Simple VaporAbsorption

Refrigeration
System

Simple Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

@Point 1
-low temperature and low pressure
refrigerant
vapour from evaporator at
state 1 enters the
absorber and is
absorbed by solution weak in
refrigerant
(state 8) .
The heat of absorption (Qa) is rejected to an
external heat sink at T.

Simple Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

@Point 2
-The solution, rich in refrigerant is pumped
to the generator pressure (Pg) by the solution
pump (state 3). The pressurized solution gets
heated up sensibly as it flows through the
solution heat exchanger by extracting heat
from hot solution coming from generator (state
4).

Simple Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

@Point 5
-Heat is supplied to this solution from an
external heat source in the generator (Qg at Tg), as a
result refrigerant vapour is generated (absorbent
may also boil to give off vapour in case of
ammonia-water systems) at state 5.
This high-pressure refrigerant vapour condenses in
the condenser by rejecting heat of condensation to
the external heat sink (Qc at T) and leaves the
condenser as a high pressure liquid (state 9).

Simple Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

@Point 10
- the high pressure refrigerant liquid is
throttled in the expansion device to evaporator
pressure Pe from where it enters the evaporator,
extracts heat from low temperature heat source (Qe
at Te) and leaves the evaporator as vapour at state
1, completing a cycle.

Simple Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

@Point 6
- The hot solution that is weak in refrigerant
(state 6) leaves the generator at high temperature
and is cooled sensibly by rejecting heat to the
solution going to the generator in the solution heat
exchanger (state 7).
Then it is throttled to the evaporator pressure in the
throttle valve (state 8), from where it enters the
absorber to complete the cycle.

COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System

COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System
Absorption system requires a relatively large
amount of low-grade thermal energy at generator
temperature to generate refrigerant vapour from
the solution in generator. 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.

COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System
The solution pump work is often negligible
compared to the generator heat input. Thus the
COPs for compression and absorption systems are
given by:

COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System

Thus absorption systems are advantageous where

a large quantity of low-grade thermal energy is
available freely at required temperature.
However, it will be seen that for the refrigeration
and heat rejection temperatures, the COP of
vapour compression refrigeration system will be
much higher than the COP of an absorption
system as a high grade mechanical energy is used
in the former, while a low-grade thermal energy is
used in the latter.

COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System

However, comparing these systems based on

COPs is not fully justified, as mechanical energy is
more expensive than thermal energy. Hence,
sometimes the second law (or exergetic)
efficiency is used to compare different
refrigeration systems. It is seen that the second
law (or exergetic) efficiency of absorption system
is of the same order as that of a compression
system.

Maximum COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System

Maximum COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System
From first law of thermodynamics,

Where
Qe is the heat transferred to the absorption system
at
evaporator temperature Te,
Qg is the heat transferred to the generator of the
absorption system at temperature Tg,
Qa+c is the heat transferred from the absorber and
condenser of
the absorption system at
temperature To and
Wp is the work input to the solution pump.

Maximum COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System
If we assume that heat rejection at the absorber
and condenser takes place at same external heat
sink temperature To, then a vapour absorption
refrigeration system operates between three
temperature levels, Tg, To and Te.

Maximum COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System

The maximum possible COP of an ideal VARS

system is given by:

Maximum COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System
Thus the ideal COP is only a function of operating
temperatures similar to Carnot system. It can be
seen from the above expression that the ideal COP
of VARS system is equal to the product of efficiency
of a Carnot heat engine operating between Tg and
To and COP of a Carnot refrigeration system
operating between To and Te,

Maximum COP for Ideal Vapor Absorption

Refrigeration System
Thus an ideal vapour absorption refrigeration
system can be considered to be a combined system
consisting of a Carnot heat engine and a Carnot
refrigerator as shown in Fig.14.4. Thus the COP of
an ideal VARS increases as generator temperature
(Tg) and evaporator temperature (Te) increase and
heat rejection temperature (To) decreases.
However, the COP of actual VARS will be much less
than that of an ideal VARS due to various internal
and external irreversibilities present in actual
systems.

Example of VARS
1. Hydrogen enters
the pipe with liquid
ammonia (or lithium
bromide solution)
2. Ammonia and
hydrogen enter the
inner compartment
of the refrigerator.
An increase in
volume causes a
decrease in the
partial pressure of
the liquid ammonia.
The ammonia
evaporates,
requiring energy to
overcome the HVap.
The required energy
is drawn from the
interior of the
refrigerator, thus
cooling it.

Example of VARS
3. Ammonia and
hydrogen return from
the inner
compartment,
ammonia returns to
absorber and
dissolves in water.
Hydrogen is free to
rise upwards.
4. Ammonia gas
condensation
(passive cooling).
5. Hot ammonia
(gas).
6. Heat insulation
and distillation of
ammonia gas from
water.
7. Heat source
(electric).
8. Absorber vessel
(water and ammonia
solution).

 1. Hydrogen enters the pipe with liquid ammonia

(or lithium bromide solution)
2. Ammonia and hydrogen enter the inner
compartment of the refrigerator. An increase in
volume causes a decrease in the partial pressure of
the liquid ammonia. The ammonia evaporates,
requiring energy to overcome the H Vap. The
required energy is drawn from the interior of the
refrigerator, thus cooling it.
3. Ammonia and hydrogen return from the inner
compartment, ammonia returns to absorber and
dissolves in water. Hydrogen is free to rise upwards.
4. Ammonia gas condensation (passive cooling).
5. Hot ammonia (gas).
6. Heat insulation and distillation of ammonia gas
from water.
7. Heat source (electric).
8. Absorber vessel (water and ammonia solution).

Practical Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

A practical VARS has 3 additional

parts :
ANALYSER
RECTIFIER
HEAT EXCHANGER

Practical Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

Analyser
-When ammonia is vaporized in the generator
some water is also vaporized ,and flow into
the condenser along with ammonia.
Thus the ammonia refrigerant leaving the
generator carries appreciable amount of
water vapor. If this water vapor is allowed to
be carried to the evaporator, the capacity of
the refrigeration system would reduce. The
water vapor from ammonia refrigerant is
removed by analyzer and the rectifier.

Practical Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

The analyzer is a sort of distillation column

that is located at the top of the generator.
The analyzer consists of number of plates
positioned horizontally. When the ammonia
refrigerant along with the water vapor
particles enters the analyzer, the solution is
cooled. Since water has higher saturation
temperature, water vapor gets condensed
into the water particles that drip down into
the generator. The ammonia refrigerant in the
gaseous state continues to rise up and it
moves to the rectifier.

Practical Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

Rectifier - In case the water vapour are not

completely removed in the analyser, a closed type
of vapour cooler called rectifier is also known as
dehydrator is used, it may be of water cooled.
The rectifier is a sort of the heat exchanger cooled
by the water, which is also used for cooling the
condenser. Due to cooling the remaining water
vapor mixed with the ammonia refrigerant also
gets condensed along with some particles of
ammonia. This weak solution of water and
ammonia drains down to the analyzer and then to
the generator

Practical Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System

Heat Exchanger -The heat exchanger

provided between the pump and the
generator which is used to cool the weak hot
solution returning from the generator to
absorber.

Practical Vapor Absorption Refrigeration

System

Practical vapor absorption refrigeration system

Generator: The strong solution

of ammonia refrigerant and
water absorbent are heated by
the external source of heat
such as steam or hot water. It
can also be heated by other
sources like natural gas, electric
heater, waste exhaust heat etc.

Practical vapor absorption refrigeration system

Generator - Due to heating the

refrigerant ammonia gets
vaporized and it leaves the
generator. However, since
water has strong affinity for
ammonia and its vaporization
point is quite low some water
particles also get carried away
with ammonia refrigerant, so it
is important to pass this
refrigerant through analyzer.

Vapour Absorption
Refrigeration
Systems Based On WaterLithium Bromide Pair

VARS based on H2O LiBr Pair

Vapour absorption refrigeration systems using
water-lithium bromide pair are extensively used in
large capacity air conditioning systems.
In these systems water is used as refrigerant and
a solution of lithium bromide in water is used as
absorbent.
Since water is used as refrigerant, using these
systems it is not possible to provide refrigeration
at sub-zero temperatures. Hence it is used only in
applications requiring refrigeration at
temperatures above 0oC.

VARS based on H2O LiBr Pair

Hence these systems are used for air conditioning
applications. The analysis of this system is
relatively easy as the vapour generated in the
generator is almost pure refrigerant (water),
unlike ammonia-water systems where both
ammonia and water vapour are generated in the
generator.

Steady flow analysis of Water-Lithium

Bromide Systems
A steady flow analysis of the system is carried out with
the following assumptions:
i. Steady state and steady flow
ii. Changes in potential and kinetic energies across
each component are negligible
iii. No pressure drops due to friction
iv. Only pure refrigerant boils in the generator.
The nomenclature followed is:
m= mass flow rate of refrigerant, kg/s
mss= mass flow rate of strong solution (rich in LiBr),
kg/s
mws= mass flow rate of weak solution (weak in LiBr),
kg/s

Circulation ratio ()
-defined as the ratio of
strong solution
flow rate to
refrigerant
flow rate.
It is given by:
= mss/m

@Condenser
m1 = m 2 = m 3
Qc = m(h1 h2)
Pc = Psat (TC)
where TC is the
condenser
temperature

@Expansion valve (refrigerant):

m2 = m 3 = m
h2 = h 3
@Evaporator:
m3 = m 4 = m
QE = m(h4 h3)
PE = PSAT(TE)
where TE is the
evaporator
temperature

@Absorber
From total mass balance:
m + mss = mws
but mss = m,
mws = (1+)m
QA=mh4+ mh10
- (1+)mh5

@Solution pump
m5 = m6 = mws
Wp = mws(h6-h5)
=(1+)m(h6-h5)
Even though
the solution pump
work is small it is
still required in the
selection of
suitable pump.

@Generator
m7 = m8 +m1
Heat input to the
generator is given by:
QG=mh1+mh8
-(1+)mh7

@Solution heat exchanger

m6 = m7 = mws
m8 = m9 = mss
heat transfer
rate in the solution
heat exchanger, Q
is given by:
QHX = (1+)m(h7-h6)
=m(h8-h9)

@Solution expansion valve

m9 = m10 = mws
h9 = h10
The COP of the
system is given by:

Sample Problem in Simple VARS

9. The operating temperatures of a single stage
vapour absorption refrigeration system are:
generator: 90oC; condenser and absorber: 40oC;
evaporator: 0oC. The system has a refrigeration
capacity of 100 kW and the heat input to the
system is 160 kW. The solution pump work is
negligible.
a) Find the COP of the system and the total heat
rejection rate from the system.
b) An inventor claims that by improving the design
of all the components of the system he could
reduce the heat input to the system to 80 kW while
keeping the refrigeration capacity and operating
temperatures same as before. Examine the validity
of the claim.

Sample Problem in Simple VARS

Solution: