The Absorption Refrigeration Cycle and

Chilled Water Plant Tour 2015

Objectives To review the compression refrigeration cycle, introduce the absorption refrigeration cycle and tour an industrial chilled water facility.
Tour The tour replaces the lecture on March 3rd. Go to the chilled water
facility on the northeast corner of Bogue and Service Rds. at your regular lecture
time. Mr. Mike Crouch, who is the lead refrigeration technician on campus, will give the
tour. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. The entrance is a rather plain door on the east
side of building. NOTE: you may get ticketed for parking in the lot directly adjacent to the
chiller plant. The worksheet is attached.
BACKGROUND
A refrigeration system extracts energy from a cold space (i.e., low temperature reservoir) and
rejects energy to a warm space (i.e., a high temperature reservoir), typically the surrounding
atmosphere. So, a refrigeration system may be thought of as pumping energy from a region of
colder temperature to a region of warmer temperature. The second law of thermodynamics
states that this never happens spontaneously at the continuum scale. Thus, this pumping
of energy requires an input of either work or heat.
Most refrigeration systems run on either an ideal vapor compression cycle or an absorption
cycle. Other refrigeration systems include gas cycles (e.g., Stirling), the Hilsch-Ranque
vortex tube cooler, and thermoelectric cooling. Large refrigeration plants often run on one
of the first two mentioned. The vapor compression cycle resembles an Ideal Rankine Cycle
with Superheat operating in the reverse direction, that is, the refrigeration cycle operates
under the steam dome and in the superheated domain between two isobars and can be
thought of consisting of four steps. The working fluid or refrigerant may be one of a number
of liquids, including ammonia (a.k.a. R-717), fluorocarbons (e.g., dichlorodifluoromethane,
a.k.a. R-12 or FC-12), or hydrofluorocarbons (e.g., 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, a.k.a., R-134a
or HFC-134a).
1. Saturated vapor (i.e., x = 1) is compressed isentropically from a low-pressure isobar
at 1 to a high-pressure isobar at 2 . The specific work done on the system is
wcompression = h1 h2 ,
which is less than 0.
2. The now superheated vapor at 2 cools isobarically to saturated liquid (i.e., x = 0) at
3 . The heat transfer from the system to the high temperature reservoir is
qhot = h3 h2 ,
which is again less than 0.

Figure 1: A typical vapor

compression refrigeration cycle defined by two isobars,
one isentropic process, and
one isenthalpic process. Work
is added to system in the
compression from states 1
to 2 . Heat transfer to the
evaporator from cold reservoir occurs from states 4
to 1 . Heat rejection occurs
from the condenser to the hot
reservoir from states 2 to
3 .
3. The saturated liquid 3 expands isenthalpicly to the low-pressure isobar at state 4 .
There is no work or heat transfer because
h3 = h4 .
4. The saturated mixture 4 is heated isobarically at the low pressure to a saturated
vapor 1 . The specific heat transfer from the cold reservoir is
qcold = h4 h1 ,
which is greater than 0. This is the cooling rate of the cycle.
The desired effect is the heating of the saturated mixture, between states 4 and 1 ,
which corresponds to cooling of the cold reservoir (either an ice box, a building space, or
automobile interior). The cost is the power required to run the compressor. Appropriating
the concept that the efficiency of a power cycle is ratio of what we want to what we pay, we
can define a metric of performance, called the coefficient of performance, and define it as
=

ql
h1 h4
=
wc
h2 h1

(1)

Example Consider a compression refrigeration cycle using ammonia (NH3 ). The evaporator pressure is 108.37 kPa (Tsat = 32 C) and the condenser pressure is 1166.49 kPa
(Tsat = 30 C). Referring to Figure 1, h1 = 401.6 kJ kg-1 , s1 = 5.8156 kJ kg-1 K-1 . Interpolating for s2 = 5.8156 kJ kg-1 K-1 at p2 = 1166.49 kPa, h2 = 1760 kJ kg-1 . Condensing along
the 1166.49 kPa isobar to the saturated liquid yields h3 = 322.9 kJ kg-1 . Since h3 = h4 ,
h4 = 322.9 kJ kg-1 .

Given these properties, the energy absorbed from the cold reservoir per mass of refrigerant
flowing is
qc = h4 h1 = 1410.6 322.9 = 1090 kJ kg1 ,
the work of the compressor is
wcomp = h1 h2 = 1410.6 1760 = 350 kJ kg1 .
The coefficient of performance is then
=

1090
= 3.11.
350

Note that is usually greater than 1. Furthermore, the energy rejected to the environment
is
qh = h3 h2 = 322.9 1760 = 1440 kJ kg1 ,
which is, of course the difference between qc and wcomp .
Absorption Cycle The work done on the system in the isentropic process of getting from
states 1 to 2 of a compression cycle results in a considerable cost. In a compression
refrigeration system, which is most common for domestic and automobile use, this is done
with a compressor. The compressor is driven either electrically, in the case of a home refrigerator or air-conditioner, or driven by taking power from the automobile engine. Reducing
this cost could have a great benefit.
Consider the circumstance for which there exists a large heat source that might otherwise
go to waste. Consider also that the cost of pumping a liquid from low to high pressure is
trivial compared to the change in enthalpy of vapor between the same two isobars. (You
saw an example of this when calculating the Simon power plant performance with its 93
psig steam.) Is there a means to harness this energy and take advantage of the small cost of
pumping liquid? Yes the absorption refrigeration cycle.
In the absorption refrigeration cycle, two devices, the generator and the absorber, replace
the compressor of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The essential idea is that a liquid
mixture of an absorbent and a refrigerant is pumped to the generator. In the generator, the
refrigerant is boiled from this high-pressure solution, creating a pure refrigerant vapor at
that high pressure, and a concentrated absorbent solution. The solution is expanded to
return to the absorber, while the refrigerant runs through the condenser, expansion valve,
and evaporator.
There are several absorbentrefrigerant combinations. If the cold reservoir is to be frozen,
AmmoniaWater is a common combination (ammonia is the refrigerant). If only chilled water
is needed (no freezing), waterlithium bromide is a good choice (water is the refrigerant).
By controlling the LiBr concentration, the pressures of the condenser and evaporator can be
controlled in much the same way that a compressor controls the pressures in a conventional
vapor compression refrigeration system. Water from the plants cooling tower provides both
this cooling and the high temperature heat reservoir in the condenser. The system is shown
in schematically in Figure 2.
Table 1 lists the capacities of some of the chilled water units arounds campus.
3

CONDENSER
WATER OUT
TO TOWER

STEAM IN

GENERATOR

STEAM OUT

HEAT
EXCHANGER

CONDENSER
LOW PRESSURE
WATER VAPOR

CHILLED
WATER IN

ABSORBER

CONDENSER
WATER IN
FROM TOWER

GENERATOR ABSORBER
PUMP
PUMP

CHILLED
WATER OUT

EVAPORATOR

REFRIGERANT
PUMP

Figure 2: Schema of an absorption refrigeration system. The components on the left hand
side replace the compressor.

Table 1: Chiller capacities at the MSU main chiller plant.

Chiller #

Capacity Pump Flow Rate

(tons)
(gpm)
at design T
1-Carrier 16JA054
475
1150 at -12 C
2-Carrier 16JA054
475
1150 at -12 C
3-Trane C12A-2
1170
2900 at -12 C
4-Trane C12A-2
1170
2900 at -12 C
5-Trane ABSC-12A4
1250
2143 at -10 C
6-Trane ABSC-12A4
1250
2143 at -10 C
7-Trane ABSC-12A4
1250
2143 at -10 C
8-Trane ABSC-12A4
1250
2143 at -10 C
9-Trane ABSC-12A4
1250
2143 at -10 C
10-Trane ABSC-12A4
1250
2143 at -10 C

Pump Flow Rate

(gpm)
at T = 10 C
814
814
2006
2006
2143
2143
2143
2143
2143
2143

Figure 3: Picture of the outside of a typical industrial absorption unit.

Figure 4: Schema of the Trane absorption refrigeration system.

MSU Chilled Water Plant Tour

Spring 2015 Worksheet
Student Name:
Signature of TA to Verify Attendance:

1. What devices in an absorption refrigeration system replace the compressor of a conventional vapor compression refrigeration system?

2. Describe the four (4) fluid streams within a Trane absorption unit.

3. How does a cooling tower operate?

4. What is the rated capacity of the chilled water plant in tons of refrigeration, Btu/hr,
and kW?

5. Given the chilled water flow rate (from the pump) and the entering and exiting temperatures of the chilled water stream for one of the absorption units, calculate the actual
cooling load (in tons of refrigeration) the unit is providing.

6. Determine the Carnot cycle COP for the absorption cycle used at the MSU chilled
water plant.

7. Using the Carnot cycle COP and assuming a cooling load of 1250 tons, determine the
required mass flow rate of steam.