A review of absorption refrigeration technologies

doi:10.1016/S1364-0321(01)00003-X

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Volume 5, Issue 4, December 2001, Pages 343-372

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-0321(01)00003-X Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper provides a literature review on absorption refrigeration technology. A number of research options such as various types of absorption refrigeration systems, research on working fluids, and improvement of absorption processes are discussed.

Introduction

Most of industrial process uses a lot of thermal energy by burning fossil fuel to produce steam or heat for the purpose. After the processes, heat is rejected to the surrounding as waste. This waste heat can be converted to a useful refrigeration by using a heat operated refrigeration system, such as an absorption refrigeration cycle. Electricity purchased from utility companies for conventional vapor compression refrigerators can be reduced. The use of heat operated refrigeration systems help reduce problems related to global environmental, such as the so called greenhouse effect from CO₂ emission from the combustion of fossil fuels in utility power plants.

Another difference between absorption systems and conventional vapor compression systems is the working fluid used. Most vapor compression systems commonly use chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants (CFCs), because of their thermophysical properties. It is through the restricted use of CFCs, due to depletion of the ozone layer that will make absorption systems more prominent. However, although absorption systems seem to provide many advantages, vapor compression systems still dominate all market sectors. In order to promote the use of absorption systems, further development is required to improve their performance and reduce cost.

The early development of an absorption cycle dates back to the 1700's. It was known that ice could be produced by an evaporation of pure water from a vessel contained within an evacuated container in the presence of sulfuric acid, [1], [2]. In 1810, ice could be made from water in a vessel, which was connected to another vessel containing sulfuric acid. As the acid absorbed water vapor, causing a reduction of temperature, layers of ice were formed on the water surface. The major problems of this system were corrosion and leakage of air into the vacuum vessel. In 1859, Ferdinand Carre introduced a novel machine using water/ammonia as the working fluid. This machine took out a US patent in 1860. Machines based on this patent were used to make ice and store food. It was used as a basic design in the early age of refrigeration development.

In the 1950's, a system using lithium bromide/water as the working fluid was introduced for industrial applications. A few years later, a double-effect absorption system was introduced and has been used as an industrial standard for a high performance heat-operated refrigeration cycle.

The aim of this paper is to provide basic background and review existing literatures on absorption refrigeration technologies. A number of absorption refrigeration systems and research options are provided and discussed. It is hoped that, this paper should be useful for any newcomer in this field of refrigeration technology.

Section snippets

Principle of operation

The working fluid in an absorption refrigeration system is a binary solution consisting of refrigerant and absorbent. In Fig. 1(a), two evacuated vessels are connected to each other. The left vessel contains liquid refrigerant while the right vessel contains a binary solution of absorbent/refrigerant. The solution in the right vessel will absorb refrigerant vapor from the left vessel causing pressure to reduce. While the refrigerant vapor is being absorbed, the temperature of the remaining

Working fluid for absorption refrigeration systems

Performance of an absorption refrigeration systems is critically dependent on the chemical and thermodynamic properties of the working fluid [3]. A fundamental requirement of absorbent/refrigerant combination is that, in liquid phase, they must have a margin of miscibility within the operating temperature range of the cycle. The mixture should also be chemically stable, non-toxic, and non-explosive. In addition to these requirements, the following are desirable [4].

•
The elevation of boiling (the

Improving of absorption process

An absorber is the most critical component of any absorption refrigeration system [37]. Experimental study shows that the solution circulation ratio (solution circulation rate per unit of refrigerant generated) is found 2 to 5 times greater than the theoretical value. This is due to a non-equilibrium state of solution in the absorber. For given temperature and pressure in the absorber, the solution absorbs less refrigerant than that of the theoretical value. Many researches have been conducted

Single-effect absorption system

A single-effect absorption refrigeration system is the simplest and most commonly used design. There are two design configurations depending on the working fluids used. Fig. 3 shows a single-effect system using non-volatility absorbent such as LiBr/water.

High temperature heat supplied to the generator is used to evaporate refrigerant out from the solution (rejected out to the surroundings at the condenser) and is used to heat the solution from the absorber temperature (rejected out to the

Conclusions

This paper describes a number of research options of absorption refrigeration technology; generally three approaches have been followed. There are to develop new working fluids, improve absorber performance, and to invent new advance cycles.

Comparison of various types of absorption refrigeration systems is shown in Table 1. Many type absorption cycles have been developed, however, the system complexities were increased over a conventional single-effect absorption system. At this moment,

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) for support.

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View full text

A review of absorption refrigeration technologies

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Principle of operation

Working fluid for absorption refrigeration systems

Improving of absorption process

Single-effect absorption system

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Int. J. Ref.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Heat Mass transfer

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Heat Recovery Systems and CHP

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Heat Recovery System and CHP

Heat Recovery System and CHP

Heat Recovery System and CHP

Energy Convers. Mgmt.

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Applied Energy

Int. J. Refrig.

Int. J. Refrig.

Principle of refrigeration

Alternative working fluids in heat transformers

ASHRAE Trans.

Thermodynamic properties of ammonia-water mixtures: a generalized equation-of-state approach

ASHRAE Trans.

Thermodynamic properties of water-ammonia mixtures: theoretical implementation for use in power cycle analysis

ASME Pub. AES

AMMWAT: a computer program for calculating the thermodynamic properties of ammonia and water mixtures using a Gibbs free energy formulation

ASME Pub. AES

Absorption refrigeration

Mech. Eng.

Thermodynamic properties of aqueous solutions of lithium bromide

ASHRAE Trans.

Numerical fits of properties of lithium-bromide water solutions

ASHRAE Trans.

Properties of lithium bromide-water solutions at high temperatures and concentrations-part II: density and viscosity

ASHRAE Trans.

Properties of lithium bromide-water solutions at high temperatures and concentrations-part III: specific heat

ASHRAE Trans.

Properties of lithium bromide-water solutions at high temperatures and concentrations-part IV: vapor pressure

ASHRAE Trans.

Studies on corrosion inhibitor in water-lithium bromide absorption refrigerating machine

Reito

Corrosion inhibitors the absorption system

J. Chin. Inst. Chem. Eng.

Corrosion inhibitor in lithium bromide absorption fluid for advanced and current absorption cycle machines

ASHRAE Trans.

Experimental study of the effects of alcohol additives in lithium bromide/water pool absorber

ASHRAE Trans.

Research on absorption refrigerators and heat pumps

Reric Int. Energy J.

A study of the operating characteristics of an experimental absorption cooler using ternary systems

Int. J. Energy Res.

Real process simulation of a LiBr/ZnBr2/CH3OH absorption heat pump

ASHRAE Trans.

Experimental performance of ternary solution in an absorption heat transfer

Int. J. Energy, Res.

Real process simulation of a LiBr/ZnBr₂/CH₃OH absorption heat pump