Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Compressionabsorption cascade refrigeration system

Jose Fernandez-Seara *, Jaime Sieres, Manuel Vazquez
Area de Maquinas y Motores Termicos, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidade de Vigo,
Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 9, 36200 Vigo, Spain
Received 28 October 2004; accepted 26 July 2005
Available online 13 September 2005

Abstract
This paper describes the study carried out to analyse a refrigeration system in cascade with a compression system at the low temperature stage and an absorption system at the high temperature stage to generate cooling at low temperatures, as well as the possibility of powering it by means of a cogeneration system. CO2 and NH3 have been considered as refrigerants in the compression
stage and the pair NH3H2O in the absorption stage. The analysis has been realized by means of a mathematical model of the refrigeration system implemented in a computer program and taking into account the characteristic operating conditions of a cogeneration system with gas engines. The paper presents the results obtained regarding the performance of the refrigeration system and the
adaptability between the power requirements of the refrigeration system and the power supplied by the cogeneration system taking
into account the present Spanish Regulations about the use of cogeneration systems.
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Cascade refrigeration; Cogeneration; Compression; Absorption

1. Introduction
The integration of environmentally friendly refrigeration with cogeneration systems [1] appears to be an
interesting option since it could lead to autonomous systems with on-site power generation independent from
the electric grid [2].
In the refrigeration eld there are applications which
require the production of very high cooling power at low
temperatures, such as freezing processes and cold stores
for the storage of frozen products. Currently, dierent
congurations of vapor compression systems of double
stage with ammonia or synthetic refrigerants are generally applied to this type of applications. Two stage vapor
compression systems in cascade are also considered in
the general literature [3]. Moreover, recently the two
stage compression systems in cascade with CO2 as refrigerant in the low temperature stage are the object of
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 986 812605; fax: +34 986 811995.
E-mail address: jseara@uvigo.es (J. Fernandez-Seara).

1359-4311/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2005.07.015

important research and nowadays there are already several industrial and commercial installations successfully
running [4,5]. However, the disadvantage of the compression systems in this type of applications is their high
electricity consumption.
In this paper the analysis of an alternative refrigeration system that could reduce the electricity consumption in those applications is realized. The system is a
two stages cascade that consists of a single stage compression system for the generation of the cooling power
at low temperature and an absorption system in the high
temperature stage, as shown in Fig. 1. Both systems
share a heat exchanger, which operates simultaneously
as the condenser of the compression system and as the
evaporator of the absorption system. This refrigeration
system would decrease the electricity consumption compared to the two stages compression systems, since it is
only required to operate the compression system at the
low stage; meanwhile the absorption system is driven
by heat. Moreover, it could use environmentally friendly
working uids such as carbon dioxide or ammonia in

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

503

Nomenclature
COP
E
EEE
P
PE
PER
Q
Q0
T

coecient of performance ()
electrical power (kW)
equivalent electric eciency ()
pressure (Pa)
primary energy per unit time (kW)
primary energy ratio ()
heat (kW)
cooling duty (kW)
temperature (C)

Subscripts
a
absorption system
c
compression system
com
compression, compressor
con
condensation, condenser
el
electrical

the compression stage and the pairs ammoniawater or

waterlithium bromide in the absorption system.
Furthermore, this cascade refrigeration system could
be integrated with a cogeneration system, since this
would supply simultaneously the electricity to the compression system and the heat to the absorption system.
At a rst glance, it would bring an additional advantage,
since the global system could be designed as a standalone device independent of the electric grid. However,
making use of these benets requires knowledge of the
adaptability of the energy needs of the refrigeration system (electricity and heat) to the power distribution supplied by the cogeneration system.
Therefore, the objectives of the paper are twofold, on
the one hand, to simulate and analyse the inuence of
the key design parameters and the operating conditions
on the performance of the compressionabsorption cascade refrigeration system, and on the other hand, to
determine and evaluate the adaptability, from the viewpoint of the energetic requirements, between the refrigeration and the cogeneration systems. Moreover, the
performance of the global refrigerationcogeneration
system is also obtained.
The analysis has been carried out using a mathematical model of the refrigeration system implemented in
a computer program and taking into account the general
performance of a cogeneration system employing gas
engines. This has been dened according to the available
literature data [6]. The energy adaptability between the
cogeneration and the refrigeration systems is evaluated
based on the current Spanish regulations [7] about the
use of cogeneration systems. These regulations dene
the parameter named as Equivalent Electric Eciency
(EEE), which takes into account the electrical power
generated, the heat recovered, and the primary energy

eva
evaporation, evaporator
ex
extra
exh
exhaust gases
g
global
gen
generation, generator
h
heat
int
intermediate
lim
limit
max
maximum
minEEE minimum equivalent electric eciency
opt
optimal
p
pump
rec
recovered, reused
w
water

ABSORPTION SYSTEM. HIGH TEMPERATURE STAGE.

CONDENSER

RECTIFICATION
COLUMN

GENERATOR

LIQ.-VAP.
H.EX.

EXP.
VALVE
EVAPORATORCONDENSER

EXP.
VALVE

SOLUTION
H.EX.

EXP.
VALVE

PUMP

ABSORBER

COMPRESSOR

EVAPORATOR

COMPRESSION SYSTEM. LOW TEMPERATURE STAGE.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the compressionabsorption cascade
refrigeration system.

504

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

per unit time consumed by the cogeneration system.

Finally, the performance of the cascade refrigeration
system with the cogeneration system is evaluated by
means of the primary energy ratio (PER).

2. Refrigeration system and simulation model

The absorptioncompression cascade system being
considered is depicted schematically in Fig. 1. It consists
of a single stage compression system in the low temperature cascade and a single stage absorption system in the
high temperature cascade. The analysis has been carried
out considering two dierent natural refrigerants, carbon dioxide and ammonia, in the compression system,
whose main components are the evaporator, compressor, condenser and the expansion device. The absorption
system uses the pair ammoniawater and its major components are the absorber, generator, distillation column,
condenser, evaporator, solution heat exchanger, liquid
vapour heat exchanger, pump and two expansion devices. The compression and the absorption systems are
connected to each other by means of the evaporator
condenser heat exchanger.
A simple steady state simulation model based on
sequential modular approach has been developed and
implemented in a computer program. The model equations are formulated from species, mass and energy balances. State equations used for the working uids at
equilibrium and the thermodynamic properties are
taken from REFPROP [8] for the pure refrigerants
and from Ziegler and Trepp [9] for the ammoniawater
mixture. In the model, the components irreversibilities
are dened either directly by means of temperature differences or by means of the components eciency.
The model input data have been divided into three
groups, the general system data and the specic data
for the compression and for the absorption systems, as
shown in Table 1. A perfect isolation of the evaporatorcondenser heat exchanger is assumed; hence the
cooling duty of the absorption system is equated to
the condensation power of the compression system.
The condensation temperature of the compression system together with the temperature dierence between
this temperature and the evaporation temperature at
the absorption system are used to characterise the heat
transfer processes in the evaporatorcondenser heat exchanger. The condensation temperature at the compression system is taken as design parameter to dene the
intermediate temperature level. In the compression system, the compressor eciency is calculated as a function
of the compression ratio. In the absorption system, the
following assumptions are taken into account; the
refrigerant solution leaving the condenser and the weak
solution leaving the generator are saturated at condensation and generation temperature, respectively.

Table 1
Model input data
General system data
Cooling duty, Q0 [kW]
Evaporation temperature at the
compression system, Teva,c [C]
Condensation temperature at
the compression system, Tcon,c [C]
Generation temperature at the
absorption system, Tgen [C]
Temperature of the water used
as external cooling medium, Tw [C]
Compression system
Liquid subcooling at the
condenser outlet, GSc [C]
Vapour superheat at the
evaporator outlet, GRc [C]
Absorption system
Temperature dierence at the
evaporatorcondenser, DTevacon [C]
Outletinlet temperature dierence
in the evaporator, DTeva,a [C]
Design condenser temperature
dierence, DTcon,a [C]
Liquid subcooling at the
condenser outlet, GSa [C]
Design absorber temperature
dierence, DTabs [C]
Refrigerant concentration,
Xref [kg/kg]
Distillation tower
reux, Re []
Absorber eciency, eabs []
Solution heat exchanger
eciency, esol.HX []
Liquidvapor heat exchanger
eciency, eLV HX []
Pump eciency, ep []
Pressure drop between evaporator
and absorber, DPevaabs [bar]

1

45

2
125
30

0
5

8
5
10
0
8
0.995
0.4
0.8
0.8
0.7
0.5
0.1

The model equations are not presented here for the

sake of brevity, but they are described in detail in Ref.
[10]. The model has been implemented in a computer
program using Fortran 95.
The results obtained directly from the simulations are
the thermodynamic state and the mass and volume ow
rates at every representative point in the thermodynamic
cycles of the compression and absorption systems, the
heat ux in each heat exchanger, the electric power required by the compressor and the pump and the compression and absorption systems performance (COPc
and COPa) which are obtained from Eqs. (1) and (2),
respectively. The global system performance (COPg) is
calculated from Eq. (3), taken into account a power
plant eciency of 0.4.
Q0
Ecom
Qcon;c
COPa
Qgen Ep
COPc

1
2

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

505

Fig. 2. Results of the simulation program on the system scheme.

COPg

Q0
Qgen

Ecom
0:4

Ep
0:4

The sample program results for temperatures around

the circuit are displayed on the system scheme, as shown
in Fig. 2. The data in white boxes are the energy ux in
the corresponding system component.

3. Cogeneration system
The cogeneration system considered in the analysis is
based on the use of gas engines. The system operating
conditions have been established taken into account
general literature data [6]. The exhaust gases and the
cooling water outlet temperatures (Texh and Tw) have
been considered as 600 C and 120 C, respectively.
The heat recovered from the exhaust gases is set at
18% of the primary energy, considering a cooling limit
(Texh,lim) of 90 C. The heat recovered from the engine
cooling water is considered 25% of the primary energy,
with a cooling limit (Tw,lim) of 25 C. The electrical eciency of the cogeneration plant is taken as 40%.
If the cascade refrigeration system is powered by the
cogeneration system, then the heat recovered from the

exhaust gases and from the engine cooling water will

be limited by the generator temperature (Tgen) in the
absorption system. In order to estimate the heat that
could be recovered and applied to drive the absorption
system, it is assumed that the generator temperature in
the absorption system is the cooling limit for the engine
exhaust gases and the cooling water. It is also assumed
that the specic heat capacity for exhaust gases and
water is constant. Taken into account the assumptions
cited above and the cogeneration system operating conditions, then the ratio of the primary energy per unit
time that could be recovered as heat from the engine exhaust gases (PERexh) and the cooling water (PERw) and
applied to drive the absorption system can be estimated
from Eqs. (4) and (5), respectively.
PERexh
PERw

Qexh;rec
T exh
T gen
0:18 
PE
T exh
T exh;lim

Qw;rec
T w
T gen
0:25 
PE
T w
T w;lim

4
5

The adaptability of the cascade refrigeration system to

the cogeneration system is assessed by calculating the
parameter named as equivalent electric eciency (EEE)

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

506

given by Eq. (6), according to the present Spanish regulations [7] relating to the use of cogeneration systems.
EEE

E
rec
PE
Q0:9

Moreover, the regulations also impose a minimum

annual average value for the EEE of the cogeneration
system. This minimum EEE value for a cogeneration
system based on the use of gas engines is set at 55%.
In the analysis, the EEE is obtained considering that
the cogeneration system is only used to power the cascade refrigeration system. Moreover, if the EEE value
obtained is lower than the minimum value imposed by
the regulations, then the quantity of the electricity
and/or heat energy that should be recovered and used
in other applications in order to reach the minimum
EEE value are also calculated.
The calculation procedure starts by obtaining the
electricity and the heat required by the cascade refrigeration system by using the system model described in
the previous section. Then the type of limiting power
(electrical or heat) is determined by calculating the primary energy by unit of time that is needed to obtain
the electrical power and the heat required by the cascade
system. The primary energy per unit time needed to
obtain the electrical power is calculated from Eq. (7),
taking into account the electric eciency of the cogeneration plant. The primary energy per unit time needed to
obtain the heat is calculated from Eqs. (8)(10), taking
into account the generation temperature.
PEel

Ecom Ep
0:4

If T gen P 120  C ! PEh

Qgen T exh
T exh;lim


0:18 T exh
T gen

If 90  C < T gen < 120  C !

Qgen
PEh
T exh
T gen
T
T gen
0:18  T exh
T exh;lim 0:25  T ww
T w;lim
If T gen 6 90  C ! PEh

required by the absorption system (Qgen). Otherwise, if

the electrical power is the limiting one (PEel > PEh), then
there is no extra electric power and the maximum heat
that could be recovered is also calculated from Eqs.
(12), (13) or (14).
If PEh > PEel ! PE PEh ! Eex
0:4  PE
Ecom Ep
If T P 120  C ! Qex
T exh
T
0:18 
 PEh
Qgen
T exh
T exh;lim

T
T

gen
0:18 0:25  T ww
T w;lim

10

Once the limiting power is known, then the primary

energy per unit time needed to produce the limiting
power is taken as the primary energy per unit time consumed by the cogeneration system. Then, either the extra electrical power is calculated when the heat is
limiting, or the extra heat is obtained when the electrical
power is the limiting one.
If the heat is limiting (PEh > PEel), then the extra
electrical power is calculated from Eq. (11). In this case,
there is also an extra heat that could be recovered at
temperature levels lower than the generation temperature. The heat that could be recovered up to a temperature level (T) is given by Eqs. (12), (13) or (14),
depending on the temperature value and the heat

12

If 90  C < T < 120  C ! Qex



T exh
T
Tw
T
0:18 
0:25 
T exh
T exh;lim
T w
T w;lim
 PEh
Qgen

13

If T 6 90 C ! Qex


Tw
T
0:18 0:25 
 PEh
Qgen
T w
T w;lim

14

Furthermore, if the heat is the limiting one, then the

EEE of the cogeneration system will be obtained considering that the extra electricity is used in other applications or put on the market. After that, if the value of
the EEE of the cogeneration system is bellow the limiting value imposed by the Spanish Regulations, then the
heat that should be recovered to attain the minimum
EEE of 0.55 will be calculated by using Eq. (6).
Finally, the primary energy ratio of the global system
(cascade refrigeration system and the cogeneration system) is obtained. The PER is calculated considering that
the cogeneration system is used only to power the refrigeration system (PERg), Eq. (15), and also when the EEE
is equal to the minimum value imposed by the Spanish
Regulations [7] and part of the electric power and/or
the heat are reused in other applications (PERg,minEEE),
Eq. (16).
PERg

Qgen

11

Q0
PE

PERg;minEEE

15
Q0 Eex Qrec;minEEE
PE

16

The calculations described above have been implemented as a Fortran subroutine in the simulation program of the cascade refrigeration system. Then, the
adaptability of the cogeneration system to the cascade
refrigeration system can be evaluated in each simulation
run and it is included in the parametric analysis.

4. Results and discussion

The model has been used to simulate and analyse the
performance of the cascade refrigeration system and the
possibilities of it being powered by the cogeneration

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

system. Table 1 shows the general system operating conditions considered in the analysis. The following sections
show the noteworthy results.
4.1. Cascade refrigeration system
Fig. 2 shows the direct results provided by the simulation program considering the data in Table 1 with CO2
as refrigerant in the compression system. The white
boxes on the system diagram show the heat interchanged in each heat exchanger, the electric power required by the compressor in the compression system
and by the pump in the absorption system. The numbers
next to the characteristic points of the system show the
temperature values.
The results considering NH3 as refrigerant in the
compression system are also presented by the program
on the system scheme (as shown in Fig. 2). The main differences in the operating conditions of the system using
CO2 or NH3 as refrigerants in the compression stage are
due to the characteristic thermodynamic properties of
each refrigerant. Table 2 summarizes the major dierences. Note the high pressure levels in the compression
system when using CO2, as well as the low evaporation
pressure required when using NH3 at low temperature
levels. Another signicant parameter that makes a dierence between both refrigerants is the compressor discharge temperature. The high values of the discharge
temperature produced by NH3 should be taken into account at the design stage in order to select an adequate
intermediate temperature level and avoid the wellknown problems caused by excessive discharge temperatures on the compressor lubrication. The mass ow
and the volume ow at the compressor inlet are also
quite dierent. The mass ow of CO2 is higher than
the mass ow of NH3 due to the low refrigerant eect
produced by CO2. However, the volume ow of CO2
is much smaller than the volume ow of NH3 due to
the low specic volume of the CO2 at the compressor inlet state. The electric power required by the compressor
is slightly lower when using CO2 than when using NH3.

507

Therefore, the compression system COP is also slightly

higher with CO2 than with NH3. The condensation heat
at the compression system and therefore the cooling
duty of the absorption system are similar for both refrigerants. Thus, it can be concluded that the use of CO2 or
NH3 as refrigerants at the compression stage does not
modify signicantly the operating conditions at the
absorption system.
An outstanding design parameter in cascade refrigeration systems is the intermediate temperature level at
which the low temperature system gives up the condensing heat to the high temperature system. In this analysis,
the intermediate temperature level is dened by the condensation temperature of the compression system. This
temperature has an opposite eect on the COP values
of the compression and absorption systems. Therefore,
an optimum COP value can be expected for the overall
cascade system.
Fig. 3 shows the results of the COP values of the compression, absorption and cascade systems with CO2 as
the refrigerant in the compression system and evaporation temperatures of
50,
40 and
30 C obtained by
varying the intermediate temperature while keeping the
remaining design parameters and operating conditions
equal to the values indicated in Table 1. It can be noticed
that the intermediate temperature increase causes simultaneously a compression COP decrease and an absorption COP increase. The compression COP decrease is
less signicant as the evaporation temperature decreases.
The absorption COP does not depend on the evaporation temperature of the compression system. As
expected, the cascade system COP presents a maximum
when the intermediate temperature is varied. The intermediate temperature that produces the maximum COP
depends on the evaporation temperature of the compression system. Similar results are obtained considering
NH3 as the refrigerant in the compression system. The
results with NH3 are not shown here for the sake of
brevity.
In addition, Fig. 4 shows the optimal intermediate
temperature (maximum COP of the cascade system)

Table 2
Cascade system operating conditions with CO2 and NH3 as refrigerants in the compression stage
Cascade system operating conditions

CO2

NH3

Evaporation pressure at the compression system, Peva [bar]

Condensation pressure at the compression system, Pcon [bar]
Refrigerant mass ow at the compression system, mc [kg/h]
Volume ow at the compressor inlet, Vcom [m3/h]
Compressor discharge temperature, Tcom,0 [C]
Condensation heat at the compression system and cooling
duty at the absorption system, Qcon,c [kW]
Electric power required by the compressor, Ecom [kW]
COP of the compression system, COPc []
COP of the absorption system, COPa []
COP of the cascade system, COPg []

8.427
33.472
14.762
0.702
53.14
1.262

0.143
3.976
2.953
6.204
96.73
1.233

0.384
2.602
0.427
0.253

0.406
2.463
0.427
0.254

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

COPc (-50)
COPg (-40)

COPc (-40)
COPg (-30)

COPc (-30)
COPa

COPg (-50)

11

0.55

10

0.50

0.45

0.40

COPc

7
0.35
6
0.30
5

COPa, COPg

508

0.25

0.20

0.15

2
1

0.10
-16

-12

-8

-4

12

16

Tint [C]

Fig. 3. Compression system COP (COPc), absorption system COP (COPa) and cascade system COP (COPg) vs. intermediate temperature level
(condensation temperature of the compression system) with CO2 as refrigerant in the compression stage and for evaporation temperatures of
30,

40 and
50 C.

COPg,max (CO2)

PERg,max (CO2)

COPg,max (NH3)

PERg,max (NH3)

1
0
-1

Tint,opt [C]

-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-50

-48

-46

-44

-42

-40

-38

-36

-34

-32

-30

Teva [C]

Fig. 4. Optimal intermediate temperature level (condensation temperature of the compression system) for maximum system COP and for maximum
PER with a EEE of 55% vs. evaporation temperature at the compression stage with CO2 and NH3 as refrigerants in the compression system.

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

with CO2 and NH3 as a function of the evaporation temperature. Results in Fig. 4 corroborate clearly that the
optimal intermediate temperature increases when the
evaporation temperature increases with both refrigerants. However, the eect of the evaporation temperature
on the optimal intermediate temperature is more signicant with NH3 than with CO2. The eects of the
absorption system design parameters such as the generation and the external cooling medium temperatures are
not presented here for the sake of brevity but they can
be established from data in Ref. [11].
It is noticeable that the optimal intermediate temperature level should be determined in a previous design
stage because of its inuence on the cascade system.
Therefore, the results from the simulation model can
be an outstanding tool at the design stage of the system.
4.2. Cogeneration system
Results for the signicant parameters required to
evaluate the suitability of powering the cascade refrigeration system by means of the cogeneration system
taking into account the use of CO2 and NH3 as refrigerants in the compression stage are collected in Table 3.
They have been obtained considering the data in Table 1
and expressed per unit of cooling power.
Results in Table 3 show clearly that the limiting
power is the heat required by the absorption system.
The primary energy needed to obtain the heat required
by the generator is much greater than the primary
energy per unit time needed to obtain the electricity
required by the cascade system. Therefore, taken into
account that the cogeneration system supplies the heat
required by the cascade system, then the electric power
generated by the cogeneration system surpasses the electric power required by the cascade system. Thus, there
will be extra electric power for selling or reusing in other
applications. These results express clearly that the energy requirements of the cascade refrigeration are very
dierent from the energy supplied by the cogeneration

509

system. They demonstrate the untting of the cogeneration system to the energy needs of the cascade system.
Another signicant result shown in Table 3 is the very
low value of the EEE obtained from the energy requirements of the cascade refrigeration system. It also clearly
shows that the electric to heat ratio required by the cascade system does not match the energy ratio provided by
the cogeneration system. The EEE is also much smaller
than the minimum value imposed by the Spanish Regulations of 0.55. Therefore, from the results obtained, it is
concluded that the use of a cogeneration system only to
power the absorptioncompression refrigeration system
should be discarded. Furthermore, if the cogeneration
system is used to power the cascade refrigeration system
and the extra electric power is reused or put on the market but no additional heat is recovered, then the EEE of
the cogeneration system is still below the limiting value
imposed by the Spanish regulations. Therefore, it would
be necessary to reuse in other applications part of the
heat that is not required by the refrigeration system in
order to attain the minimum value imposed to the
EEE. Therefore, it can be concluded that, if the cogeneration system is used to power the cascade refrigeration
system, then it will be necessary to make use of the extra
electric power and part of the extra heat in other applications, in order to full the present Spanish
Regulations.
The value of the PER of the global system (refrigeration and cogeneration system) without considering the
use of any extra electric or heat in other applications
is shown in Table 3. This result also reinforces the conclusion of discarding the option of coupling the cascade
refrigeration system with the cogeneration system as a
stand-alone unit.
The parametric analysis has been extended to the
parameters shown in Table 3 taking into account CO2
and NH3 as refrigerants in the compression stage. The
signicant results obtained considering the variation of
the intermediate temperature are shown in the following
gures.

Table 3
Refrigeration and cogeneration systems operating conditions
Operating conditions

CO2

NH3

Heat at the absorption generator, Qgen [kW]

Electricity required by the compressor, Ecom [kW]
Electricity required by the pump, Ep [kW]
Electricity required by the cascade system (compressor + pump), Ec [kW]
Primary energy required by the absorption system generator, PEh [kW]
Primary energy required by the electric power, PEel [kW]
Electricity surplus, Eex [kW]
Electric equivalent eciency, EEE []
Electric equivalent eciency considering the extra electricity, EEEel []
Heat recovered to attain the minimum EEE, Qrec,minEEE [kW]
Global primary energy ratio of the cascade system, PERg []
Global primary energy ratio to attain the minimum EEE, PERg,minEEE []

2.933
0.384
0.025
0.41
17.497
1.024
6.589
0.029
0.492
1.361
0.057
0.512

2.865
0.406
0.025
0.431
17.09
1.078
6.405
0.031
0.491
1.33
0.059
0.511

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

510

Fig. 5 shows the eect of the intermediate temperature level (the condensation temperature of the compression system) on the EEE taking into account
evaporation temperatures of
30,
40 and
50 C
and CO2 and NH3 as refrigerants in the compression
system, when the cogeneration system attends only the
energy demands of the cascade refrigeration system.
The more signicant results are the very small values
of the EEE. It points out again the mismatch between
the energy requirements of the cascade system and the
energy distribution provided by the cogeneration system. The increase of the EEE when increasing the intermediate temperature is due to an increase in the
electrical power demanded by the compression system
and simultaneously to the reduction of the heat demanded by the absorption system. Therefore, if the
intermediate temperature increases, then the electrical
to heat ratio required by the cascade system will approach the energy ratio provided by the cogeneration
system.
Fig. 6 shows the extra electric energy and heat that
should be reused in other applications in order to attain
the minimum value of the EEE imposed by the Spanish
regulations taking into account the evaporation temperatures of
30,
40 and
50 C and CO2 as refrigerant
in the compression system, when the intermediate temperature level is varied. The surplus of the electrical
power decreases as the intermediate temperature in-

EEE CO2 (-50)

EEE NH3 (-50)

creases. The reason is twofold, rstly the increase of

the intermediate temperature causes an increase in the
electric power required by the compressor in the compression system, and secondly, it simultaneously causes
a reduction in the heat demanded by the absorption system and therefore the decrease of primary energy consumed by the cogeneration system and the heat and
the extra electric power produced by the cogeneration
system. The heat decrease that occurs simultaneously
with the intermediate temperature level increase observed in Fig. 6 is also due to the reduction in the heat
demanded by the absorption system and therefore the
reduction of the primary energy and consequently of
the heat generated by the cogeneration system.
Finally, Fig. 7 shows the results of the PER for evaporation temperatures of
30,
40 and
50 C taking
into account that the cogeneration system is used to
power only the cascade refrigeration system (PERg)
and also considering the reusing of the extra electric
power and the extra heat needed to attain the EEE of
0.55 (PERg,minEEE), when the intermediate temperature
level is varied. These results are considering CO2 as
refrigerant in the compression system. The results with
NH3 are very similar. It is worth to note the low values
of the PERg, which states clearly once again the unsuitability of employing the cogeneration system only to
power the cascade refrigeration system. It is also
remarkable that the depiction of the global PER

EEE CO2 (-40)

EEE NH3 (-40)

EEE CO2 (-30)

EEE NH3 (-30)

0.07

0.06

EEE

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01
-16

-12

-8

-4

12

16

Tint [C]

Fig. 5. Equivalent electric eciency (EEE) vs. intermediate temperature level (condensation temperature at the compression stage) with CO2 and
NH3 as refrigerants in the compression system and evaporation temperatures of
30,
40 and
50 C.

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

Qrec,minEEE (-50)

Eex,minEEE (-50)

Eex,minEEE (-40)

rec,minEEE

(-40)

rec,minEEE

511

(-30)

Eex,minEEE (-30)
12

4.0

11
3.5
10

2.5

Eex,minEEE [kW]

Qrec,minEEE [kW]

3.0

7
2.0
6
1.5
5

1.0

4
-16

-12

-8

-4

0
Tint [C]

12

16

Fig. 6. Electricity surplus and heat that should be recovered in other application in order to attain the minimum EEE of 55% vs. the intermediate
temperature level (condensation temperature at the compression stage).

PERg,minEEE (-50)

PERg,minEEE (-40)

PERg,minEEE (-30)

PERg (-50)

PERg (-40)

PERg (-30)
0.54

0.07

0.53

0.52

0.06

0.50

0.05

PERg,minEEE

PER g

0.51

0.49

0.04

0.48

0.47

0.03

0.46
-16

-12

-8

-4

12

16

Tint [C]

Fig. 7. Primary energy ratio of the cascade-cogeneration system taking into account that the cogeneration system is used to power only the cascade
refrigeration system (PERg) and also considering the reusing of the extra electric and the extra heat needed to attain the EEE of 55% (PERg,minEEE)
vs. the intermediate temperature level (condensation temperature at the compression stage) with CO2 as refrigerant in the compression system and for
evaporation temperatures of
30,
40 and
50 C.

512

J. Fernandez-Seara et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 502512

presents a maximum. The optimal intermediate temperatures from the viewpoint of the maximum global PER
considering CO2 and NH3 as refrigerants in the compression system as a function of the evaporation temperature are shown in Fig. 4. The intermediate temperature
that provides the maximum value for the global PER
does not coincide with the intermediate temperature that
provides the maximum COP of the cascade refrigeration
system (see Fig. 4). Therefore, if the cogeneration system
is used only to power the cascade refrigeration system,
then the intermediate temperature level should be selected based on the maximum of the global PER. Moreover, it can be seen that the optimal intermediate
temperature increases when the evaporation temperature increases with both refrigerants. However, the increase of the optimal intermediate temperature is
higher with NH3 than with CO2 as shown in Fig. 4.

cascade refrigeration system by means of a cogeneration

system in order to obtain a stand-alone unit should be
discarded.
The primary energy per unit time required by the
cogeneration system in order to full the heat demanded
by the cascade refrigeration system is higher than the
primary energy per unit time needed to generate the electricity required by the refrigeration system. Therefore, if
the cogeneration system fulls the needs of the cascade
refrigeration system, then there will be a surplus of electric power. The extra electricity could be sold or used in
other applications. Taking into account the present
Spanish regulation it would be necessary to make use
not only of the extra electric power but also of part of
the extra heat in other applications.

References
5. Conclusions
The results shown in this paper and the results obtained in the complete analysis about the compressionabsorption cascade refrigeration system and the
possibilities of being powered by a cogeneration system
allows us to draw the following conclusions.
The use of CO2 or NH3 as refrigerants in the compression stage does not aect signicantly the operating
conditions at the absorption stage due to the condensation heat is similar with both refrigerants.
The intermediate temperature level is an important
design parameter that causes an opposite eect on the
COP of the compression and absorption systems. Therefore, the cascade system COP presents a maximum when
the intermediate temperature is varied. The intermediate
temperature that produces the maximum COP depends
on the evaporation temperature of the compression system. The eect of the evaporation temperature on the
optimal intermediate temperature is more signicant
with NH3 than with CO2 as refrigerant in the compression system. The optimal intermediate temperature level
should be determined in a previous design stage because
of its inuence on the cascade system. Therefore, the results from the simulation model can be an outstanding
tool at the system design stage.
The very low values of the EEE and the PER obtained when the cogeneration system is used only to
power the cascade refrigeration system show clearly that
the energy requirements of the cascade system and the
energy distribution provided by the cogeneration system
are very dierent. Therefore, the idea of powering the

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