Simulation research on an EAX (Evaporator-Absorber-Exchange) absorption refrigeration cycle

Abstract

There are some heat sources whose temperature is much higher than the limited generation temperature of conventional single effect absorption refrigeration cycle but lower than that of conventional double effect absorption refrigeration cycle. These heat sources can not be utilized efficiently by prior cycles. To make efficient use of these heat sources, this paper proposed an EAX (Evaporator-Absorber-Exchange) absorption refrigeration cycle. The proposed cycle can make use of the condensing heat of the vapor separated from high temperature generator to make additional refrigeration. Therefore, the COP (Coefficient of Performance) of the proposed cycle is much higher than that of the conventional single effect cycle. Simulation results show that the COP of the EAX cycle can be 40% higher than that of the conventional single effect cycle at some simulated conditions. ►This paper proposed a novel EAX absorption refrigeration cycle. ►The proposed cycle can make efficient use of the heat source which can not be utilized efficiently by conventional single effect cycle or conventional double effect cycle. ►The proposed cycle can make use of the condensing heat of the vapor separated from high temperature generator to make additional refrigeration. Therefore, its COP is much higher than that of the conventional single effect cycle. ►Relative increasing ratio (η) increases as the temperature of heat source increases. When the temperature of heat source reaches to 145 °C, η is higher than 40%. ►η increases as evaporation temperature increases. When the evaporation temperature reaches to 11 °C, η is higher than 40%.