Theoretical study on the effect of operating conditions on performance of absorption refrigeration system

Abstract

In this study, a detailed thermodynamic analysis of the water/lithium bromide absorption refrigeration cycle is performed. The influences of operating temperature and effectiveness of heat exchanger on the thermal loads of components, coefficients of performance (COP c , COP) and efficiency ratio ( η ) are investigated. It is concluded that the COP c and COP values increase with increasing generator and evaporator temperatures but decrease with increasing condenser and absorber temperatures. The η value varies with these temperatures. Also, the effects of solution and refrigerant heat exchangers on the performance, efficiency ratio of the system and fluid temperatures are compared. As a result, it is found that the solution heat exchanger (SHE) has more effect on the investigated parameters than the refrigerant heat exchanger (RHE). While the SHE increases the COP value up to a maximum 44%, the RHE has an effect of only 2.8%.