Port-Siad University Faculty of Engineering Mechanical Power Engineering Dept.

Postgraduate Level

Report !out

REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS
Prepared By

Eng/ Ahmed Mohamed Salman Salem

Presented To

Dr / Nasser Shelil

"#$% & "#$'

Table of Contents
CH ( ! INTRO"#CTION AN" RE$ERSE" CARNOT CYC%E
$. (ntroduction ". Reversed )arnot )ycle

CH (&! $APOR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION TECHNO%OGIES

$. *he (deal +apor-)o,pression Refrigeration )ycle ". *he ctual +apor-)o,pression Refrigeration )ycle %. Effect of -perating *e,peratures on the Perfor,ance of Refrigeration Unit %.$ Effect of Evaporation *e,perature %." Effect of )ondensing *e,perature

CH ('! ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION TECHNO%OGIES

$. (ntroduction ". Principle of operation %. .or/ing fluid for a!sorption refrigeration syste,s '. Effects of 0enerator *e,perature 1*02 and Environ,ent *e,perature 1*E2 on )oefficient of Perfor,ance 1)-P2 for !sorption Refrigeration )ycle 3. +arious designs of a!sorption refrigeration cycles 3.$. Single-effect a!sorption syste, 3.". !sorption heat transfor,er 3.%. Multi-effect a!sorption refrigeration cycle 3.'. !sorption refrigeration cycle with 0 4 3.3. !sorption refrigeration cycle with an a!sor!er-heat-recovery 3.5. 6alf-effect a!sorption refrigeration cycle 3.7. )o,!ined vapor a!sorption-co,pression cycle 3.8. Dual-cycle a!sorption refrigeration

REFERENCES

)6 1$2 (9*R-DU)*(-9 9D RE+ERSED ) R9-* ):)LE

( Introd)*t+on
Refrigeration can !e defined as the !ranch of engineering science that deals with the study of a!sor!ing heat fro, a certain space to reduce is te,perature and ,aintain it constant at low value. *o acco,plish this; heat ,ust re,oved fro, the space or a !ody !eing refrigerated and transferred to another space or another !ody. *he cooled space ,ay !e li<uid; such as water or ,il/; or it ,ay !e air wanted to !e cooled for storing a certain product or for air conditioning process. (f a refrigeration process ta/es place to cool a product to a certain te,perature a!ove its free=ing point; the process is called chilling. (f the product is cooled !elow its free=ing point; this process is cooled free=ing. *he wor/ing agent that transfers the heat is called a refr+,erant. *he transfer of heat fro, a low-te,perature region to a high-te,perature one re<uires special devices called refr+,erators. refrigerator is shown sche,atically in Fig. $$&$a. 6ere >L is the ,agnitude of the heat re,oved fro, the refrigerated space at te,perature *L ;>6 is the ,agnitude of the heat re?ected to the war, space at te,perature *6 ; and .net;in is the net wor/ input to the refr+,erator.

nother device that transfers heat fro, a low-te,perature ,ediu, to a high-te,perature one is the -eat p).p. Refrigerators and heat pu,ps are essentially the sa,e devices@ they differ in their o!?ectives only. *he o!?ective of a refrigerator is to ,aintain the refrigerated space at a low te,perature !y re,oving heat fro, it. Discharging this heat to a higher-te,perature ,ediu, is ,erely a necessary part of the operation; not the purpose. *he o!?ective of a heat pu,p; however; is to ,aintain a heated space at a high te,perature. *his is acco,plished !y a!sor!ing heat fro, a low-te,perature source; such as well water or cold outside air in winter; and supplying this heat to a war,er ,ediu, such as a house 1Fig. $$&$!2. *he perfor,ance of refrigerators and heat pu,ps is eApressed in ter,s of the *oeff+*+ent of perfor.an*e 1)-P2; defined asB

*he cooling capacity of a refrigeration syste,Cthat is; the rate of heat re,oval fro, the refrigerated space is often eApressed in ter,s of tons of refr+,erat+on( *he capacity of a refrigeration syste, that can free=e $ ton 1"### l!,2 of li<uid water at #D) 1%"DF2 into ice at #D) in "' h is said to !e $ ton. -ne ton of refrigeration is e<uivalent to "$$ /EF,in or "## GtuF,in. *he cooling load of a typical "##-," residence is in the %-ton 1$#-/.2 range.

&( Re/ersed Carnot Cy*le

Reversing the cycle does also reverse the directions of any heat and wor/ interactions. *he result is a cycle that operates in the countercloc/wise direction on a T-s diagra,; which is called the re/ersed Carnot *y*le( refrigerator or heat pu,p that operates on the reversed )arnot cycle is called a Carnot refr+,erator or a Carnot -eat p).p( )onsider a reversed )arnot cycle eAecuted within the saturation do,e of a refrigerant; as shown in Fig. $$&". *he refrigerant a!sor!s heat isother,ally fro, a low-te,perature source at TL in the a,ount of QL 1process $-"2; is co,pressed isentropically to state % 1te,perature rises to TH2; re?ects heat isother,ally to a high-te,perature sin/ at TH in the a,ount of QH 1process %-'2; and eApands isentropically to state $ 1te,perature drops to TL2. *he refrigerant changes fro, a saturated vapor state to a saturated li<uid state in the condenser during process %-'.

*he coefficients of perfor,ance of )arnot refrigerators and heat pu,ps are eApressed in ter,s of te,peratures asB

nd

)6 1"2 + P-R )-MPRESS(-9 REFR(0ER *(-9 S:S*EM

( T-e Ideal $apor0Co.press+on Refr+,erat+on Cy*le
Many of the i,practicalities associated with the reversed )arnot cycle can !e eli,inated !y vapori=ing the refrigerant co,pletely !efore it is co,pressed and !y replacing the tur!ine with a throttling device; such as an eApansion valve or capillary tu!e. *he cycle that results is called the +deal /apor0*o.press+on refr+,erat+on *y*le1 and it is shown sche,atically and on a T-s diagra, in Fig. $$&%. *he vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle is the ,ost widely used cycle for refrigerators; air-conditioning syste,s; and heat pu,ps. (t consists of four processesB $-" (sentropic co,pression in a co,pressor "-% )onstant-pressure heat re?ection in a condenser %-' *hrottling in an eApansion device '-$ )onstant-pressure heat a!sorption in an evaporator (n an ideal vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle; the refrigerant enters the co,pressor at state $ as saturated vapor and is co,pressed isentropically to the condenser pressure. *he te,perature of the refrigerant increases during

this isentropic co,pression process to well a!ove the te,perature of the surrounding ,ediu,. *he refrigerant then enters the condenser as superheated vapor at state " and leaves as saturated li<uid at state % as a result of heat re?ection to the surroundings. *he te,perature of the refrigerant at this state is still a!ove the te,perature of the surroundings. *he saturated li<uid refrigerant at state % is throttled to the evaporator pressure !y passing it through an eApansion valve or capillary tu!e. *he te,perature of the refrigerant drops !elow the te,perature of the refrigerated space during this process. *he refrigerant enters the evaporator at state ' as a low-<uality saturated ,iAture; and it co,pletely evaporates !y a!sor!ing heat fro, the refrigerated space. *he refrigerant leaves the evaporator as saturated vapor and reenters the co,pressor; co,pleting the cycle. (n a household refrigerator; the tu!es in the free=er co,part,ent where heat is a!sor!ed !y the refrigerant serves as the evaporator. *he coils !ehind the refrigerator; where heat is dissipated to the /itchen air; serve as the condenser 1Fig. $$&'2. Re,e,!er that the area under the process curve on a T-s diagra, represents the heat transfer for internally reversi!le processes. *he area under the process curve '-$ represents the heat a!sor!ed !y the refrigerant in the evaporator; and the area under the process curve "-% represents the heat re?ected in the condenser. rule of thu,! is that the COP improves by 2 to 4 percent for each DC the evaporating temperature is raised or the condensing temperature

is lo ered.

nother diagra, fre<uently used in the analysis of vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycles is the P-h diagra,; as shown in Fig. $$&3. -n this diagra,; three of the four processes appear as straight lines; and the heat transfer in the condenser and the evaporator is proportional to the lengths of the corresponding process curves. 9otice that unli/e the ideal cycles discussed !efore; the ideal vaporco,pression refrigeration cycle is not an internally reversi!le cycle since it involves an irreversi!le 1throttling2 process. *his process is ,aintained in the cycle to ,a/e it a ,ore realistic ,odel for the actual vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle. (f the throttling device were replaced !y an isentropic tur!ine; the refrigerant would enter the evaporator at state 'H instead of state '. s a result; the refrigeration capacity would increase 1!y the area under process curve 'H-' in Fig. $$&%2 and the net wor/ input would decrease 1!y the a,ount of wor/ output of the tur!ine2. Replacing the eApansion valve !y a tur!ine is not practical; however; since the added !enefits cannot ?ustify the added cost and co,pleAity. ll four co,ponents associated with the vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle are steady-flow devices; and thus all four processes that ,a/e up the cycle can !e analy=ed as steady-flow processes. *he /inetic and potential energy changes of the refrigerant are usually s,all relative to the wor/ and heat transfer ter,s; and therefore they can !e neglected. *hen the steady-flow energy e<uation on a unit&,ass !asis reduces to *he condenser and the evaporator do not involve any wor/; and the co,pressor can !e approAi,ated as adia!atic. *hen the )-Ps of refrigerators and heat pu,ps operating on the vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle can !e eApressed as

nd

.here h$ I hg J P$ and h% I hf J P% for the ideal case.

&( T-e A*t)al $apor0Co.press+on Refr+,erat+on Cy*le

n actual vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle differs fro, the ideal one in several ways; owing ,ostly to the irreversi!ilities that occur in various co,ponents. *wo co,,on sources of irreversi!ilities are fluid friction 1causes pressure drops2 and heat transfer to or fro, the surroundings. *he T-s diagra, of an actual vapor-co,pression refrigeration cycle is shown in Fig. $$&7. (n the ideal cycle; the refrigerant leaves the evaporator and enters the co,pressor as saturated vapor. (n practice; however; it ,ay not !e possi!le to control the state of the refrigerant so precisely. (nstead; it is easier to design the syste, so that the refrigerant is slightly superheated at the co,pressor inlet. *his slight overdesign ensures that the refrigerant is co,pletely vapori=ed when it enters the co,pressor. lso; the line connecting

the evaporator to the co,pressor is usually very long@ thus the pressure drop caused !y fluid friction and heat transfer fro, the surroundings to the refrigerant can !e very significant. *he result of superheating; heat gain in the connecting line; and pressure drops in the evaporator and the connecting line is an increase in the specific volu,e; thus an increase in the power input re<uire,ents to the co,pressor since steady-flow wor/ is proportional to the specific volu,e. *he compression process in the ideal cycle is internally reversi!le and adia!atic; and thus isentropic. *he actual co,pression process; however; involves frictional effects; which increase the entropy; and heat transfer; which ,ay increase or decrease the entropy; depending on the direction. *herefore; the entropy of the refrigerant ,ay increase 1process $-"2 or decrease 1process $-"H2 during an actual co,pression process; depending on which effects do,inate. *he co,pression process $-"H ,ay !e even ,ore desira!le than the isentropic co,pression process since the specific volu,e of the refrigerant and thus the wor/ input re<uire,ent are s,aller in this case. *herefore; the refrigerant should !e cooled during the co,pression process whenever it is practical and econo,ical to do so. (n the ideal case; the refrigerant is assu,ed to leave the condenser as saturated li!uid at the co,pressor eAit pressure. (n reality; however; it is unavoida!le to have so,e pressure drop in the condenser as well as in the lines connecting the condenser to the co,pressor and to the throttling valve. lso; it is not easy to eAecute the condensation process with such precision that the refrigerant is a saturated li<uid at the end; and it is undesira!le to route the refrigerant to the throttling valve !efore the refrigerant is co,pletely condensed. *herefore; the refrigerant is su!cooled so,ewhat !efore it enters the throttling valve. .e do not ,ind this at all; however; since the refrigerant in this case enters the evaporator with a lower enthalpy and thus can a!sor! ,ore heat fro, the refrigerated space. *he throttling valve and the evaporator are usually located very close to each other; so the pressure drop in the connecting line is s,all.

'( Effe*t of Operat+n, Te.perat)res on t-e Perfor.an*e of Refr+,erat+on #n+t

*he perfor,ance of the vapor co,pression refrigeration syste, varies with !oth evaporating and condensing te,perature. So; any change of any of the, will affect the perfor,ance of the unit. *he para,eters; those ,ay !e affected !y any change of the operating conditions areB refrigeration capacity; power re<uired per unit ; heat capacity of condenser and coefficient of perfor,ance. 3.1 Effect of Evaporation Temperature *he change of evaporation te,peratures followed !y change in pressure. So; the change of operating pressure on te,perature of the refrigeration unit has the sa,e effect on its perfor,ance in fig. si,ple; refrigeration unit and its representation on 1P-i2 diagra, is indicated. *he evaporator te,perature is changed fro, *e$ to *e" decreasing of evaporation te,perature leads to the following changesB

Simple Vapor Compression Cycle

Effect of Evaporation Temperature

Effect of Evaporation Temperature on the performance of refrigeration unit

3.2 Effect of Condensing Temperature Figure shown represents the 1P-i2 diagra, for the si,ple refrigeration syste, when the condensing unit is changing. *he effect of increasing the su,,ari=ed in the followingB $- *he refrigeration effect decreases. "- *he ,ass flow rate per unit *.R increases. %- *he R.) of the unit decreases. '- *he specific power re<uired to drive the co,pressor increases.

Effect of Condensing Temperature

)6 1%2 GS-RP*(-9 REFR(0ER *(-9 *E)69-L-0(ES

( Introd)*t+on
Most of industrial process uses a lot of ther,al energy !y !urning fossil fuel to produce stea, or heat for the purpose. fter the processes; heat is re?ected to the surrounding as waste. *his waste heat can !e converted to useful refrigeration !y using a heat operated refrigeration syste,; such as an a!sorption refrigeration cycle. Electricity purchased fro, utility co,panies for conventional vapor co,pression refrigerators can !e reduced. *he use of heat operated refrigeration syste,s help reduce pro!le,s related to glo!al environ,ental; such as the so called greenhouse effect fro, )-" e,ission fro, the co,!ustion of fossil fuels in utility power plants. nother difference !etween a!sorption syste,s and conventional vapor co,pression syste,s is the wor/ing fluid used. Most vapor co,pression syste,s co,,only use chlorofluorocar!on refrigerants 1)F)s2; !ecause of their ther,o-physical properties. (t is through the restricted use of )F)s; due to depletion of the o=one layer that will ,a/e a!sorption syste,s ,ore pro,inent. 6owever; although a!sorption syste,s see, to provide ,any advantages; vapor co,pression syste,s still do,inate all ,ar/et sectors. (n order to pro,ote the use of a!sorption syste,s; further develop,ent is re<uired to i,prove their perfor,ance and reduce cost. *he early develop,ent of an a!sorption cycle dates !ac/ to the $7##Ks. (t was /nown that ice could !e produced !y an evaporation of pure water fro, a vessel contained within an evacuated container in the presence of sulfuric acid; L$;"M. (n $8$#; ice could !e ,ade fro, water in a vessel; which was connected to another vessel containing sulfuric acid. s the acid a!sor!ed water vapor; causing a reduction of te,perature; layers of ice were for,ed on the water surface. *he ,a?or pro!le,s of this syste, were corrosion and lea/age of air into the vacuu, vessel. (n $83N; Ferdinand )arre introduced a novel ,achine using waterFa,,onia as the wor/ing fluid. *his ,achine too/ out a US patent in $85#. Machines !ased on this patent were used to ,a/e ice and store food. (t was used as a !asic design in the early age of refrigeration develop,ent. (n the $N3#Ks; a syste, using lithiu, !ro,ideFwater as the wor/ing fluid was introduced for industrial applications. few years later; a dou!le-effect a!sorption syste, was introduced and has !een used as an industrial standard for a high perfor,ance heat-operated refrigeration cycle. *he ai, of this paper is to provide !asic !ac/ground and review eAisting literatures on a!sorption refrigeration technologies. nu,!er of a!sorption refrigeration syste,s and research options are provided and discussed. (t is hoped that; this paper should !e useful for any newco,er in this field of refrigeration technology.

&( Pr+n*+ple of operat+on

*he wor/ing fluid in an a!sorption refrigeration syste, is a !inary solution consisting of refrigerant and a!sor!ent. (n Fig. $1a2; two evacuated vessels are connected to each other. *he left vessel contains li<uid refrigerant while the right vessel contains a !inary solution of a!sor!entFrefrigerant. *he solution in the right vessel will a!sor! refrigerant vapor fro, the left vessel causing pressure to reduce. .hile the refrigerant vapor is !eing a!sor!ed; the te,perature of the re,aining refrigerant will reduce as a result of its vapori=ation. *his causes a refrigeration effect to occur inside the left vessel. t the sa,e ti,e; solution inside the right vessel !eco,es ,ore dilute !ecause of the higher content of refrigerant a!sor!ed. *his is called the Oa!sorption processP. 9or,ally; the a!sorption process is an eAother,ic process; therefore; it ,ust re?ect heat out to the surrounding in order to ,aintain its a!sorption capa!ility.

.henever the solution cannot continue with the a!sorption process !ecause of saturation of the refrigerant; the refrigerant ,ust !e separated out fro, the diluted solution. 6eat is nor,ally the /ey for this separation process. (t is applied to the right vessel in order to dry the refrigerant fro, the solution as shown in Fig. $1!2. *he refrigerant vapor will !e condensed !y transferring heat to the surroundings. .ith these processes; the refrigeration effect can !e produced !y using heat energy. 6owever; the cooling effect cannot !e produced continuously as the process cannot !e done si,ultaneously. *herefore; an a!sorption refrigeration cycle is a co,!ination of these two processes as shown in Fig. ". s the separation process occurs at a higher pressure than the a!sorption process; a circulation pu,p is re<uired to circulate the solution. )oefficient of Perfor,ance of an a!sorption refrigeration syste, is o!tained fro,@

*he wor/ input for the pu,p is negligi!le relative to the heat input at the generator; therefore; the pu,p wor/ is often neglected for the purposes of analysis.

'( 2or3+n, fl)+d for absorpt+on refr+,erat+on syste.s

Perfor,ance of a!sorption refrigeration syste,s is critically dependent on the che,ical and ther,odyna,ic properties of the wor/ing fluid L%M. funda,ental re<uire,ent of a!sor!entFrefrigerant co,!ination is that; in li<uid phase; they ,ust have a ,argin of ,isci!ility within the operating te,perature range of the cycle. *he ,iAture should also !e che,ically sta!le; non-toAic; and non-eAplosive. (n addition to these re<uire,ents; the following are desira!le L'M. *he elevation of !oiling 1the difference in !oiling point !etween the pure refrigerant and the ,iAture at the sa,e pressure2 should !e as large as possi!le. Refrigerant should have high heat of vapori=ation and high concentration within the a!sor!ent in order to ,aintain low circulation rate !etween the generator and the a!sor!er per unit of cooling capacity. *ransport properties that influence heat and ,ass transfer; e.g.; viscosity; ther,al conductivity; and diffusion coefficient should !e favora!le. Goth refrigerant and a!sor!ent should !e non-corrosive; environ,ental friendly; and low-cost.

4. Effects of Generator Temperature (TG! and Environment Temperature (TE! on Coefficient of Performance (COP! for Absorption Refrigeration Cyc e!

4( $ar+o)s des+,ns of absorpt+on refr+,erat+on *y*les

".1. #ing e$effect absorption system single-effect a!sorption refrigeration syste, is the si,plest and ,ost co,,only used design. *here are two design configurations depending on the wor/ing fluids used. Fig. % shows a single-effect syste, using non-volatility a!sor!ent such as LiGrFwater.

6igh te,perature heat supplied to the generator is used to evaporate refrigerant out fro, the solution 1re?ected out to the surroundings at the condenser2 and is used to heat the solution fro, the a!sor!er te,perature 1re?ected out to the surroundings at the a!sor!er2. *hus; an irreversi!ility is caused as high te,perature heat at the generator is wasted out at the a!sor!er and the condenser. (n order to reduce this irreversi!ility; a solution heat eAchange is introduced as show in Fig. %. *he heat eAchanger allows the solution fro, the a!sor!er to !e preheated !efore entering the generator !y using the heat fro, the hot solution leaving the generator. *herefore; the )-P is i,proved as the heat input at the generator is reduced. Moreover; the si=e of the a!sor!er can !e reduced as less heat is re?ected. EAperi,ental studies shows that )-P can !e increased up to 5#Q when a solution heat eAchanger is used L%7M. .hen volatility a!sor!ent such as waterF96% is used; the syste, re<uires an eAtra co,ponent called Oa rectifierP; which will purify the refrigerant !efore entering the condenser. s the a!sor!ent used 1water2 is highly volatile; it will !e evaporated together with a,,onia 1refrigerant2. .ithout the rectifier; this water will !e condensed and accu,ulate inside the evaporator; causing the perfor,ance to drop. Even if the ,ost co,,on wor/ing fluids used are LiGrFwater and waterF96%; various researchers have studied perfor,ance of a single-effect a!sorption syste, using other /inds of wor/ing fluids such as Li9-%F96% L3"M; LiGrRSnGr"F)6%-6 L3%M; Li9-%RT9-%R9a9-%Fwater L3'M; Li)lFwater L33M; 0lycerolFwater L35M. ".2. Absorption %eat transformer ny a!sorption refrigeration cycle eAchanges heat with three eAternal reservoirs@ low; inter,ediate; and high te,perature levels. .hen an a!sorption syste, is operated as a refrigerator or a heat pu,p; the driving heat is supplied fro, the high te,perature reservoir. Refrigeration effect is produced at a low te,perature level and re?ects heat out at an inter,ediate te,perature level. *he difference !etween the, is the duty. For a refrigerator; the useful heat transfer is at a low te,perature. For the heat pu,p; the useful heat transfer is at an inter,ediate te,perature. 9or,ally; the surrounding is used as a low te,perature reservoir for a heat pu,p or as an inter,ediate te,perature reservoir for the refrigerator. nother type of a!sorption cycle is /nown as Oan a!sorption heat transfor,erP or Oa reverse a!sorption heat pu,pP. *his syste, uses heat fro, an inter,ediate te,perature reservoir as the driving heat 1nor,ally fro, industrial waste heat2. *he syste, re?ects heat out at a low te,perature level 1nor,ally to the surroundings2. *he useful output is o!tained at the highest te,perature level. *he use of an a!sorption heat transfor,er allows any waste heat to !e upgraded to a higher te,perature level without any other heat input eAcept so,e wor/ re<uired to circulate the wor/ing fluid.

Fig. ' shows a sche,atic diagra, of an a!sorption heat transfor,er. *his cycle has si,ilar co,ponents as a single-effect a!sorption cycle. *he difference is that an eApansion device installed !etween the condenser and the evaporator is su!stituted !y a pu,p. .aste heat at a relatively low te,perature is supplied to the generator

for refrigerant separation in the usual ,anner. Li<uid refrigerant fro, the condenser is then pu,ped to the evaporator with elevated pressure. (n the evaporator; it is vapori=ed !y using the sa,e low te,perature waste heat used to drive the generator 1a!sorption heat transfor,ers are usually operated so that the generator and evaporator te,peratures are e<ual2. *he vapor refrigerant is then a!sor!ed into solution in the a!sor!er which re?ect the useful heat out at a high te,perature level. Low-grade heat can !e upgraded !y using a heat transfor,er e.g. solar energy L37M; industrial waste heat L38;3NM. Perfor,ance of an a!sorption heat transfor,er with various wor/ing fluids has !een studied@ LiGrFwater L5#M; LiGrRSnGr"F)6%-6 L5$M; DME*E0FR"$; DMFFR"$ L5"&5'M. ".3. &u ti$effect absorption refrigeration cyc e *he ,ain o!?ective of a higher effect cycle is to increase syste, perfor,ance when high te,perature heat source is availa!le. Gy the ter, O,ulti-effectP; the cycle has to !e configured in a way that heat re?ected fro, a high-te,perature stage is used as heat input in a low-te,perature stage for generation of additional cooling effect in the low-te,perature stage. Dou!le-effect a!sorption refrigeration cycle was introduced during $N35 and $N38 L53M. Fig. 3 shows a syste, using LiGrFwater. 6igh te,perature heat fro, an eAternal source supplies to the first-effect generator. *he vapor refrigerant generated is condensed at high pressure in the second-effect generator. *he heat re?ected is used to produce addition refrigerant vapor fro, the solution co,ing fro, the first-effect generator. *his syste, configuration is considered as a series-flow-dou!le-effect a!sorption syste,. dou!le-effect a!sorption syste, is considered as a co,!ination of two singleeffect a!sorption syste,s whose )-P value is )-Psingle. For one unit of heat input fro, the eAternal source; cooling effect produced fro, the refrigerant generated fro,

the first-effect generator is $U)-Psingle. For any single-effect a!sorption syste,; it ,ay !e assu,ed that the heat re?ected fro, the condenser is approAi,ately e<ual to the cooling capacity o!tained. *hus the heat supply to the second generator is $U)-Psingle. *he cooling effect produced fro, the second-effect generator is 1$U)-Psingle2U)-Psingle.. *herefore; the )-P of this dou!le-effect a!sorption syste, is )-Pdou!leI)-PsingleR1)-Psingle2". ccording to this analysis; a dou!le effect a!sorption syste, has a )-P of #.N5 when the corresponding single-effect syste, has a )-P of #.5. (f LiGrFwater is replaced with waterF96%; ,aAi,u, pressure in the first-effect generator will !e eAtre,ely high. Fig. 5 shows a dou!le-effect a!sorption syste,

using waterF96%. (n contrast to the syste, for LiGrFwater; this syste, can !e considered as a co,!ination of two separated single-effect cycles. *he evaporator and the condensers of !oth cycles are integrated together as a single unit as shown. *hus; there are only two pressures level in this syste, and the ,aAi,u, pressure can !e li,ited to an accepta!le level. 6eat fro, eAternal source supplies to generator (( only. s water is an a!sor!ent; there is no pro!le, of crystalli=ation in the a!sor!er. 6ence; a!sor!er (( can !e operated at high te,perature and re?ects heat to the generator (. *his syste, configuration is considered as a parallel-flow-

dou!le-effect a!sorption syste,. Several types of ,ulti-effect a!sorption cycle has !een analy=ed such as the tripleeffect a!sorption cycle 1Fig. 72 L58M and the <uadruple-effect a!sorption cycle L5NM. 6owever; an i,prove,ent of )-P is not directly lin/ed to the incre,ent of nu,!er of effect. (t ,ust !e noted that; when the nu,!er of effects increase; )-P of each effect will not !e as high as that for a single-effect syste,. Moreover; the higher nu,!er of effect leads to ,ore syste, co,pleAity. *herefore; the dou!le-effect cycle is the one that is availa!le co,,ercially L7#M. ".4. Absorption refrigeration cyc e 'it% GA( 0 4 stands for generatorFa!sor!er heat eAchanger or so,eti,es is called D 64 which stands for desor!erFa!sor!er heat eAchanger. 6igher perfor,ance can !e achieved with a single-effect a!sorption syste,. Referring to the parallel-flow-dou!le effect a!sorption syste, ,entioned earlier; the syste, consists of two single-effect cycles wor/ing in a parallel ,anner. *he concept of 0 4 is to si,plify this two stagedou!le-effect a!sorption cycle !ut still produce the sa,e perfor,ance.

*he ideal of 0 4 was introduced in $N$$ !y lten/irch and *enc/hoff L7$;7"M. *he si,plified configuration is shown sche,atically in Fig. 8. n a!sor!er and a generator ,ay !e considered as a counterflow-heat eAchanger as shown in Fig. 8. t the a!sor!er; wea/-refrigerant solution fro, the generator and vapor refrigerant fro, the evaporator enter at the top section. 6eat produced during the a!sorption process ,ust !e re?ected out in order to ,aintain a!ility to a!sor! the refrigerant vapor. t the top section; heat is re?ected out at a high te,perature. (n the lower section; the solution further a!sor!s the vapor refrigerant while cooling down !y re?ecting heat to the surrounding. t the generator; rich-refrigerant solution fro, the a!sor!er enters at the top section. (n this section; the refrigerant is dried out fro, the solution as it is heated !y using the heat re?ected fro, the top section of the a!sor!er. t the lower section of the generator; the solution is further dried as it is heated !y the eAternal source. Referring to Fig. 8; there is an additional secondary-fluid; which used for transferring heat !etween the a!sor!er and the generator.

".". Absorption refrigeration cyc e 'it% an absorber$%eat$recovery (t is already ,entioned earlier that the use of a solution heat eAchanger i,proves the syste, )-P. Rich-refrigerant solution fro, the a!sor!er can !e preheated !efore entering the generator !y transferring heat fro, hot solution co,ing fro, the generator. Gy introducing an a!sor!er-heat-recovery; te,perature of the rich-refrigerant solution can !e further increased. Si,ilar to the 0 4 syste,; the a!sor!er is divided into two sections. 6eat is re?ected out at a different te,perature. *he lower te,perature section re?ects heat out to the surroundings as usual. 6owever; the higher te,perature section is used

to preheat rich-refrigerant solution as shown in Fig. N. *herefore; the heat input to the generator is reduced causing the )-P to increase. *his syste, was studied theoretically !y using various wor/ing fluids@ waterF96% and Li9-%F96% L7N;8#M. *he cycle with an a!sor!er-heat-recovery was found to have $#Q i,prove,ent in )-P. 6owever; the ,achine !ased on this a!sor!er design has not yet !een !uilt. ".). *a f$effect absorption refrigeration cyc e (t ,ust !e noted that; any a!sorption refrigeration syste, can !e operated only when the solution in the a!sor!er is richer in refrigerant than that in the generator. .hen the te,perature increases or the pressure reduces; the fraction of refrigerant contained in the solution is reduced; and vice versa. .hen the generator te,perature is dropped; the solution circulation rate will !e increased causing the )-P to drop. (f it is too low; the syste, can !e no longer operated. *he half-effect a!sorption syste, was introduced for an application with a relatively low-te,perature heat source L8$M. Fig. $# shows a sche,atic diagra, of a half-effect a!sorption refrigeration cycle. *he syste, configuration is eAactly the sa,e as the dou!le-effect a!sorption syste, using waterF96% 1as shown in Fig. 52 eAcept the heat flow directions are different. Referring to Fig. $#; high te,perature heat fro, an eAternal source transfers to !oth generators. Goth a!sor!ers re?ect heat out to the surroundings. !sor!er (( and generator ( are operated at an inter,ediate pressure level. *herefore; the circulation rate !etween generator ( and a!sor!er ( and !etween generator (( and a!sor!er (( can !e ,aintained at accepta!le levels. (t

,ust !e noted that )-P of the half-effect a!sorption syste, is relatively low as it re?ects ,ore heat than a single-effect a!sorption cycle around 3#Q L8"M. 6owever; it can !e operated with the relatively low te,perature heat source.

".+. Combined vapor absorption$compression cyc e *his syste, is usually /nown as an a!sorption-co,pression syste,. sche,atic diagra, of a typical a!sorptionFco,pression cycle is shown in Fig. $$1a2. (t can !e seen that; a condenser and an evaporator of a conventional vapor-co,pression syste, are replaced with a resor!er 1vapor a!sor!er2 and a desor!er 1vapor generator2. For given surrounding te,perature and refrigerating te,perature; the pressure differential across the co,pressor is ,uch lower than a conventional vapor-co,pression syste,. *hus; the )-P is eApected to !e !etter than a conventional vapor-co,pression syste,. lten/irch did the first investigation in $N3# and proposed a potential for energy-saving L8"M. *he cycle can !e configured

as a heat pu,p cycle. Machielsen L8%M developed a heat pu,p cycle as shown in Fig. $$1!2. n interesting configuration is a dou!le-effect vapor a!sorptionFco,pression cycle

as shown in Fig. $". *he re?ected first-stage a!sor!er heat is supplied to the generator of the secondstage. *he transfer of heat is done internally which overco,es the large te,perature difference at the ,oderate pressure ratio. *his concept has !een shown successfully in several studies; L8%&83M. nother configuration of the vapor a!sorptionFco,pression cycle; proposed !y )acciola et al. L85M is shown sche,atically in Fig. $% and e,ploys two co,!inations of wor/ing fluids; waterF96% and T6-Fwater. *his is a co,pro,ise of the waterF96% cycle and T6-Fwater cycle. *he highest syste, pressure is reduced and the rectifier of waterF96% syste, is a!stained. *his cycle can !e operated with an a,!ient te,perature lower than #D) without free=ing or crystalli=ation pro!le,s. *he first eAperi,ental results of an a!sorptionFco,pression cycle with direct

".,. -ua $cyc e absorption refrigeration *he concept of a dual-cycle a!sorption syste, is si,ilar to a parallel-dou!le-effect a!sorption syste,. 6owever; this syste, consists of two co,pletely separated cycles using different /inds of wor/ing fluid. 6anna et al. L88M invented a dual-cycle a!sorption refrigeration and heat pu,p as shown in Fig. $3. *his syste, consists of two single-effect a!sorption cycles using waterF96% and LiGrFwater. *he 96% syste, is driven !y heat o!tained fro, an eAternal heat source. *he heat re?ect fro, its a!sor!er and condenser is used as a driving heat for the LiGrFwater syste,. *he LiGrFwater syste, re?ects heat out to the surrounding at the condenser and the a!sor!er as usual. *he cooling effect can !e o!tained fro, !oth evaporators.

REFERE9)ES
$- *her,odyna,ics n Engineering pproach; Fifth edition; :unus .)engel. "- Fro, lectureKs notes fro, the we!. %review of a!sorption refrigeration *echnologies; Pongsid Sri/hirin ; Satha phornratana; Supachart )hungpai!ulpatana; Renewa!le and Sustaina!le Energy Reviews 3 1"##$2 %'%&%7".