Pergamon

Int. Comm. Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 25, No. 5, pp. 711-721, 1998 Copyright @ 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0735-1933/98 $19.00 + .00

P I I S0735-1933(98)00058-X

A COMPARISON BETWEEN AMMONIA-WATER AND W A T E R - L I T H I U M B R O M I D E S O L U T I O N S IN VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

I. Horuz University of Uludag Faculty o f Engineering and Architecture Department o f Mechanical Engineering 16059 Gorukle, Bursa Turkey

(Communicated by J.P. Hartnett and W,J. Minkowycz)

ABSTRACT The study included an investigation to analyze the Vapor Absorption Refrigeration (VAR) systems using ammonia-water and water-lithium bromide solutions. A fundamental VAR system is described and the operating sequence is explained. Since the most common VAR systems use ammonia-water solution with ammonia as the refrigerant and water-lithium bromide solution with water as the refrigerant, the comparison of the two is presented in respect of the coefficient of performance (COP), the cooling capacity and the maximum and minimum system pressures. It is concluded that the VAR system using water-lithium bromide solution provided better performance than the system using ammonia-water solution. However, there are some points to be considered such as; the danger of crystallization and impossibility of operating in very low temperatures because of the use of water as the
refrigerant. 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd

Introduction
A Vapor Absorption Refrigeration (VAR) System is similar to a Vapor Compression Refrigeration (VCR) System. In both systems the required refrigeration is provided by refrigerants vaporizing in the evaporator. However, in the VAR System, a physico-chemical process replaces the mechanical process of the VCR system and heat rather than a mechanical and electrical energy is used. The advantages of this system lie in the possibility of utilizing of waste energy from industrial plants as well as of using solar energy. 711

712

I. Horuz

Vol. 25, No. 5

As Figure 1 illustrates, the fundamental VAR cycle contains four main components; a generator, an absorber, a condenser and an evaporator. The condenser and the evaporator function in the same manner as they do in the VCR cycle.

E 1

Generator ,]

i
2 Restrictor 3 Evaporator I RestrictorI 10

9 t6:

on

FIG. 1 The schematic illustration of the fundamental VAR cycle

Pressure-temperature and Pressure-enthalpy diagrams of the fundamental VAR cycle are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 respectively.

1
F I .~ It .~ Peon

5: il

10

Pevap

i 1

Solution Temperature

FIG. 2 The pressure-temperature diagram of the fundamental VAR cycle

Vol. 25, No. 5

VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

713

f Pcon T1

/1/t

/
/ / / 3 / I /

//
Pcvap

Enthalpy

FIG, 3 The pressure-enthalpy diagram of the fundamental VAR cycle

The combination of the generator, the absorber and solution pump may be thought of as a means of transferring refrigerant vapor from the low pressure side of the cycle back to the high pressure side, the function performed by the compressor of the VCR system.

The VAR cycle uses a refrigerant-absorbent solution rather than pure refrigerant as the working fluid. The absorbent acts as a secondary fluid to absorb the primary fluid which is the refrigerant in its vapor phase.

The refrigerant-absorbent solution passing through the solution pump is referred to as strong solution, being relatively rich in refrigerant. The solution returning from the generator to the absorber contains only a little refrigerant and is therefore referred to as weak solution.

In the absorber, weak solution meets refrigerant vapor from the evaporator. The solution absorbs the vapor, giving out heat as it does so, until all the vapor is absorbed to produce strong solution. The process occurring in the absorber is normally referred to as absorption, but it can also be thought of as condensation of a binary mixture, where the vapor phase contains predominantly one component.

Solution from the absorber (5) is transferred to the high pressure side of the circuit by the solution pump. Between the solution pump and the generator is a solution heat exchanger (SHE) where the cold

714

I. Horuz

Vol. 25, No. 5

strong solution from the absorber (6) is in counterflow to the hot weak solution coming from the generator (8). The strong solution is thus heated and the weak solution is cooled in this process. The strong solution entering the generator (7) is still subcooled at the higher pressures present there. The heat source to the generator must therefore first heat it to the state where it begins to boil. As it boils, evolving the refrigerant vapor which passes to the condenser, the solution in the generator becomes progressively poorer in refrigerant and finally leaves the generator as weak solution (8). After passing through the SHE (9), the weak solution at high pressure passes through an expansion valve back to the absorber (10), completing the cycle. It can be seen that the SHE is important in that the more heat the strong solution recovers from the weak solution leaving the generator, the less it needs from the external sources in the generator.

The VAR cycle widely uses ammonia-water solution with ammonia as the refrigerant and waterlithium bromide solution with water as the refrigerant.

The study will concentrate on the comparison between ammonia-water and water-lithium bromide solutions.

The coefficient of performance (COP) is a measure of a cycle's ability to transfer heat between various temperature levels. Since the primary use of the VAR systems has been for refrigeration purposes, the conventional definition of the COP is:

Heat taken in at low temperature (in the evaporator) COP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Net energy supplied (in the generator)

O)

In the VAR system, heat energy being reduced in temperature from Tgen (in the generator) to Tabs (in the absorber) provides the driving force to lift heat from Tevap to Tcon. Camot cycle operating between these temperatures sets an upper limit to the COP of;

Tgen Camot COP

- Tabs

Tevap

................. , ...................

(2)

Tgen

Tcon - Tevap

Vol. 25, No. 5

VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

715

Comparison Between Ammonia-Water And Water-Lithium Bromide Solutions

The ammonia-water VAR system has been used in large capacity industrial applications requiring low temperatures for process cooling. The water-lithium bromide VAR system is used to produce hot water for comfort heating, process heating and domestic purposes, as well as for cooling. This system can also be used to deliver heat at a temperature higher than that of the driving heat source, but it is predominantly for air-conditioning applications.

The main problem with the water-lithium bromide pair is the possibility of solid formation. Since the refrigerant turns to ice at 0C (32 F), the pair cannot be used for low temperature refrigeration. Furthermore, lithium bromide crystallizes at moderate concentrations. When the absorber is air cooled, these conomtrations tend to be reached; thus, the pair is usually limited to applications in which the absorber is water cooled. It is possible that the use of a combination of salts as the absorbent will reduce the crystallizing tendency enough to permit air cooling. Figure 4 shows the crystallization temperature of the water-lithium bromide solution against the Lithium bromide concentration. Other disadvantages of the water-lithium bromide pair are those associated with low pressure and with the high viscosity of the solution. These latter disadvantages are largely overcome by proper equipment design. The combination does have the advantages of high safety, high volatility ratio, high affinity, high stability and high latent heat.

300
250 ~" ~. 200 ~,

150 ~
1oo ~ 50 ~

.~ N
N

0
4o ;

/-

100 [ -150 -200' 0

I'0

2'0 3'0 40 50 60 70 80 LithiumBromideConcen~afion,weightpercent

90

100

FIG. 4 The crystallization temperature of the water-lithium bromide solution against the mass concentration of the Lithium bromide

716

I. Horuz

Vol. 25, No. 5

Probably the major disadvantages of the ammonia-water system is the fact that water is reasonably volatile, so that ammonia vapor leaving the generator usually contains appreciable amount of water vapor, which, if allowed to pass through the condenser and go into the evaporator, will raise the evaporator temperature and reduce the refrigerating effect by carrying unvaporised refrigerant out of the evaporator. For this reason, the efficiency of the ammonia-water VAR system can be improved by the use of an analyser and a rectifier which function to remove the water vapor from the mixture leaving the generator before it reaches the condenser. The analyser is essentially a distillation colunm that is attached to the top of the generator.

The ammonia-water cycle must be more complex than the water-lithium bromide cycle to provide acceptable performance. Better heat recovery means is required and because of the cycle's complexity, the design for optimum performance, based on a set of design parameters, requires extensive calculations.

Most water-lithium bromide VAR machines meet load variation and maintain chilled water temperature control by varying the reconcentration rate of the absorbent solution. Because of the low operating pressures of these machines, atmospheric air can leak into units which are improperly operated or maintained. Concentration control to avoid crystallization is required, however, they are comparatively trouble-free and simple to operate.

All calculations and graphs are based on the system presented in Figure 1. For these calculations the efficiency of the solution heat exchanger is chosen to be 0.6. The limitation caused by the crystallization of the lithium bromide is also shown in the graphs. The operating range of the water-lithium bromide VAR system is shown by solid lines.

Figure 5 shows the COP of the VAR system against the condenser temperature. As can be seen from Figure 5, when the condenser temperature increases, the COP decreases. This is due to the fact that, if the condenser temperature gets higher, the condensing temperature increases and hence causes less heat transfer in the condenser. This results in an increase in the temperature and the enthalpy of the refrigerant at the condenser outlet (state 2). Hence, the cooling capacity decreases as does the COP. The water-lithium bromide VAR systems have better COP, but are limited by the crystallization.

Figure 6 shows the COP system against the generator temperature. If the generator temperature increases, so also does the heat transfer to the solution in the generator and hence, the refrigerant mass flow rate increases. As the refrigerant mass flow rate increases, the cooling capacity increases causing an increase in the COP.

Vol. 25, No. 5

VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

717

6 5.5 8 4.5 ~-

-A-COP(NH3-H20)

Tgen=75 C, Tevap=l 0 C -~COP(H20-LiBr) -o-COP(era'not)

~
,~

3~
2.521L0.5 0
15

8 r.)

..... 20

--= 35 40

25 30 Condenser Temperature, Tcon ( C )

FIG. 5 The COP o f the V A R system against the condenser temperature

4 3.5 [3~2.5 L

F Tevap=10 C, Teon=30 C -*-COP(NH3-H20) -~COP(H20-LiBr) ~-COP(carnot)

,~~ ' j ' ~ ) ~

1.5 -

0' 45

50

55

60

65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 Generator Temperature, Tgen ( C )

FIG. 6 The C O P o f the V A R system against the generator temperature

The effect o f the evaporator temperature on the COP system is shown in Figure 7. As can be seen from Figure 7, when this temperature increases, the C O P o f the V A R system increases. Figures 5, 6 and 7 also show the camot C O P o f the V A R system which is formulated m Eq. 2.

718

1. Horuz

Vol. 25, No. 5

4 ~" 3.5Tgen=75 C, Tcon=30 C ~-COP(NH3-H20) ~COP(H20-LiBr) ~-COP(carnot)

8
2"5~
j ~

~ 1.5E o "~

J~

1
0.5 0

8 9 10 11 12 13 Evaporator Temperature, Tevap ( C )

14

15

16

FIG. 7 The COP of the VAR system against the evaporator temperature

Figure 8 shows the cooling capacity against the condenser temperature. As Figure 8 illustrates, when the condenser temperature increases, the cooling capacity decreases.

3500 F
~ 3000 ; 2500 --

Tgen=75 C, Tevap=10 C : ~-Qevap(NH3-I-I20) -~Qevap(I4.20-LiBr)

2000 F-

~
U ~ ~

15oo ~
1000 ~ 500 ~ O' 15 20 25 30 Condenser Temperature, Teon ( C ) 35 40
A & --A ~lt

FIG. 8 The cooling capacity against the condenser temperature

Vol. 25, No. 5

VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

719

Figures 9 and 10 show the maximum and minimum absolute system pressures. As Figures 9 and 10 indicates the operating pressures of the ammonia-water VAR system are always higher than the waterlithium bromide VAR system's operating pressures.

2800 2600 ~2400 2200 2000 i 1800 1600 E 1400 ~1200 r1000 800 ~E 600 ~"~ 400 200 L 0 15

I Tgen=75 C, Tevap=10 C i [-* Pmax(NH3-U20) ~-Pmax(mO-LiBr) ]

'

jJ-~
Y f J

20

25 30 35 40 45 Condenser Temperature, Tcon ( C )

50

55

FIG. 9 Maximum system pressures against the condenser temperature

1000

| 900 t800

Tgen=75 C, Tevap=10 C ]-*-Pmin(NH3-H20) -mPmin(H20-LiBr) I ~_~,_~_~,~1/-A _ ~ _ _ . ~ i ~ -

E o

700 ~ 600 500 400 V 300 ~200

I 100 L

._=

7 8 9 10 I1 12 13 Evaporator Temperature, Tevap ( C )

14

15

16

FIG. 10 Minimum system pressures against the evaporator temperature

720

I. Horuz

Vol. 25, No. 5

Result And Conclusion

The VAR system using water-lithium bromide solution with water as the refrigerant, is predominantly for air conditioning applications. The VAR system using ammonia-water with ammonia is the refrigerant, has been used in large-tonnage industrial applications requiring low temperatures for process work.

The ammonia-water cycle must be more complex than the water-lithium bromide cycle to provide acceptable performance. More heat recovery means are required and the rectification is necessary.

The VAR system using water-lithium bromide solution showed better performance than the system using ammonia-water solution. However, there are some points to be considered such as; the danger of crystallization and impossibility of operating in very low temperatures because of the use of water as the refrigerant.

Nomenclature

COP P T

Coefficient of Performance ( - ) Absolute Pressure (kPa) Temperature (C)

Subscripts

abs con evap gen max rain

Absorber Condenser Evaporator Generator Maximum Minimum

References

1.

L. A. McNeely, Thermodynamic Properties of

Aqueous Solutions of Lithium

Bromide,

ASHRAE Transactions, 8__55, No. 3, 413 (1979).

Vol. 25, No. 5

VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION

721

H. Perez-Blonco, Absorption Heat Pump Performance for Differ~t Types of Solutions,

Int. Journal of Refrigeration, 7, 115 (1984).

3.
4.

ASHRAE Equipment Handbook, Thermodynamics and Refrigeration Cycles, 1.21 (1977). ASHRAE Equipment Handbook, Absorption Cooling, Heating and Refrigeration Equipment, 13.1

(1988).
5.

R. J. Dossat, Pnneiples of Refrigeration, John Wiley and Sons, Canada, (1981). B. Zigler and C. Tr~p, Equation of State for Ammonia-Water Mixtures, Int. Journal of

6. 7.

Refrigeration, 7, No. 2, 101 March (1984).

B. H. Je~nings, The Thermodynamic Properties of Ammonia-Water Mixtures: A Reassessment in Tabular Format, ASHRAE Transactions, 419 (1979).
8.

K. Gomm~ and G. Grossman, Performance Analysis of Stagecl Absorption Heat Pumps: WaterLithium bromide Systems, ASHRAE Transaction, 96, Part 1, 1590 (1990). R. M. Tozer and R. W. James, Fundamental Thermodynamics of Ideal Absorption Cycles, Int.

9. 10.

Journal of Refrigeration, 20, No. 2, 120 (1997).

R. M. Tozer and R. W. James, A Review of Absorption Refrigeration Applications, CIBSE

National Conf. Chartered Institute of Building Servwes Engineers, Brighton, U. K, Voi. 1,

pp. 161-172 (1994).

Received December 15, 1997