Absorption cooling and desalination system with a novel internal energetic and mass integration that increases capacity and efficiency

Abstract

This paper presents a novel cooling and desalination system that uses seawater as coolant, and that has a high energetic and internal mass integration, as well as higher capacity and efficiency levels. The proposed system was simulated using Aspen Plus software; its operative behavior was also evaluated in order to prove its technical feasibility. Using a 23 kW simple-effect absorption cooling machine as a basis, and utilizing the produce of desalination as coolant, this technological approach increases the system's capacity by a factor of 87.4, to 2012 kW. It also increases the COP value to 6.15, 8.54 times greater than the 0.72 COP reported for this type of systems. Furthermore, the system produces 73,569 L/day of water, with an RR of 0.56 and a PR of 6.63. The proposed technology presents a setup that allows for a high energetic and internal mass integration, which increases the system's capacity and efficiency.