3.vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

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VAPOR ABSORPTION

REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

1
Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System
• Vapour Absorption Refrigeration Systems (VARS)
belong to the class of vapour cycles similar to
vapour compression refrigeration systems.
• However, unlike vapour compression refrigeration
systems, the required input to absorption
systems is in the form of heat.
• Hence these systems are also called as heat
operated or thermal energy driven systems.
• Since conventional absorption systems use liquids
for absorption of refrigerant, these are also
sometimes called as wet absorption systems.
Continued…
• Similar to vapour compression refrigeration systems,
vapour absorption refrigeration systems have also been
commercialized and are widely used in various
refrigeration and air conditioning applications.
• Since these systems run on low-grade thermal energy,
they are preferred when low-grade energy such as
waste heat or solar energy is available.
• Conventional absorption systems are environment
friendly since they use natural refrigerants such as
water or ammonia
VARS Cycle
Continued…
• Figure (a) and (b) show a continuous output vapour compression
refrigeration system and a continuous output vapour absorption
refrigeration system.
• As shown in the figure in a continuous absorption system, low
temperature and low pressure refrigerant with low quality enters
the evaporator and vaporizes by producing useful refrigeration Qe.
• From the evaporator, the low temperature, low pressure refrigerant
vapour enters the absorber where it comes in contact with a
solution that is weak in refrigerant.
• The weak solution absorbs the refrigerant and becomes strong in
refrigerant. The heat of absorption is rejected to the external heat
sink at To.
• The solution that is now rich in refrigerant is pumped to high
pressure using a solution pump and fed to the generator.
Continued…
• In the generator heat at high temperature Tg is supplied, as
a result refrigerant vapour is generated at high pressure.
• This high pressure vapour is then condensed in the
condenser by rejecting heat of condensation to the
external heat sink at To.
• The condensed refrigerant liquid is then throttled in the
expansion device and is then fed to the evaporator to
complete the refrigerant cycle.
• On the solution side, the hot, high-pressure solution that is
weak in refrigerant is throttled to the absorber pressure in
the solution expansion valve and fed to the absorber where
it comes in contact with the refrigerant vapour from
evaporator.
Continued…
• Thus continuous refrigeration is produced at evaporator,
while heat at high temperature is continuously supplied to
the generator.
• Heat rejection to the external heat sink takes place at
absorber and condenser.
• A small amount of mechanical energy is required to run the
solution pump.
• If we neglect pressure drops, then the absorption system
operates between the condenser and evaporator pressures.
• Pressure in absorber is same as the pressure in evaporator
and pressure in generator is same as the pressure in
condenser.
Continued…
• It can be seen from Figure above, that as far as the
condenser, expansion valve and evaporators are
concerned both compression and absorption systems
are identical.
• However, the difference lies in the way the refrigerant
is compressed to condenser pressure.
• In vapour compression refrigeration systems the
vapour is compressed mechanically using the
compressor, where as in absorption system the vapour
is converted into a liquid and then the liquid is pumped
to condenser pressure using the solution pump.
Continued…
• Since for the same pressure difference, work input
required to pump a liquid (solution) is much less than
the work required for compressing a vapour due to
very small specific volume of liquid (v), the mechanical
energy required to operate vapour absorption
refrigeration system is much less than that required to
operate a compression system.

• However, the absorption system requires a relatively


large amount of low-grade thermal energy at generator
temperature to generate refrigerant vapour from the
solution in generator.
Continued…
• Thus while the energy input is in the form of mechanical
energy in vapour compression refrigeration systems, it is
mainly in the form of thermal energy in case of absorption
systems.
• The solution pump work is often negligible compared to the
generator heat input.
• Thus the COPs for compression and absorption systems are
given by:

Thus absorption systems are advantageous where a large quantity of low-grade


thermal energy is available freely at required temperature.
Maximum COP of ideal absorption refrigeration
system
• In case of a single stage compression
refrigeration system operating between
constant evaporator and condenser
temperatures, the maximum possible COP is
given by Carnot COP:
• If we assume that heat rejection at the absorber and
condenser takes place at same external heat sink
temperature T0, then a vapour absorption refrigeration
system operates between three temperature levels, Tg,
To and Te.
• The maximum possible COP of a refrigeration system
operating between three temperature levels can be
obtained by applying first and second laws of
thermodynamics to the system.
• Figure below shows the various energy transfers and
the corresponding temperatures in an absorption
refrigeration system.
COP of VARS

• Since the refrigeration system operates in a closed cycle, the entropy


change of the working fluid of the system undergoing the cycle is zero, i.e.,
ΔSsys=.0
• An ideal vapour absorption refrigeration system is totally
reversible (i.e., both internally and externally reversible).
• For a completely reversible system the total entropy change
(system+surroundings) is zero according to second law, hence
for an ideal VARS .
• Hence:
Refrigerant-absorbent combinations for VARS
• The refrigerant should exhibit high solubility with
solution in the absorber.
• There should be large difference in the boiling points
of refrigerant and absorbent (greater than 200oC), so
that only refrigerant is boiled-off in the generator.
• The refrigerant-absorbent mixture should have high
thermal conductivity and low viscosity for high
performance.
• It should not undergo crystallization or solidification
inside the system.
• The mixture should be safe, chemically stable, non-
corrosive, inexpensive and should be available easily.
Refrigerant-Absorbent Pairs
• The most commonly used refrigerant-absorbent pairs in
commercial systems are:
– Water-Lithium Bromide (H2O-LiBr) system for above 0oC
applications such as air conditioning. Here water is the
refrigerant and lithium bromide is the absorbent.
– Ammonia-Water (NH3-H2O) system for refrigeration
applications with ammonia as refrigerant and water as
absorbent.
Ammonia absorption refrigeration
cycle.
Advantages
• since the working fluid is pumped as a liquid the specific
volume is less than that of a gas (as in the VCRC
compressor), hence the work input is much less.
• there are considerable savings in power input because a
pump is used instead of a compressor.
• this is weighed off against the cost of extra hardware in
an absorption system 20
Absorption Refrigeration Systems Review
Questions
• What is absorption refrigeration? How does an absorption
refrigeration system differ from a vapor-compression refrigeration
system?
• List the advantages and disadvantages of absorption refrigeration
• Which absorbent-refrigerant pair is used in air-conditioning
applications? Explain
• In absorption refrigeration cycles, why is the fluid in the absorber
cooled and the fluid in the generator heated?
• Derive expression for the coefficient of performance of an
absorption refrigeration system
• An absorption refrigeration system that receives heat from a source
at 140°C and maintains the refrigerated space at -4°C is claimed to
have a COP of 2.5. If the environment temperature is 25°C, can this
claim be valid? Justify your answer.
Continued…
• An absorption refrigeration system receives heat from a
source at 125°C and maintains the refrigerated space at 0°C. If
the temperature of the environment is 25°C, what is the
maximum COP this absorption refrigeration system can have?
• Draw the schematic of a complete, single stage vapour
absorption refrigeration system and explain the function of
solution heat exchanger
• List the desirable properties of working fluids for absorption
refrigeration systems and list some commonly used fluid pairs

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