VAPOUR ABSORPTION MACHINES

Presented by - Cooling Division C&H SBU - Thermax

Welcome to the home of Energy & Environment

We have tried to answer the following questions, so that, it would
help you understand the product in a much easier way

Who are you and what do you do?

What is Cooling and what are the conventional methods of cooling?
How does an Electrical Chiller work?
When should one go for an Absorption Chiller and how did a VAM evolve in
Thermax?
Why should one go for an Absorption Chiller?
What are the governing principles of a VAM?
How does an Absorption Machine work?
Can you explain the whole scheme?
What do we offer and where we can/have offered?
I have more queries, how can I get them cleared?
How can we reach you?

Who are you and what do you do?

Vision To be a globally respected high performance
organization offering sustainable solution
in energy and environment
Boilers &
Heaters

Chemicals
Water &
Waste
Solutions
Cogeneratio
n

Absorption
Cooling
Solar
Heating,
Cooling
&
Power
Solutions

Air Pollution
Control

What is Cooling and what are the conventional methods

of cooling?
Cooling Removal/Transfer of heat from source to sink by performing

an external work; even a body @ -272*C has one more degree of heat
energy to be removed to achieve absolute zero (i.e.), 0*K (or) -273*C
1 TR = 3024KCal = 3.52KW = amount of energy absorbed by 1ton of
ice, when it melts to water, at 0*C
CONVENTIONAL METHODS OF COOLING:
Natural Refrigeration

E.g., Clay water pot, Sweating

Mechanical Refrigeration

Gas Refrigerators
Vapour Refrigerators

Vapour Compression
Vapour Absorption

How does an Electrical Chiller work?

Parts & Process involved:

Evaporator
- Refrigerant Vapourization
Compressor - Refrigerant (Vapour Phase)
Compression
Condenser
- Refrigerant ---> Vapour to
Liquid
Expansion Valve - Pressure Reducer / Throttling
Valve To help refrigerant
achieve the required
Temperature

Working Cycle
Vapour Compression Machine

Reefer Cycle.s wf

When should one go for an Absorption Chiller

and how did a VAM evolve in Thermax?
We would go for an Absorption Chiller:

When excess heat source is available, for e.g., availability of excess steam in a boiler
When Heat is ineffectively dissipated into the atmosphere, for e.g., exhaust from a
D.G, steam from a turbine outlet
When the operational expenditure of VAM is very much lesser than the VCM, for
e.g., when the industry is facing issues with power supply from the grid (high
cost/frequent power cuts)
When the production cost of steam is almost negligible, for e.g., In sugar plants,
they have a co-gen power plant by using the baggasse (a by-product of the process)

Evolution of VAM technology in Thermax:

1984-87 Marketing tie-up with Sanyo, Japan

1988-94 Technology collaboration with Sanyo, Japan
1991-96 - Direct Fired Technology tie-up Kawasaki
Till Date Installed over 3500 Machines in over 70 Countries

Why should one go for an Absorption Chiller?

We should go for an Absorption Chiller, because:

It is a simple Heat Exchanger operating at different pressures, hence, we

can assure that it has an unmatched Reliability
It has a very less operating and maintenance cost, along with an
automatic and step-less modulation system
It does not have any moving parts, hence, no noise, no vibration and no
dynamic load (Roof-top positioning is possible)
Waste heat is utilized usefully and in-turn, avoids the need for switching
to a HT connection and also avoids a DG running especially for the
chilling purpose (the load on EB power and DG is reduced to a huge
extent)
It operates on an environment friendly refrigerant (i.e.), CFC free, ozone
friendly machine
It is fully automated, hence, we require minimal amount of human
intervention

What are the governing principles of a VAM?

Working Materials VAM

Refrigerant DM Water
Salt
Lithium Bromide (LiBr)

Boiling Point of Water is directly proportional to the

Vapour Pressure of the system

@atm. Pressure (760mm of Hg) Water boils @100*C

In VAM, we maintain a shell pressure of 6mm of Hg, which
facilitates the water to boil @3.7*C

Hygroscopic nature of Salt

As we need to separate salt and water, it has to have a higher

Vapour pressure difference, hence, we use LiBr as the salt
The operating concentration of LiBr lies between 57-64% in Water

How does an Absorption Machine work?

Parts & Process involved:
Evaporator Refrigerant Vapourization
Absorber
Refrigerant (Vapour)
Absorption by Absorbent
Generator Regeneration of Refrigerant
& Absorbent
Condenser Liquefaction of Refrigerant
Totally we have 2 Shells:
Lower Shell Evaporator and Absorber
Upper Shell Generator and Condenser

Can you explain the whole scheme?

What do we offer and where we can/have offered?

We offer,
Steam Fired VAM

50 to 3500TR
Exhaust Fired VAM 50 to 3500TR
Direct Fired VAM
50 to 3000TR
Hot Water Fired VAM 50 to 1150TR

Combination of two or three

heat sources are possible:
COGENIE or TRIGENIE

We had offered to,

Automotive Industry
Breweries & Distilleries
Chemical Industry
Commercial Centers
Dairy & Confectionary
Educational Institutions
Engineering & Electronic Industry
Hotels & Hospital

Medical Centers
Paper Plants
Pharmaceuticals
Power Plants
Refineries & Petro-chemicals
Steel Plants
Super Markets & Malls
Tyre Industry

I have more queries, how can I get them cleared?

Thank you for your patient viewing & hearing
We hope that we have answered the questions which

may rise, when you think of an absorption machine. If

you have any of the feasible scenarios for an
absorption machine, we are always on your searchlist. We would be very much delighted to work in onebreath with you for a greener, energy efficient future
For anymore queries, please feel free to contact the
respective regional sales engineer or visit
www.thermaxindia.com and post your query
The contact details are given below