water cooled rectier %PurRw (dierent curves in Fig. 2) the existing solutions are limited for small %PurRss values since, in this case, the liquid reux generated from the condensation of the vapour stream in the rectiers is not enough to achieve the desired ammonia concentration specied in the rectifying section (x19x17). However, if %PurRw increases, solutions can be found for smaller %PurRss values since the required reux is generated in the water cooled rectier. On the other hand for a given %PurRw value, the available solutions are also limited to the %PurRw value for which the sum of the vapour purication ratios in all components is 100%. Fig. 2 shows that increasing %PurRss for a constant %PurRw value decreases the system COP. The same result is observed when increasing %PurRw for a constant %PurRss value. However, in this case COP values

In mass transfer operations, deviations from conditions of a theoretical stage are generally expressed by the Murphree eciency [6], which is dened as the inverse of Eq. (3). However, in a rectier the liquid temperature at the outlet is frequently greater than the vapour temperature leaving the rectier and, consequently, the Murphree vapour eciency exceeds unity. Therefore, the eciency expression in Eq. (3) has been chosen. For the strong solution cooled rectier corresponding equations to the water cooled rectier have been derived.

4. Results and discussion The mathematical model described in the previous section has been implemented in a computer program using Fortran 90. The implemented model has been used to simulate and analyse the performance of absorption refrigeration systems considering partial and complete condensation processes to purify the generated vapour. The analysis has been performed varying the distillation parameters one at a time while keeping the others parameters that dene the operation of the absorption refrigeration system at a constant value. The operating conditions are indicated in Table 1, where the rectier eciencies are given only for the partial condensation system. 4.1. Partial condensation systems The results presented here for the partial condensation systems examine the eect of diverse congurations of the distillation column on the system COP, as well as the required components eciencies. This has been done by varying the vapour purication ratio in the rectiers and in the stripping and rectifying sections, considering
Table 1 Operating conditions TE (K) TG (K) Tw (K) TC (K) TA (K) QE (W) xR (kg kg1) Tevap (K) 258 398 293 8 10 5000 0.999 10 P (Pa) "A "l-v "ss-ws "b "Rss "Rw 10 000 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.5 0.7 0.7

Fig. 2. Partial condensation system COP as a function of the purication ratio of the strong solution cooled rectier for different values of the purication ratio of the water cooled rectier and with a value of 10% for the purication ratio of the rectifying section.

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are lower since the rectier heat is rejected to a heat sink outside the system (cooling water) instead of being used within the absorption system [7]. If the rectifying section is not considered (%Purrect= 0%), the range of available solutions increases, since restrictions are only imposed by the stripping section eciency which must be between 0 and 1. However, the COP obtained is the same than in Fig. 2, since the rectifying section is replaced with a larger stripping section and both of them operate adiabatically. From the presented results, an appropriate conguration can be chosen for a given application, based on the system COP. 4.1.2. Rectifying and stripping sections eciencies The achievement of a high purication ratio in a distillation column component usually means high eciency requirements. This implies that the vapour current contacts a large surface area, resulting in a component of higher dimensions. Thus, in order to complete the previous analysis the eciencies of the stripping and rectifying sections have also been studied when varying the purication ratios of the column components. The stripping and rectifying section eciencies are dened as the quotient of the ammonia vapour concentration enrichment value to the theoretical maximum value for the given vapour and liquid inlet conditions. Eqs. (4) and (5) represent the eciencies of the rectifying and stripping sections, according to nomenclature in Fig. 1. "rect "strip x19 x17 xT19 T20 x17 x15 x13 xT15 T16 x13 4 5

10%) versus the strong solution rectier purication ratio (%PurRss) and for dierent %PurRw values. The rectifying section eciency is rather low, which suggests that for the given conditions a higher vapour ammonia concentration could be obtained. However, the vapour enrichment is limited for decreasing values of %PurRss and %PurRw because the reux solution is low and, consequently, the eciency of the rectifying section based on the liquid phase concentration which is dened in Eq. (6) is close to unity. "rect;l x20 x18 x20 xT18 T17 6

Fig. 4 shows the necessary stripping section eciency for dierent values of %PurRss and %PurRw for the most adverse case corresponding to not using the rectifying section (%Purrect=0%). Some of the curves in Fig. 4 extend from zero to unity eciency values, limiting %PurRss possible values. Since the liquid ow is much higher than the vapour ow, it is usually possible to achieve high purication ratios with a stripping section of moderate dimensions. 4.1.3. Rectier eciencies Fig. 5 shows the strong solution cooled rectier eciency when %Purrect= 0%. The eciencies are dened in Eqs. (7) and (8) and considering the relation between the heat capacity ratio of both uids and the nomenclature shown in Fig. 1. : Q Rss : Qmax

Fig. 3 shows the eciency of the rectifying section needed to achieve a purication ratio of 10% (%Purrect=

: m7 h8 h7 : : : min m19 h19 m21 h21 m20 h20 T21 T7 ; : m7 hT8 T19 h7

Fig. 3. Rectifying section eciency as a function of the purication ratio of the strong solution cooled rectier for dierent values of the purication ratio of the water cooled rectier and with a value of 10% for the purication ratio of the rectifying section.

Fig. 4. Stripping section eciency as a function of the purication ratio of the strong solution cooled rectier for dierent values of the purication ratio of the water cooled rectier and with the purication ratio of the rectifying section being zero.

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Rw

: mw Cpw Tw;out Tw;in h : : : min m21 h21 m23 h23 m22 h22 T23 Tw;in ; i : mw Cpw TTw;out T21 Tw;in

: : m24 m24 Refl : : : m23 m1 m24

The eciency of the water cooled rectier increases when increasing %PurRw but remains constant when varying the purication ratio of the strong solution rectier (%PurRss), because the vapour inlet conditions are set by %PurRw. However, Fig. 5 reveals that the strong solution rectier eciency increases when increasing %PurRss and when decreasing %PurRw, since in this case, the condensate solution leaving the water cooled rectier enters the strong solution cooled rectier and its thermodynamic conditions vary with %PurRw. As stated before, the system COP decreases when increasing the vapour enrichment carried out in the water cooled rectier. Therefore, avoiding the use of this rectier seems a practical option attending to the system COP results. However, according to Fig. 5 for %PurRw= 0% values, the required solution rectier eciency can be as high as 0.95, hence for specic applications it would be interesting to use the water cooled rectier in order to avoid the needs for a high eciency in the solution rectier. 4.2. Complete condensation systems The parameters being considered in the analysis of the purication process by means of complete condensation are the internal reux ratio and the purication ratios in the rectifying and stripping sections. However, since the column operates adiabatically only the reux ratio inuences the system COP. The internal reux ratio is dened in Eq. (9), according to nomenclature in Fig. 1.

4.2.1. Eect of the internal reux ratio on the system COP Fig. 6 shows the system COP versus the reux ratio, for dierent purication ratios in the rectifying and stripping sections. When increasing the reux ratio, the vapour leaving the distillation column and the liquid returned from the condenser increase. Thus, more liquid returns to the generator and more vapour must be produced, which implies that the generation heat load must increase and consequently the system COP decreases. The COP values obtained are lower than for the partial condensation system. This is due to the extra heat rejected for cooling the column liquid reux in the condenser, where no vapour purication is performed. 4.2.2. Rectifying and stripping sections eciencies As mentioned, the purication ratios do not aect the system COP, but rather inuence the components eciency and the range of possible solutions. Results obtained from the model developed have shown that the ammonia refrigerant concentration specied in Table 1 can be achieved with a specic COP and a given reux ratio with dierent column congurations. Fig. 7 shows the rectifying eciency versus the reux ratio for dierent purication ratios of the rectifying section (%Purrect). For large %Purrect values available solutions are limited by small reux ratio values. This accounts for the small liquid ow returned to the column, which is not enough to enrich the vapour current to the desired ammonia concentration. Under these conditions the liquid may come close to equilibrium with the vapour and consequently the rectifying eciency in terms of liquid composition approaches unity. Fig. 7 reveals that fewer solutions were found for small purication ratio values, since according to Fig. 8, the stripping eciency approaches unity, meaning that the vapour current is close to equilibrium with the liquid

Fig. 5. Strong solution cooled rectier eciency as a function of the purication ratio of the strong solution cooled rectier for dierent values of the purication ratio of the water cooled rectier and with the purication ratio of the rectifying section being zero.

Fig. 6. Complete condensation system COP as a function of the internal reux ratio.

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Fig. 7. Rectifying section eciency as a function of the internal reux ratio for dierent values of the purication ratio of the rectifying section.

vapour purication process considering partial and complete condensation for a single stage ammonia water absorption refrigeration system. The analysis is based on a mathematical model applied to dierent distillation column congurations. The model includes a new parameter named as ammonia purication ratio. The dierent column congurations are evaluated and compared based on the ammonia purication ratio carried out in each column component and on the system performance obtained. Moreover the mass and heat transfer eciencies in each part of the column are calculated in order to evaluate their design requirements. In the partial condensation system the liquid reux is generated in two rectiers located at the top of the column over the rectifying section. Results have shown that using the water cooled rectier decreases signicantly the system COP. Therefore this rectier should be avoided or reduced as much as possible. Moreover, the rectifying section was shown to have low eciency in terms of vapour concentration due to the small liquid reux from the rectiers. Hence, the use of the rectifying section could be avoided in some applications, given that an appreciable benet is not expected, which would also simplify the column design. The complete condensation system leads to simpler column designs, since the rectiers are not used. However, the COP values predicted are lower than for the partial condensation system.

References
Fig. 8. Stripping section eciency as a function of the internal reux ratio for dierent values of the purication ratio of the rectifying section. [1] Bogart MJP. Pitfalls in ammonia absorption refrigeration. Int J Refrigeration 1982;4:2038. [2] Ziegler B, Trepp Ch. Equation of state of ammonia-water mixtures. Int J Refrigeration 1984;7:1016. ndez-Seara J. Disen n, construccio n y [3] Ferna o, simulacio n de un prototipo de sistema de refrigeracio n por evaluacio n con NH3-H2O para la produccio n de fro en absorcio rmica residual barcos de pesca, accionado con la energa te rea de recuperada de los gases de escape. PhD thesis, A quinas y Motores Te rmicos, E.T.S.I. Industriales y Ma Minas, Vigo University, Spain, 1999. ndez-Seara J, Sieres Atienza J, Va zquez Va zquez M. [4] Ferna lculo para el estudio y ana lisis del comporModelo de ca n por tamiento de un prototipo de sistema de refrigeracio n con NH3-H2O ya construido. Recliem2000, La absorcio Habana, Cuba, July 2000. [5] Henley EJ, Seader JD. Equilibrium-stage separation operations in chemical engineering. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1981. [6] Sherwood TK, Pigford RL, Wilke CR. Mass transfer. McGraw-Hill; 1975. [7] Herold KE, Radermacher R, Klein SA. Absorption chillers and heat pumps. CRC Press; 1996. [8] Bogart MJP. Ammonia absorption refrigeration in industrial processes. Gulf Publishing Company; 1981.

reux. For large values of the reux ratio, the liquid mass ow returned from the condenser increases signicantly, thus, reux conditions dominates in the stripping section instead of the feed point conditions, which explains the changes in the slope of the curves of Fig. 8. Figs. 7 and 8 also show that when decreasing the reux ratio, fewer purication ratio combinations are possible. The minimum reux ratio is found when only one possible solution is obtained and the stripping eciency and the rectifying eciency in terms of liquid composition are unity [8] (extreme point of dashed curve in Figs. 7 and 8).

5. Conclusions This paper presents a study on the dierent distillation column congurations to carry out the ammonia