Comparison of the performance of single-effect, half-effect, double-

effect in series and inverse and triple-effect absorption cooling

systems operating with the NH
3
eLiNO
3
mixture
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza, J.A. Hernndez-Magallanes, M. Sandoval-Reyes, W. Rivera
*
Instituto de Energas Renovables, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico (UNAM), 62580 Temixco, Morelos, Mexico
h i g h l i g h t s
Modeling of advanced absorption cooling systems was carried out operating with NH
3
eLiNO
3
.
T
E
as low as 60

C can be achieved with half-effect systems at low T
G
and COP about 0.3.
With double-effect systems it is possible to obtain COP as high as 1.12.
The highest COP can be achieved with triple-effect systems but at T
G
above 150

C.
Triple-effect systems operating with NH
3
eLiNO
3
should be mainly used for air conditioning.
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 11 December 2013
Accepted 26 February 2014
Available online 12 March 2014
Keywords:
Solar energy
Solar cooling
Advanced absorption systems
Ammoniaelithium nitrate
a b s t r a c t
This paper presents the performance comparison of ve different congurations of absorption cooling
systems operating with ammoniaelithium nitrate. The congurations are: i) single-effect, ii) half-effect,
iii) double-effect in series, iv) double-effect inverse and v) triple-effect. Mathematical models were
developed for each one of the systems. Coefcients of performance are reported for the systems as
function of their main operating temperatures, such as: generation, absorption, condensation, and
evaporation. The results showed that the lowest evaporator temperatures can be achieved with half-
effect systems at the lowest generator temperatures with coefcients of performance around 0.3. The
single-effect system is the simplest conguration since it requires fewer components in comparison to
the other systems. Its coefcients of performance are almost twice higher than those obtained with half-
effect systems but requiring higher generator temperatures. With double-effect systems it is possible to
obtain coefcients of performance as high as 1.12 at condenser temperatures of 30

C but they need
generator temperatures higher than 140

C to reach evaporator temperatures as low as 5

C. The
highest coefcients of performance can be achieved with triple-effect systems but they are the most
complex, they require the highest generator temperatures and they should be mainly used for air
conditioning.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Conventional cooling systems demand huge amounts of electric
energy to operate. It has been estimated that around 15% of the
electricity produced worldwide is used for air-conditioning and
cooling [1]. In order to reduce this consumption, absorption cooling
systems have gained a lot of research interest since they may
operate with solar thermal energy or any other thermal energy
such as residual heat from industries. Currently the research on
absorption systems is being focused on the study of new working
uids and the development of advanced cycles.
Up to now, waterelithium bromide (H
2
OeLiBr) and ammoniae
water (NH
3
eH
2
O) have been the most used mixtures in cooling
systems, however, due to their well-known disadvantages, new
working mixtures such as ammoniaelithium nitrate (NH
3
eLiNO
3
)
have gained the interest of researchers. Some of the most relevant
studies regarding the ammoniaelithium nitrate mixture are
described in the following paragraph.
In 1991 Best et al. [2] reported the theoretical coefcients of per-
formance against the main operating temperatures for a single-stage
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 52 (55)56229740.
E-mail addresses: wrgf@ier.unam.mx, wrgf@cie.unam.mx (W. Rivera).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Applied Thermal Engineering
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ apt hermeng
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.02.061
1359-4311/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620
absorption cooling system. They found that the coefcients of per-
formance could be as high as 0.7. In 1995, Antonopoulos et al. [3]
compared the performance of solar absorption systems operating
for cooling and heating using the NH
3
eLiNO
3
and NH
3
eNaSCN
mixtures. The results showed that the highest coefcients of perfor-
mance for heating were obtained with NH
3
eLiNO
3
, meanwhile for
cooling purposes the NH
3
eLiNO
3
mixture reached higher cooling
loads, but the highest COP was obtained with NH
3
eNaSCN. In 1996
and1997, Ayala et al. [4,5] simulatedandtesteda prototype of a NH
3
e
LiNO
3
hybrid absorption-compression refrigeration system. They
demonstrated that efciencies increase up to 10% compared to the
ones reached using compression or absorption systems individually.
In 2003, Rivera et al. [6] modeled an intermittent solar absorption
refrigeration system operating with NH
3
eLiNO
3
using a cylindrical
paraboliccollector as ageneratoreabsorber, theresults showedthat it
was possible to produce up to 8 kg of ice per day with the proposed
system. In 2010, Ventas et al. [7] numerically modeled a hybrid cycle
based on the single-effect absorption system integrated with a
booster compressor between the evaporator and the absorber using
the NH
3
eLiNO
3
solution. They found that this cycle allows lower
working temperatures compared with the conventional single-effect
cycle and has low electricity consumption. In 2011, Zacaras et al. [8]
reported the experimental assessment of NH
3
adiabatic absorption
into NH
3
eLiNO
3
solution using a at fan nozzle and an upstream
single-pass subcooler. The authors obtained correlations for the
equilibrium factor and Sherwood number which can be used for the
design of adiabatic absorbers. In 2011 Rivera et al. [9] evaluated an
intermittent solar refrigeration system for ice production operating
with the NH
3
eLiNO
3
mixture. The results showed that evaporator
temperatures as lowas 11

C could be reached with COP up to 0.08.

In 2012, Acua et al. [10] conducted a comparative analysis for a
diffusion absorption cooling system using lithium nitrate, sodium
thiocyanate and water as absorbent substances and ammonia as the
refrigerant. They concluded that the NH
3
eLiNO
3
mixture was more
efcient than the other two mixtures requiring lower generator
temperatures than NH
3
eH
2
O for specic conditions. In 2013, Vasi-
lescu et al. [11] reported a theoretical study of a solar driven parallel
double-effect absorption system working with NH
3
eLiNO
3
under
Mediterranean summer conditions and considering the usage of
parabolic trough solar collectors. The results showed that by using
1000 m
2
of solar collector a cooling load up to 600 kW could be
obtained.
Regarding the study or development of advanced absorption
systems, Kaita, in 2002 [12] analyzed three types of triple-effect
absorption systems using a new simulation program, triple-effect
in parallel, in series, and inverse. The results showed that triple-
effect in parallel may reach higher COP, meanwhile the triple-
effect inverse system may operate with the lowest temperatures.
In 2006, Wan et al. [13] proposed a new two-stage solar absorption
refrigeration cycle using the waterelithium bromide mixture; they
proposed to mix lithium bromide solution from a high pressure
generator with solution from a low pressure absorber, in order to
increase lithium bromide concentration at the high pressure
generator and decrease pressure at the high pressure absorber. The
theoretical results showed that the highest COP reached was 0.605
and the highest available temperature difference goes up to 33.5

C
at temperatures from 75

C to 85

C. Kilic et al., in 2007 [14] con-
ducted a performance analysis, through a mathematical model
using thermodynamics rst and second law for a single-stage
refrigeration cycle using water-lithium bromide; results showed
that COP increased as generation and evaporation temperatures
increased, while the COP decreased as condensation and absorption
temperatures increase. In 2010, Gebreslassie et al. [15] made an
exergy analysis for absorption systems working with water-lithium
bromide and concluded that the highest exergy destruction occurs
at the absorbers and generators, especially at higher heat source
temperatures. Kaushik et al. [16] developed a computational model
which compares single-effect system against double-effect system
in series.
As can be noticed fromthe literature review, there is not a study
about the comparison of the performance of single-effect, half-ef-
fect, double-effect in series and inverse and triple-effect absorption
cooling systems operating with the NH
3
eLiNO
3
mixture. In the
actual paper theoretical coefcients of performance against the
main operating temperatures of the systems are reported and
discussed for each one of the systems separately and then the
comparison is made among them describing their advantages,
disadvantages or limitations.
2. Systems description
2.1. Single-effect
A single-effect absorption cooling systemconsists of a generator
(G), an absorber (A), a condenser (C), an evaporator (E), a heat
exchanger (HE), two valves, and a pump as can be seen in Fig. 1. The
cycle has two circuits: the refrigerant circuit (1e4) and NH
3
eLiNO
3
solution circuit (5e10). An amount of heat is supplied to the
generator to separate part of the ammonia fromthe solution at high
pressure and temperature; once the ammonia is evaporated, it is
conducted to the condenser where is liqueed dissipating heat to
the atmosphere.
The ammonia in liquid phase passes through the expansion
valve reducing its pressure and temperature. Then, the liquideva-
por mixture is led to the evaporator where the ammonia absorbs
heat producing the cooling effect. The ammonia vapor leaving the
evaporator goes to the absorber where it is absorbed by the
ammoniaelithium nitrate solution coming from the generator.
Finally, the solution is pumped to the generator starting the cycle
again. In order to reduce the heat consumption in the generator a
solution heat exchanger is placed between the absorber and the
generator to recover heat from the solution going from the gener-
ator to the absorber.
2.2. Half-effect
The half-effect cycle has two solution circuits, one of them at
high pressure and the other one at low pressure. Therefore, half
effect cycle has two generators (G), two absorbers (A), two heat
exchangers (HE), and only one condenser (C) and one evaporator
Fig. 1. PeT diagram for a single-effect absorption cooling system.
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 613
(E) as can be seen in Fig. 2. The heat supplied to both generators (G
h
and G
l
) can be at the same temperature.
The ammonia refrigerant vapor is produced at the high generator
(G
h
) by means of heat supplied to this component. Then, the
ammonia produced is condensed, expanded and evaporated in the
same way that it does at the single-effect system, previously
described. The ammonia refrigerant leaving the evaporator goes to
the low pressure absorber (A
l
) where it is absorbed by the solution
with lowammonia concentration coming fromG
L
. Then the solution
formed with intermediate ammonia concentration is pumped to the
low pressure generator (G
l
), passing through a heat exchanger (HE
l
).
At the low pressure generator, part of the ammonia evaporates, by
means of the heat supplied to this component, and goes directly to
the high pressure absorber (A
h
) where it is absorbed by the NH
3
e
LiNO
3
solution coming from G
H
. The new solution formed with high
ammonia concentration is pump to G
H
through the heat exchanger
HE
H
starting the cycle again.
2.3. Double-effect in series
A double-effect in series system, compared with the single-
effect, has the following extra components at high pressure: a
generator, a condenser, and a heat exchanger. See Fig. 3.
The objective of adding the components mentioned above is to
improve the system COP. The system is named double-effect in
series because the ammonia vapor is produced in both the
generator (G) and the condenseregenerator (CG) at high and in-
termediate pressures, respectively, and because the solution with
high ammonia concentration goes directly fromthe absorber to the
generator passing through the heat exchangers. In this system the
heat is only supplied to the generator at high temperature in order
to produce the ammonia vapor. Once that the ammonia vapor has
been produced in the generator goes to the condenseregenerator
(CG) to be liqueed. In this component the heat delivered during
the condensation is used to produce more ammonia vapor at in-
termediate pressure which is then condensed in the condenser. The
two streams with the liquid ammonia join at intermediate pressure
and pass through the expansion valve to the evaporator to produce
the cooling effect. The ammonia leaving the evaporator goes to the
absorber where it is absorbed by the solution coming from the
condenseregenerator. Finally, the solution with high ammonia
concentration is pumped to the generator through the heat ex-
changers starting the cycle again.
2.4. Double-effect inverse
Double-effect inverse cycle, compared with the double-effect in
series cycle, has an extra pump and a throttle valve less. On the
other hand, while the double effect in series conducts the solution
leaving from the absorber to the generator, in the actual congu-
ration the solution leaving the absorber is led to the condenser
generator and then to the generator, meanwhile, the solution with
low ammonia concentration leaving the generator goes directly to
the absorber through the heat exchangers. Because of this the
actual conguration is called double-effect inverse. The rest of the
operation is similar than that described previously for the double-
effect in series system. See Fig. 4.
It is important to point that in order to produce the extra
amount of refrigerant in the condenseregenerator of the double-
effect congurations, the heat supplied to the generator has to be
at higher temperature than that supplied to the generator in the
single-effect and half-effect systems.
Although there are diverse congurations of double-effect
cooling systems some of the most common are in series, inverse
and in parallel. In the current paper only the double-effect systems
in series and inverse were analyzed since it has been reported that
the exergy destruction rates in the generators in the conguration
in parallel are higher to those obtained with the other two con-
gurations [15].
2.5. Triple-effect in series
Triple-effect systems are similar than double-effect systems
but an additional generator, condenseregenerator and heat Fig. 2. PeT diagram for a half-effect absorption cooling system.
Fig. 3. PeT diagram for double-effect in series absorption cooling system.
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 614
exchanger have been integrated to the system. In this system the
heat is supplied only to the generator to produce the ammonia
vapor but the heat recovered in the condenseregenerators CG(I)
and CG(II) is also used to produce more refrigerant at
intermediate pressures. Therefore, in the triple-effect systems the
refrigerant is produced in three different components or stages.
The system shown in Fig. 5 is a direct type systems since the
solution with high ammonia concentration leaving the absorber
goes directly to the generator passing only through the heat ex-
changers. As can be seen in this gure triple-effect systems are
the most complex compared with the other systems previously
described.
3. Mathematical model
In order to analyze the performance of the different absorption
cooling systems, the following assumptions have been made in the
development of their mathematical models with reference to
Figs. 1e5. The physical and thermodynamic properties for the NH
3
e
LiNO
3
were obtained from Infante Ferreira [17].
i. There is thermodynamic equilibrium throughout the entire
systems.
ii. The analysis is made under steady state conditions.
iii. A rectier is unnecessary since the absorbent does not
evaporate in the temperature range under consideration.
iv. Solution is at saturated state when leaving generator and
absorber, and refrigerant is at saturated state when leaving
condenser and evaporator.
v. Heat losses and pressure drops in the tubing and the com-
ponents are considered negligible.
vi. Flow through the valves is isenthalpic.
vii. Temperatures at the exit of the main components, the heat
load in the evaporator Q
E
10 kW, and the efciency of the
heat exchangers h
HE
0.8 are all known.
Fig. 4. PeT diagram for a double-effect inverse absorption system.
Fig. 5. PeT diagram for a triple-effect in series absorption cooling system.
Single-effect
Generator (G)
m
7
m
1
m
8
(1)
m
7
x
7
m
1
x
1
m
8
x
8
(2)
Q
G
m
1
h
1
m
8
h
8
m
7
h
7
(3)
Absorber (A)
m
5
m
4
m
10
(4)
m
5
x
5
m
4
x
4
m
10
x
10
(5)
Q
A
m
4
h
4
m
10
h
10
m
5
h
5
(6)
Condenser (C)
Q
C
m
1
(h
1
h
2
) (7)
Evaporator (E)
Q
E
m
3
(h
4
h
3
) (8)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE)
h
HE
(h
7
h
6
)/(h
8
h
6
) (9)
Pump work (Wp)
Wp m
5
(h
6
h
5
) (10)
Flow ratio
RF m
5
/m
4
(11)
Coefcient of performance
COP Q
E
/(Q
G
Wp) (12)
Half-effect
Low pressure generator (G
l
)
m
3
m
4
m
17
(13)
m
3
x
3
m
4
x
4
m
17
x
17
(14)
Q
Gl
m
4
h
4
m
17
h
17
m
3
h
3
(15)
Low pressure absorber (A
l
)
m
1
m
6
m
16
(16)
m
1
x
1
m
6
x
6
m
16
x
16
(17)
Q
Al
m
6
h
6
m
16
h
16
m
1
h
1
(18)
High pressure generator (G
h
)
m
9
m
13
m
10
(19)
m
9
x
9
m
13
x
13
m
10
x
10
(20)
Q
Gh
m
13
h
13
m
10
h
10
m
9
h
9
(21)
High pressure absorber (A
h
)
m
7
m
12
m
17
(22)
m
7
x
7
m
12
x
12
m
17
x
17
(23)
Q
Ah
m
12
h
12
m
17
h
17
m
7
h
7
(24)
Condenser (C)
Q
C
m
13
(h
13
h
14
) (25)
Evaporator (E)
Q
E
m
15
(h
16
h
15
) (26)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
l
)
h
HEl
(h
3
h
2
)/(h
4
h
2
) (27)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
h
)
h
HEh
(h
9
h
8
)/(h
10
h
8
) (28)
Pump work (Wp
l
)
Wp
l
m
1
(h
2
h
1
) (29)
Pump work (Wp
h
)
Wp
h
m
7
(h
8
h
7
)(30)
Flow ratio
RF m
7
/m
13
(31)
Coefcient of performance
COP Q
E
/(Q
Gl
Wp
l
Q
Gh
Wp
h
) (32)
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 615
4. Results
In order to analyze the behavior of each of the systems, separate
graphs of their coefcient of performance were plotted against
their main operating temperatures and then a comparison made
among all of them describing their advantages, disadvantages, and
or limitations.
4.1. Single-effect
Fig. 6(a)e(c) show the coefcient of performance for a single-
effect absorption cooling system against the evaporator tempera-
ture at different generator temperatures at condenser tempera-
tures of 30

C, 40

C, and 50

C respectively. It can be observed from

the gures that the coefcient of performance increases as the
evaporator temperature increases which was expected according
with the Carnot inverse cycle. The COP also increases when the
generator temperature increases due to an increment of refrigerant
vapor produced in the generator. Fig. 6(a) shows that the single-
effect system may reach evaporator temperatures as low
as 50

C (but with a low COP 0.1) when heat is supplied to the
generator at 128

C and delivered in the condenser and absorber at
30

C. It can also be seen that the system may operate at generator
temperatures from 70

C to 128

C reaching a maximum COP of
0.66. A similar behavior can be observed in Fig. 6(b), but in this case
the lowest evaporator temperature was 40

C and it was reached
at the generator temperature of 139

C. Fig. 6(c) shows that with a
generator temperature of 150

C the lowest evaporation tempera-
ture reached was 35

C with very low values of COP, but at
evaporator temperatures of 25

C the COP was around 0.4. By
comparing the three gures it can be observed that the coefcients
of performance varied signicantly with the condenser and
absorber temperatures for a xed generator temperature, for
instance, for a xed generator temperature of 100

C and an
evaporator temperature of 10

C de COP is approximately 0.65 for
a T
C
T
A
30

C, 0.4 for a T
C
T
A
40

C, and at a T
C
T
A
50

C
the system cannot operate.
Regarding the system pressures, the maximum and minimum
pressures are 2026.5 kPa and 40.9 kPa corresponding to a
condenser temperature of 50

C and an evaporator temperature
of 50

C respectively.
4.2. Half-effect
Fig. 7(a)e(c) show the coefcient of performance for a half-
effect system against evaporator temperatures for different gener-
ator temperatures and condenser temperatures of 30

C, 40

C, and
50

C respectively. From these gures it can be seen again that the
coefcient of performance increases with an increase in the
generator and evaporator temperatures and decreases with an in-
crease in the condenser and absorber temperatures. Depending on
the condenser and absorber temperatures the highest coefcient of
performance could be close to 0.3. Fig. 7(a) shows that the half-
effect system may reach evaporator temperatures around 0

C at
generator temperatures as lowas 50

C. This is very important since

it means that it is possible to operate this system for air condi-
tioning by using heat at low temperatures which can be obtained
from low cost solar collectors or any kind of waste heat. It can also
be seen that evaporator temperatures as low as 50

C can be
reached at generator temperatures around 100

C. Fig. 6(b) and (c)
show the same tendencies than those obtained in Fig. 6(a), but in
these gures the generator temperatures had to be increased
accordingly with the increase in the condenser and absorber tem-
peratures. It can also be observed that the lowest evaporator
Double-effect in series
Generator (G)
m
13
m
14
m
17
(33)
m
13
x
13
m
14
x
14
m
17
x
17
(34)
Q
G
m
14
h
14
m
17
h
17
m
13
h
13
(35)
Absorber (A)
mm
1
m
6
m
10
(36)
m
1
x
1
m
6
x
6
m
10
x
10
(37)
Q
A
m
6
h
6
m
10
h
10
m
1
h
1
(38)
Condenseregenerator:
as generator (CG)
m
16
m
4
m
7
(39)
m
16
x
16
m
4
x
4
m
7
x
7
(40)
Q
CG
m
4
h
4
m
7
h
7
m
16
h
16
(41)
CondensereGenerator:
as condenser (CG)
m
17
m
18
(42)
m
17
x
17
m
18
x
18
(43)
Q
CG
m
17
(h
17
h
18
) (44)
Condenser (C)
m
8
m
7
m
19
(45)
Q
C
m
7
h
7
m
19
h
19
m
8
h
8
(46)
Evaporator (E)
Q
E
m
10
(h
10
h
9
) (47)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
l
)
h
HEl
(h
3
h
2
)/(h
4
h
2
) (48)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
h
)
h
HEh
(h
13
h
3
)/(h
14
h
3
) (49)
Pump work (Wp
l
)
Wp
l
m
1
(h
2
h
1
) (50)
Flow ratio
RF m
1
/m
10
(51)
Coefcient of performance
COP Q
E
/(Q
G
Wp
l
) (52)
Double-effect inverse
Generator (G)
m
13
m
14
m
1
(53)
m
13
x
13
m
14
x
14
m
1
x
1
(54)
Q
G
m
14
h
14
m
1
h
1
m
13
h
13
(55)
Absorber (A)
mm
8
m
7
m
17
(56)
m
8
x
8
m
7
x
7
m
17
x
17
(57)
Q
A
m
7
h
7
m
17
h
17
m
8
h
8
(58)
Condenseregenerator:
as generator (CG)
m
10
m
4
m
11
(59)
m
10
x
10
m
4
x
4
m
11
x
11
(60)
Q
CG
m
11
h
11
m
4
h
4
m
10
h
10
(61)
Condenseregenerator: as condenser (CG)
m
1
m
2
(62)
m
1
x
1
m
2
x
2
(63)
Q
CG
m
1
(h
1
h
2
) (64)
Condenser (C)
m
5
m
3
m
4
(65)
Q
C
m
3
h
3
m
4
h
4
m
5
h
5
(66)
Evaporator (E)
Q
E
m
7
(h
7
h
6
)(67)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
l
)
h
HEl
(h
10
h
9
)/(h
15
h
9
) (68)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
h
)
h
HEh
(h
13
h
12
)/(h
14
h
12
) (69)
Pump work (Wp
l
)
Wp
l
m
8
(h
9
h
8
)(70)
Pump work (Wp
h
)
Wp
h
m
11
(h
12
h
11
) (71)
Flow ratio
RF m
8
/m
7
(72)
Coefcient of performance
COP Q
E
/(Q
G
Wp
l
Wp
h
) (73)
Triple-effect in series
Generator (G)
m
5
m
15
m
6
(74)
m
5
X
5
m
15
X
15
m
6
X
6
(75)
Q
G
m
15
h
15
m
6
h
6
m
5
h
5
(76)
Absorber (A)
m
1
m
14
m
24
(77)
m
1
X
1
m
14
X
14
m
24
X
24
(78)
Q
A
m
14
h
14
m
24
h
24
m
1
h
1
(79)
Condenseregenerator:
as generator (CG I)
m
8
m
9
m
18
(80)
m
8
x
8
m
9
x
9
m
18
x
18
(81)
Q
CG_G(I)
m
9
h
9
m
18
h
18
m
8
h
8
(82)
CondensereGenerator:
as condenser (CG I)
m
15
m
16
(83)
m
15
X
15
m
16
X
16
(84)
Q
CG_C(I)
m
15
(h
15
h
16
) (85)
Condenseregenerator:
as generator (CG II)
m
11
m
21
m
12
(86)
m
11
x
11
m
21
x
21
m
12
x
12
(87)
Q
CG_G(II)
m
21
h
21
m
12
h
12
m
11
h
11
(88)
CondensereGenerator:
as condenser (CG II)
m
19
m
17
m
18
(89)
m
19
X
19
m
17
X
17
m
18
X
18
(90)
Q
CG_C(II)
m
17
h
17
m
18
h
18
m
19
h
19
(91)
Condenser (C)
m
22
m
20
m
21
(92)
m
22
X
22
m
20
X
20
m
21
X
21
(93)
Q
C
m
20
h
20
m
21
h
21
m
22
h
22
(94)
Evaporator (E)
m
24
m
23
(95)
m
24
X
24
m
23
X
23
(96)
Q
E
m
24
(h
24
h
23
) (97)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
l
)
h
HEl
(h
3
h
2
)/(h
12
h
2
) (98)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HEm)
h
HE
m (h
4
h
3
)/(h
9
h
3
) (99)
Efciency of the heat exchanger (HE
h
)
h
HEh
(h
5
h
4
)/(h
6
h
4
) (100)
Pump work (Wp
l
)
Wp
l
m
1
(h
2
h
1
) (101)
Coefcient of performance
COP Q
E
/(Q
G
Wp
l
) (102)
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 616
temperatures reached, increased by raising the condenser and
absorber temperatures.
Regarding the pressures the maximum and minimum pressures
for half-effect systems are 2026.5 kPa and 11.1 kPa corresponding to
a condenser temperature of 50

C and an evaporator temperature
of 70

C respectively.
4.3. Double-effect in series
Fig. 8(a)e(c) show the coefcient of performance for a double-
effect in a series absorption cooling system as a function of
generator temperatures at different evaporator temperatures and
condenser and absorber temperatures of 30

C, 40

C, and 50

C
respectively. It can be observed that with this conguration a COP
as high as 1.12 can be obtained. However, generator temperatures
higher than 130

C should be supplied to the generator in order to
operate the system. In fact, to obtain coefcients of performance
above 1.0, generator temperatures should be at least 150

C
depending on the condenser and absorber temperatures and the
desired evaporator temperature. It can also be observed that the
coefcient of performance decreases considerably with the in-
crease in the condenser and absorber temperatures and with the
decrease in the evaporator temperature.
4.4. Double-effect inverse
Fig. 9(a)e(c) show the coefcient of performance for a double-
effect inverse absorption cooling system as a function of gener-
ator temperatures at different evaporator temperatures and
condenser and absorber temperatures of 30

C, 40

C, and 50

C
respectively. For this conguration the maximum coefcient of
performance is 1.06 for a condenser temperature of 30

C, and 1.0
for a condenser temperature of 50

C which are slightly lower than
those obtained with the double-effect in series conguration.
Similar to double-effect in series conguration, the coefcients of
performance of the double-effect inverse conguration decrease
considerably at low evaporator temperatures and high condenser
and absorber temperatures.
The maximum and minimum pressures for the double-effect
systems are 5055.7 kPa and 92.7 kPa corresponding to a
condenseregenerator temperature of 90

C and an evaporator
temperature of 35

C respectively. In this case it is important to
point that the maximumpressure is considerable higher than those
reached with the half and single effect systems.
4.5. Triple-effect in series
Fig. 10(a) and (b) show the coefcient of performance for a
triple-effect in series absorption cooling system against the
generator temperature for different evaporator temperatures at
condenser and absorber temperatures of 30

C and 40

C respec-
tively. The graph of the coefcient of performance for a condenser
and absorber temperatures of 50

C is not shown due to the triple-
effect system cannot operate at this condition. The maximumvalue
of the coefcient of performance that could be obtained with this
conguration was 1.22. In these gures it can be seen that the co-
efcients of performance decrease with a decrease of the evapo-
rator temperature even more drastically that those with double-
effect congurations. Also, it can be observed that the lowest
evaporator temperature that could be reached is 10

C for a
condenser and absorber temperature of 30

C, meanwhile for a
condenser and absorber temperature of 40

C the lowest evapo-
rator temperature is 0

C.
The maximum and minimum pressures for the triple-effect
systems are 13097.3 kPa and 288.6 kPa corresponding to a
condenseregenerator temperature of 145

C and an evaporator
temperature of 10

C respectively. In this case the maximum
pressure is an important disadvantage since the components as the
generator and the condenseregenerator should be robust in order
to resist the high pressure.
4.6. Comparison among systems
As it can be seen from the analysis of each of the cooling sys-
tems, the singleeeffect is the simplest conguration since it re-
quires fewer components in comparison to the other systems. With
this conguration it is possible to operate this system for freezing
and air conditioning at moderate generation temperatures while
obtaining evaporator temperatures between 30

C and 20

C
with COPs around 0.60 at moderate generation temperatures be-
tween 80

C and 110

C. On the other hand, the maximum co-
efcients of performance that can be reached with half-effect
cooling systems are around 0.30, which are not very high, however
this conguration makes it possible to obtain the lowest evaporator
temperatures at very lowgenerator temperatures in comparison to
the other systems. With half-effect systems it is possible to obtain
evaporator temperatures as low as 60

C with coefcients of
performance around 0.25 at generator temperatures above 110

C,
or evaporator temperatures of 30

C and coefcients of perfor-
mance around 0.30 at generator temperatures between 70

C and
90

C, depending on the condenser and absorber temperatures.
With double-effect systems in series coefcients of performance as
high as 1.12 can be obtained, however, generator temperatures
higher than 150

C are required to operate the system. A disad-
vantage of this conguration is that the coefcient of performance
decreases rapidly with an increase in condenser and absorber
temperatures and with a decrease in the evaporator temperature.
COPs as low as 0.25 can be obtained at evaporator temperatures
lower than 15

C and generator temperatures higher than 160

C,
showing that double-effect systems are not the best choice at these
conditions, since higher coefcients of performance can be ob-
tained at lower generation temperatures with single-effect or half-
effect systems. When a comparison among the double-effect sys-
tems is made, the same behavior can be seen against the main
operating temperatures, but the coefcients of performance ob-
tained with the inverse conguration are slightly lower than those
obtained with the conguration in series. Triple-effect systems
have provided the highest coefcients of performance, as high as
1.20, at temperatures higher than 185

C, however, they have four
major disadvantages: i) they require more components than any
other conguration increasing their cost and the difculty of
operation, ii) the coefcients of performance decrease rapidly with
the increase in condenser and absorber temperatures (even more
rapidly than in the double-effect systems), iii) evaporator temper-
atures lower than 10

C cannot be reached and iv) they operate at
very high pressures. In addition, although triple-effect systems can
reach evaporator temperatures of 10

C at condenser tempera-
tures of 30

C, at this conditions the COPs are similar to those ob-
tained with double-effect systems, therefore it makes no sense to
use triple-effect systems for cooling since they require more com-
ponents, operate at higher pressures and they require higher
generator temperatures than double-effect systems. It is clear from
this, that triple-effect systems should be mainly used for air
conditioning.
4.7. Comparison between NH
3
eLiNO
3
and H
2
OeLiBr
In this section we compare the results from the modeling of
different systems operating with the NH
3
eLiNO
3
mixture against
the ones reported for the H
2
OeLiBr mixture.
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 617
The COPs of the half-effect systems operating with H
2
OeLiBr
vary between 0.42 and 0.46 for T
G
between 50

C and 70

C [15],
while with NH
3
eLiNO
3
the values were closer to 0.30. In spite of
this, with the H
2
OeLiBr mixture, the lowest T
E
values were around
5

C limiting their use just to air conditioning; while with NH
3
e
LiNO
3
, T
E
values as low as-50

C can be reached, rendering these
systems useful to be used not only for air conditioning, but also for
cooling.
Regarding single-effect systems operating with H
2
OeLiBr, COPs
of up to 0.88 can be obtained under certain operating conditions
[14], while with the NH
3
eLiNO
3
COPs of up to 0.66 are reached.
However, smaller T
E
values can be obtained with NH
3
eLiNO
3
than
with H
2
OeLiBr. On the other hand, double-effect systems operating
with H
2
OeLiBr can reach COPs of up to 1.65 [15], in our case, the
maximum values were around 1.10 but reaching lower evaporator
temperatures. Finally, The COP values for the triple-effect systems
Fig. 6. COP against evaporator temperature for a single-effect absorption cooling
system at condenser and absorber temperatures of (a) 30

C, (b) 40

C and (c) 50

C.
Fig. 7. COP against evaporator temperature for a half-effect absorption cooling system
at condenser and absorber temperatures of (a) 30

C, (b) 40

C and (c) 50

C.
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 618
operating with H
2
OeLiBr vary between 1.80 and 2.30 [14,15] while
maximum COP values of 1.20 were obtained with the mixture of
NH
3
eNH
3
eLiNO
3
showing an even bigger difference between both
mixtures. It becomes clear that systems operating with a mixture of
H
2
OeLiBr are considerably more efcient, however as mentioned
before, their use is limited to air conditioning while the ones
operating with NH
3
eLiNO
3
can be used not only for air condi-
tioning but also for cooling and in some cases for freezing.
5. Conclusions
From the analysis carried out it is concluded that the lowest
evaporator temperatures can be achieved with half-effect systems
at the lowest generator temperatures (starting from 50

C), but
with coefcients of performance around 0.30. The single-effect
system is the simplest conguration since it requires fewer com-
ponents in comparison to the other systems. Its coefcients of
performance are almost twice higher than those with half-effect
Fig. 8. COP against generator temperature for a double-effect in series absorption
cooling system at condenser and absorber temperatures of (a) 30

C, (b) 40

C and (c)
50

C.
Fig. 9. COP against generator temperature for a double-effect inverse absorption
cooling system at condenser and absorber temperatures of (a) 30

C, (b) 40

C and (c)
50

C.
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 619
systems but requiring higher generator temperatures. With
double-effect systems it is possible to obtain coefcients of per-
formance as high as 1.12 but they need generator temperatures
higher than 140

C to get good values of the coefcients of per-
formance. Also they require more components than single-effect
systems. Finally, the highest coefcients of performance can be
achieved with triple-effect systems but they require the highest
generator temperatures (starting from 150

C), they are the most
complex and they should be mainly used for air conditioning.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank to the projects SENER-CONACyT 117914 and
CONACyT 154301 for the economical support given for the devel-
opment of this study.
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Nomenclature
A: absorber
C: condenser
CG: condenseregenerator
COP: coefcient of performance (dimensionless)
E: evaporator
G: generator
h: enthalpy (kJ/kg)
HE: solution heat exchanger
m: mass ow rate (kg/s)
P: pressure (kPa)
Q: heat load (kW)
RF: ow ratio (dimensionless)
T: temperature (

C)
Wp: pump work (kW)
X: solution concentration (%)
Subscripts
A: absorber
C: condenser
CG: condenseregenerator
E: evaporator
G: generator
h: high
HE: solution heat exchanger
l: low
m: medium
Greek
h: efciency (dimensionless)
n: specic volume of solution (m
3
/kg)
Fig. 10. COP against generator temperature for a triple-effect in series absorption
cooling system at condenser and absorber temperatures of (a) 30

C and (b) 40

C.
L.A. Domnguez-Inzunza et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 66 (2014) 612e620 620