ARTICLE IN PRESS

Energy 33 (2008) 890907

www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

A new approach to the exergy analysis

of absorption refrigeration machines
Tatiana Morosuka,, George Tsatsaronisb
a

Institute of Marine Propulsion Plants Operation, Maritime Academy of Szczecin, Waly Chrobrego 1-2, 70500 Szczecin, Poland
b
Institute for Energy Engineering, Technische Universitat Berlin, Marchstr. 18, 10587 Berlin, Germany
Received 24 April 2007

Abstract
Splitting the exergy destruction into endogenous/exogenous and unavoidable/avoidable parts represents a new development in the
exergy analysis of energy conversion systems. This splitting improves the accuracy of exergy analysis, improves our understanding of the
thermodynamic inefciencies and facilitates the improvement of a system.
An absorption refrigeration machine is used here as an application example. This refrigeration machine represents
the most complex type of a refrigeration machine, in which the sum of physical and chemical exergy is used for each material
stream.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Exergy analysis; Exergy destruction; Avoidable exergy destruction; Endogenous exergy destruction; Absorption refrigeration machine

1. Introduction

An exergy analysis identies the location, magnitude and

sources of thermodynamic inefciencies in an energy
conversion system. This information is used for comparing
various systems. An exergy analysis is the rst step for the
exergoeconomic analysis of energy conversion and energyintensive chemical systems.
In a conventional exergetic evaluation of the kth
component of a system, the following variables are
used [13]:

exergy destruction rate that depends on the mass ow

rate through the component and the specic entropy
generation within it
_ k sgen;k
E_ D;k T 0 S_ gen;k T 0 m

exergetic efciency

k

E_ P;k
E_ D;k
1
E_ F ;k
E_ F ;k

(2)

exergy destruction ratios

yk

E_ D;k
,
E_ F ;tot

(3)

and
yk

E_ D;k
.
E_ D;tot

(4)

The exergy balance for the kth component is

(1)

Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 30 314 24765; fax: +49 30 314 21683.

E-mail addresses: morosuk@paco.net (T. Morosuk),

tsatsaronis@iet.tu-berlin.de (G. Tsatsaronis).
URL: http://www.iet.tu-berlin.de/efeu (G. Tsatsaronis).
0360-5442/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2007.09.012

E_ F ;k E_ P;k E_ D;k ,

(5)

and for the overall system

X
E_ F ;tot E_ P;tot
E_ D;k E_ L;tot .

(6)

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

Nomenclature
E_
e
f
h
_
m
p
Q_
q
S
s
p
T
_
W
w
x
y

exergy rate (W)

specic exergy (J/kg)
circulation ratio of the mixture with concentration xR (kg/kg)
specic enthalpy (J/kg)
mass ow rate (kg/s)
pressure (Pa)
heat rate (W)
specic heat (J/kg)
entropy (J/K)
specic entropy (J/kg K)
pressure (Pa)
temperature (K)
power (W)
specic work (J/kg)
concentration (kg/kg)
exergy destruction ratio (dimensionless)

D
D

destruction
concentration of the working uid in the basic
process
gen
generation
F
fuel
hybrid hybrid cycle
hot
high temperature
ideal
ideal cycle
j
jth ow
k
kth component
L
losses
P
product
R
strong solution
tot
overall system
0
thermodynamic environment
Abbreviations

Superscripts

A
ARM
G
CD
CM
EV
EX
H
HU

AV
CH
EN
EX
M
PH
T
UN

I
T
T
TVM
TVR
P
R
RU

Greek symbols
D

Z

difference
exergetic efciency
isentropic efciency

avoidable
chemical
endogenous
exogenous
mechanical
physical
thermal
unavoidable

891

absorber
absorption refrigeration machine
generator
condenser
compressor
evaporator
expander
hybrid condition or cycle
hybrid condition or cycle with unavoidable
exergy destruction
ideal condition or cycle
theoretical condition or cycle
turbine
throttling valve for the mixture
throttling valve for the refrigerant
pump
real condition or cycle
real condition or cycle with unavoidable exergy
destruction

Subscripts
A
cold

weak solution
low temperature

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate

that additional information, crucial for the improvement of a system can be obtained when the exergy
destruction within each component is split into meaningful
parts.
Splitting the exergy destruction into endogenous/exogenous [46] and unavoidable/avoidable parts [5,7,8] represents
a new direction in exergy analysis, which can be called
advanced exergy analysis. These splittings improve the
accuracy of exergy analysis and our understanding of the
thermodynamic inefciencies, and facilitate an exergoeconomic optimization.

2. Denitions and illustration

2.1. Endogenous and exogenous parts of the exergy
destruction
The total exergy destruction within the kth component
is split into endogenous and exogenous parts E_ D;k
EN
EX
EN
E_ D;k E_ D;k . Here E_ D;k is the endogenous part of exergy
destruction, associated only with the irreversibilities
occurring within the kth component when all other
components operate in an ideal way and the component
EX
being considered operates with its current efciency. E_ D;k is

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

892

the exogenous part of exergy destruction within the kth

component and is caused in the kth component by the
irreversibilities that occur in the remaining components.
These splittings enable engineers working in system
optimization to estimate the exergy destruction in a
component caused by the component itself on one hand
and by the remaining components on the other hand. This
information can be used to decide whether engineers
should focus on the component being considered or on
the remaining system components, in order to effectively
improve the overall performance.
2.2. Unavoidable and avoidable parts of the exergy
destruction
Only a part of the exergy destruction rate within a
component can be avoided. The exergy destruction rate
that cannot be reduced due to technological limitations
such as availability and cost of materials and manufacturUN
ing methods is the unavoidable (E_ ) part of the exergy
D;k

destruction. The remaining part represents the avoidable

AV
(E_ ) part of the exergy destruction. Thus, splitting the

investment costs, and (b) to consider the appropriate

measures (referring to the component being considered, to
the efciency of the other components, or to the structure
of the overall system) that have the potential for reducing
the exergy destruction.
2.4. Illustration with the aid of a theoretical system
To demonstrate the concepts introduced in the previous
section, we rst use a theoretical energy conversion system
consisting of three components A, B and C in series
(Fig. 1).
The following assumptions were made: The fuel of
component A (E_ F ;A ) is the fuel of the overall system
(E_ F ;tot ). The product of component A (E_ P;A ) is the fuel for
component B (E_ F ;B ), and the product of component B
(E_ P;B ) is the fuel for component C (E_ F ;C ). The product of
component C (E_ P;C ) is the product of the overall system
(E_ P;tot ). The value of the product of the overall system
remains constant for the analysis E_ P;tot const. The
exergetic efciencies eA, eB and eC can be varied independently from each other.

D;k

exergy destruction into unavoidable and avoidable parts in

UN
AV
the kth component E_ D;k E_
E_
provides a realistic
D;k

D;k

measure of the potential for improving the thermodynamic

efciency of a component.
2.3. Combination of the two splittings
Using an appropriate method [5] we can calculate the
unavoidable endogenous exergy destruction within the kth
component when all the remaining components operate
without irreversibilities. This calculation allows us then to
obtain the unavoidable endogenous exergy destruction and
subsequently the avoidable endogenous, the unavoidable
exogenous and the avoidable exogenous parts of exergy
destruction within the kth component.
The endogenous avoidable part of the exergy destruction
can be reduced through improving the efciency of the kth
component. The exogenous avoidable part of the exergy
destruction can be reduced by a structural improvement of
the overall system or by improving the efciency of the
remaining components and of course by improving the
efciency in the kth component.
The endogenous unavoidable part of the exergy destruction cannot be reduced because of technical limitations for
the kth component. The exogenous unavoidable part of the
exergy destruction cannot be reduced because of technical
limitations in the other components of the overall system
for the given structure.
This information is extremely useful for the iterative
exergoeconomic optimization of energy conversion systems
[3,7,8]. The designer is guided (a) to focus only on the
endogenous avoidable and exogenous avoidable exergy
destructions and to compare their costs with avoidable

2.4.1. Endogenous and exogenous parts of the exergy

destruction
The exergy destruction in component C can  be
determined from Eqs. (2) and (5) as E_ D;C E_ P;C 1  1
C


E_ P;tot 1  1 . There is only endogenous exergy destruction
C
EN
in component C (E_ D;C E_ D;C ) because the value of E_ D;C is
a function of the exergetic efciency of this component
EX
0).
only (E_
D;C

The exergy destruction in component B can be deter


E_
mined similarly by E_ D;B P;tot 1  1 . The exergy
B

C

destruction in component B depends on the exergetic

efciencies of both components B and C. Thus, there are
endogenous and exogenous parts of the exergy destruction
EN
can be determined if
for component B. The value E_
D;B

component B operates with its current efciency

(eB(=const)o1),
while
component C is ideal (eC=1)


EN
1
_
_
E
E P;tot
 1 . Then the exogenous exergy destruD;B

B

ction within component




1
1

1

1
:


B

becomes

EX
E_ D;B E_ P;tot

The equation for the exergy destruction within component A can be determined similarly by E_ D;A


E_ P;tot
1

1
. The endogenous part of exergy destruction

 
C B

in component A can be determined when eA(=const)o1

Fig. 1. Theoretical energy conversion system.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907
EN
but eB=1 and eC=1: E_ D;A E_ P;tot

1
A


 1 . The exogen-

ous part of the exergy destruction in component A then




E_
EX
1
1
becomes E_ D;A  P;tot

1

1
:

 

C B

B C

2.4.2. Unavoidable and avoidable parts of the exergy

destruction
The unavoidable part of the exergy destruction in the kth
component can be determined by calculating the exergy
destruction for the overall system under the assumption
that each component operates with its unavoidable
thermodynamic inefciencies. For the system shown in
UN
Fig. 1 the value E_ D;tot can be calculated as



1
1
UN
UN
UN
UN
E_ D;tot E_ D;A E_ D;B E_ D;C E P;tot UN UN UN  1
C B
A

 

1
1
1
UN UN  1 UN  1 .
C
B
C
The avoidable part of exergy destruction for the overall
system is


AV
UN
UN
E_ D;tot E_ D;tot  E_ D;tot E_ D;A  E_ D;A

 

UN
UN
E_ D;B  E_
E_ D;C  E_
.
D;B

D;C

2.4.3. Combining the two options for splitting the exergy

destruction
The endogenous unavoidable part of the exergy destruction
EN;UN
_
) is the exergy destruction occurring within the kth
(E
D;K

component when this component operates at its maximal

attainable efciency (UN
k ) while all other components operate
in an ideal way. For the theoretical system in Fig. 1 we write:


1
EN;UN
_
_
E D;C E P;tot UN  1 ,
C
EN;UN
E_ D;B E_ P;tot

1
UN
B


1 ,

3. Theoretical absorption refrigeration machine

A simple schematic of an absorption refrigeration
machine (ARM) is shown in Fig. 2a. For the thermodynamic cycle of an ARM, two heat sources and one sink
at different temperature levels are necessary [9,10]:




High-temperature heat source Q_ hot (at Thot) as external

energy (exergy) for the generator. This heat source is
associated with the fuel for the overall ARM, i.e.
E_ F ;G E_ F ;tot . For the ideal ARM: Q_ hot Q_ G and
Thot=T11=T12.
Middle-temperature heat sink Q_ 0 (T0)as cooling medium
for the condenser and absorber. For the ideal ARM:
Q_ 0 Q_ A Q_ CD and T0=T13=T14=T15=T16.
Low-temperature heat source Q_ cold (Tcold) as product
from the evaporator. This heat source is associated with
the product of the overall ARM, i.e. E_ P;E E_ P;tot
const for the analysis. For the ideal ARM: Q_ cold Q_ EV
and Tcold=T17=T18.

For simplifying the thermodynamic and the exergetic

analysis of an ARM, the overall process can be presented
as two separate (direct and inverse) Carnot cycles [10,11]
(Figs. 2b and c). In the present paper the same approach is
used for evaluating the exogenous and endogenous exergy
destruction in each component of an ARM. The conditions
for the analysis of the ideal process include: Q_ cold const
_ direct W
_ inverse ; Thot const and TG const;
and W
T0 const and TA const, TCD const; Tcold const
and TEV const.
The ideal operation of a component is needed to estimate
the endogenous exergy destruction in the remaining system
components.
If we now introduce to the ideal process an irreversibility
only in the kth component, then the exergy destruction in
this component represents the endogenous exergy destrucEN
tion E_ D;k E_ . The condition Q_
const corresponds
D;k

cold

inverse
_ direct W
_ inverse correto E_ P;tot const; the condition W
direct
const if irreversibilities are introduced
sponds to E_
P;tot

and
EN;UN
E_ D;A E_ P;tot

893

only in the direct cycle.

1
1 .
UN
A

3.1. Inverse cycle analysis

The remaining parts of the exergy destruction in the kth

component are determined by the following simple equations:

EX ;AV
EX
EX ;UN
E_ D;k
E_ D;k  E_ D;k .

The inverse cycle includes four components: compressor

(CM), condenser (CD), expander (EX) and evaporator
(EV).
The exergy destruction rates in the components of the
inverse cycle (Figs. 2b and 3a) are calculated by


_ CM  E_ 5  E_ 8 ,
E_ D;CM W
(7)

It is apparent that the sum of all four parts equals the total
exergy destruction within the component:




E_ D;CD E_ 5  E_ 6  E_ 16  E_ 15 ,

(8)

EN;UN
EX ;UN
EN;AV
EX ;AV
E_ D;k
E_ D;k
E_ D;k E_ D;k
E_ D;k .



_ EX ,
E_ D;EX E_ 6  E_ 7  W

(9)

EN;AV
EN
EN;UN
E_ D;k
E_ D;k  E_ D;k ;

EX ;UN
UN
EN;UN
E_ D;k
E_ D;k  E_ D;k ,

and

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

894

Fig. 2. Simple, one-effect absorption refrigeration machine (ARM): (a) schematic; (b) schematic-equivalent; (c) cycle of ARM on a Ts -diagram as two
separate Carnot cycles.

Fig. 3. Analysis of an ideal cycle, a real cycle and the required hybrid cycles: (a) inverse; (b) direct.




E_ D;EV E_ 7  E_ 8  E_ 18  E_ 17 .

(10)

In the following we introduce the terms used for the

cycles involved in splitting the exergy destruction within
the kth component into the endogenous and exogenous
parts.
The ideal cycle consists only of reversible processes. The
symbol I denotes the ideal cycle.
The hybrid cycle consists of one irreversible process while
all others are reversible processes. The symbol H is used for
describing the points of the hybrid cycle.
The real cycle (symbol R) consists only of irreversible
processes.

The ideal inverse cycle consists of the states 5I6I7I8I.

The mass ow rate of the working uid of the ideal inverse
_ 5I6I7I8I h
cycle is determined by m

Q_ cold
8I h7I

In the following, we successively introduce irreversibilities in each component while keeping the operation of the
remaining components ideal. In this way the hybrid cycles
are created:
Introducing a temperature difference in the evaporator
equal to the temperature difference in the real process
DT EV T cold  T EV , the hybrid cycle becomes 5I6I
7Ha8R and the _ corresponding mass ow rate is
Qcold
_ 5I6I7H a 8R h h
m
:
8R

7H a

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

The endogenous part of the exergy destruction in the

evaporator is calculated by


EN
_ 5I6I7H a 8R e7H a  e8R  m
_ 1718 e 18  e 17
E_ D;EV m
hybrid

_ 5I6I7H a 8R e7H a

m

ideal

 e8R  E_ Qcold .

ideal

11

The ideal expander operates between states 6I and 7I,

whereas the expansion process with irreversibilities is
6I7Hb (a hybrid cycle with irreversibilities only in the
expander is 5I6I7Hb8I). For the real ARM, the
expansion process with irreversibilities is equivalent to
the throttling process. An analytical expression for the
irreversibilities in expansion process is w EX w EX  ZEX .
hybrid

ideal

The endogenous part of the exergy destruction in the real

expansion process is


EN
_ 5I6I7H b 8I s7H b  s6I T 0
E_ D;EX m
(12)
_ 5I6I7H b 8I
where m

Q_ cold
.
h8I  h7H b

The ideal heat removing process in the condenser is

5I6I. After introducing a temperature difference equal to
the temperature difference in the real process
(DT CD T CD  T env ), the hybrid cycle with irreversibilities
only in the condenser becomes 5Ha6R7I8I, where
_ 5H a 6R7I8I m
_ 5I6I7I8I : The endogenous part of
m
the exergy destruction in the condensation process is




EN
_ 5H a 6R7I8I e5H a  e6R  m
_ 1516 e 16  e 15 ,
E_ D;CD m
hybrid

ideal

with
_ 5H a 6R7I8I h5H a  h6R
m


_ 1516 h
m
hybrid

16
ideal

h

15
ideal

CM
hybrid

w CM
ideal
ZCM

: The endogenous part of the

exergy destruction in the compression process is

EN
_ 5H b 6I7I8I s5H b  s8I T 0
E_ D;CM m


_ 5H b 6I7I8I w CM  e5H b  e8I
m

The unavoidable part of the exergy destruction in the kth

UN

component of the inverse thermodynamic cycle (E_ D;CM ,

UN
UN
UN
E_ D;CD , E_ D;EX , E_ D;EV ) can be determined by calculating a
cycle similar to the 5R6R7R8R where all irreversibilities correspond to their unavoidable values associated
UN
UN
UN
with DT UN
CD , DT EV , ZCM and ZEX .
The endogenous unavoidable part of the exergy destrucEN;UN
,
tion can be calculated for each component (E_
D;CM

EN;UN
EN;UN
EN;UN
E_ D;CD , E_ D;EX , E_ D;EV ) according to Eqs. (11)(14) using
UN UN
UN
the values DT UN
CD ; DT EV ; ZCM and ZEX together with the
corresponding values of the mass ow rates of the main
working uid and the secondary working uids.

3.2. Direct cycle analysis

The direct cycle consists of the following four components: generator (G), turbine (T), absorber (A) and pump
(P). The exergy destruction rates in these components
(Figs. 2b and c and 3b) are calculated by


.

The ideal compressor operates between states 8I and 5I

and the hybrid compression process between the temperatures of the ideal cycle (T0 and Tcold) is 8I5Hb. The hybrid
cycle with irreversibilities only in the compression process
is 5Hb6I7I8I. Thus, the specic work of the compression process is w

At this point we can conclude that introducing

irreversibilities in one component of the inverse cycle
inuences, in general, the other components by increasing
their entropy generation rate S_ gen;k through an increase in
the mass ow rate of the main working uid and, as a
consequence in some cases, of the secondary working
uids. The mass ow rate of the main working uid
changes only if the difference (h8h7) changes through a
change of the irreversibilities within the sub-system. The
graphical representation of the difference (h8h7) is the area
(d87c) on a Ts diagram (Fig. 3a). This area is
associated with the value of the specic cold heat rate.
Finally,
w CM

_ inverse m
_ 5R6R7R8R ideal  w EX  ZEX .
W
(15)
ZCM
ideal
real

ideal

(13)


14

hybrid

where
_ 5H b 6I7I8I m
_ 5I6I7I8I .
m

_ P  E_ 1  E_ 4 ,
E_ D;P W

(16)

E_ D;A E_ 3  E_ 4  E_ 14  E_ 13 ,

(17)

_ T,
E_ D;T E_ 2  E_ 3  W

(18)

E_ D;G E_ 11  E_ 12  E_ 2  E_ 1 .

(19)

The exergy destruction rate in each component will be

analyzed using Eq. (1) and Fig. 3b.
The ideal direct cycle consists of the states 1I2I3I4I.
The mass ow rate of the working uid of the direct cycle is
determined by
_ direct
W

_ 1I2I3I4I 
m

The cycle 5R6R7R8R corresponds to the inverse

cycle with irreversibilities in all processes, i.e. to the real
cycle. The value of the mass ow rate_ of the working uid
Q
_ 5R6R7R8R h cold
of the real cycle is m
:
h
8R

7R

895

T
ideal

w

.

P
ideal

Let us introduce successively irreversibilities in each

component of the direct cycle.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

896

Introducing a temperature difference in the generator

equal to the temperature difference in the real cycle, DT G
T hot  T G ; the hybrid cycle becomes 1Ha2R
3I4I and the mass ow rate for this cycle is
_ 1H a 2R3I4I
m

_ direct
W

w T w

P
hybrid

hybrid

_ direct
W

.
h2R  h3I  h4I  h1H a

The endogenous part of exergy destruction in the

generator is calculated by




EN
_ 1H a 2R3I4I e2R  e1H a ,
_ 1112 e 11  e 12  m
E_ D;G m
hybrid

ideal

with
_ 1H a 2R3I4I h2R  h1H a
m


_ 1112 h
m
hybrid

h

11
ideal

12
ideal


.

The higher the irreversibilities in the generator, the larger

_ 1112 when the thermodynamic
the mass ow rate m
properties of points 11 and 12 remain unchanged.
The ideal heat removing process in the absorber is 3I4I.
After introducing a temperature difference equal to the
temperature difference in the real cycle, DT A T A  T 0
the hybrid cycle with irreversibilities only in the absorber
becomes 1I2I3Ha4R. The endogenous part of the
exergy destruction of the absorption process is


EN
_
_
_
E D;A m1I2I3H a 4R e3H a  e4R  m1413 e 14  e 13 ,
hybrid

ideal

ideal

(21)
with
_ 1I2I3H a 4R h3H1
m

P
hybrid

P
ideal

ZP

and the endogenous part of exergy destruction of the pump

becomes
EN
_ 1H b 2I3I4I s1H b  s4I T 0 ,
E_ D;P m
(23)
where
_ 1H b 2I3I4I 
m
w

_ direct
W
T
ideal

w P .
ideal
ZP

ideal

(20)


pump is


_ 1413 h
 h4R m
hybrid

14
ideal

h

13
ideal


.

ideal

The endogenous part of exergy destruction in the real

turbine is
EN
_ 1I2I3H b 4I s3H b  s2I T 0
E_ D;T m

_ 1I2I3H b 4I 
where m
w

(22)

_ direct
W
T
ideal

ideal

The mass ow rate of the working uid of the direct

cycle changes every time irreversibilities are introduced in
each component because the area (1234) associated
with the value of the specic work for the direct cycle
(wdirect wTwP) never remains constant.
The unavoidable part of the exergy destruction in each
UN
UN
component of the direct thermodynamic cycle (E_ , E_ ,
D;G

D;A

UN
UN
E_ D;T , E_ D;P ) can be determined by calculating a cycle similar
to 1R2R3R4R where all irreversibilities correspond to
UN
their unavoidable values, associated with DT UN
G , DT A ,
UN
UN
ZT and ZP .
The endogenous unavoidable part of the exergy destrucEN;UN
,
tion can be calculated for each component (E_
D;G

As before, the higher the irreversibilities in the absorber,

_ 1314 when the thermothe larger the mass ow rate m
dynamic properties of points 13 and 14 remain unchanged.
The ideal turbine operates between states 2I and 3I,
whereas the expansion process with irreversibilities is
2I3Hb (a hybrid cycle with irreversibilities only in the
expander is 1I2I3Hb4I). The specic work obtained
from the turbine can be determined by w T w T  ZT .
hybrid

The cycle 1R2R3R4R corresponds to the real direct

cycle. The value of the mass ow rate of the working uid
of the direct cycle taking into account all irreversibilities is
_ direct
W
_ 1R2R3R4R 
m
w P .
w T  ZT  ideal
Z

.

 ZT  w

P
ideal

The ideal pump operates between states 4I1I. The

hybrid process for the pump (4I1Hb) is between the
temperatures of the ideal cycle (Thot and T0). The hybrid
cycle with irreversibilities only in the pump is
1Hb2I3I4I. The corresponding specic work for the

EN;UN
EN;UN
EN;UN
E_ D;A , E_ D;T , E_ D;P ) according to Eqs. (20)(23) using
UN
UN
and ZUN
together will the
the values DT UN
P
G , DT A , ZT
corresponding values of the mass ow rates of the main
working uid and the secondary working uids.

4. Real absorption refrigeration machine

4.1. General aspects
The widely used algorithm for creating the real thermodynamic cycle of an ARM is the following [9]:
9
T EV T 18  DT EV ; T EV ! pEV ; >
>


>
>
>
pA pEV 1  DpA ;
>
>
>
>
T CD T 15 DT CD ; T CD ! pCD ; >
>
>


>
>
>
pG pCD 1 DpG ;
>
>
>
>
=
T 2 T 11  DT G ;
(24)
T 4 T 13 DT A ;
>
>
>
>
>
xA CT 2 ; pG ;
>
>
>
>
>
>
xR CT 4 ; pA ;
>
>
>
>
>
xD CT 5 ; pCD ;
>
>
>
;
T 1 CX R ; pG :

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

The temperature T5 represents the middle temperature

of the vaporization process in the generator as T5
(T2+T1*)/2. For the mixtures refrigerantabsorbent such
as LiBrH2O, it is always xD 1. For mixtures such as
H2ONH3, we have xDo1.
For the analysis of an ARM we will use the regular
practice of splitting the overall system of ARM into two
sub-systems [10,11]:

Basic process (condenser, throttling valve and evaporator). The basic process is described by three processes of
the inverse thermodynamic cycle (condensation, expansion and evaporation). The cycle of a basic process is
5678. The working uid of the basic process is a
mixture with concentration xD, the mass ow rate of
which can be determined by
_
m

basic
process

Q_ cold
Q_ cold
,

qcold
h8  h7

_5 m
_6 m
_7 m
_8 m
_
where m

(25)
basic :
process

Thermo-chemical compressor (generator, absorber, throttling valve and pump). The working uid of the thermochemical compressor is a mixture with concentrations xR
for the strong solution and xA for the weak solution. The
thermo-chemical compressor is described by all processes of
the direct thermodynamic cycle and the compression
process from the inverse thermodynamic cycle. The cycle
of a thermo-chemical compressor is 30 411*23. The
mass ow rate of the mixture with the concentration xR is
_1 f m
_ basic .
_4 m
m
process

(26)

The mass ow rate of the mixture with the concentration

xA is
_ 3 f  1  m
_
_2 m
m

basic ,
process

(27)

where the circulation ratio of the mixture with the

concentration xR should be calculated as
xD  xA
f
.
(28)
xR  xA
The mass ow rates of the heating and cooling media
(secondary working uids) of ARM should be determined
from the energy conservation equations for the corresponding component:

Generator
_
Q_ G m

basic h5
process

_ 1112 h11  h12 .

 h2 f h2  h1  m
(29)

Condenser
_
Q_ CD m

897

basic h5
process

_ 1516 h16  h15 .

 h6 m

(31)

_ 1718 h17  h18 .

 h7 m

(32)

Evaporator
_
Q_ EV m

basic h8
process

The compression process in the pump can be assumed as

_ P is very small
an ideal one (s4=s1) because the value W
_ P =(0.01y0.015) Q_ G and introducing the real
(usually W
_
W
value as Z P cannot give any signicant inuence to
P
the analysis. Thus, the pump will be excluded from the
analysis [911].
4.2. Exergy analysis
Let us analyze all processes in an ARM from the
exergetic point of view. Corresponding to Eq. (3a) the
exergy balances for components of ARM are:
E_ D;G E_ 11  E_ 12  E_ 2 E_ 5  E_ 1 ,

(33)

E_ D;A E_ 3 E_ 8  E_ 4  E_ 14  E_ 13 ,

(34)

E_ D;CD E_ 5  E_ 6  E_ 16  E_ 15 ,

(35)

M
M
T
T
E_ D;TVR E_ 6  E_ 7  E_ 7  E_ 6 ,

(36)

E_ D;EV E_ 7  E_ 8  E_ 18  E_ 17 .

(37)

Two throttling valves exist in the ARM: the throttling

valve for the mixture with the concentration xA (TVM)
working at a temperature above T0 and the throttling valve
for the mixture with the concentration xD (TVR) working
at temperature below T0.
According to the denition of the product and the fuel
[1,3] we analyze differently the TVM and the TVR. The
purpose of the throttling valve TVM is only to decrease the
pressure of the mixture with the concentration xA from pG
down to pA. Thus, TVM represents a dissipative component. The purpose of the throttling valve for the mixture
with the concentration xD (TVR) is to achieve a low
T
T
temperature E_ P;TVR E_  E_ at the expense of me7

M
M
chanical exergy E_ F ;TVR E_ 6  E_ 7 [6].
For the exergetic analysis of an ARM, we split the total
exergy associated with a material ow into its physical and
chemical parts for ows E_ 1 through E_ 8
PH
CH
E_ j E_ j E_ j

(38a)

or

Absorber
_
Q_ A m

basic h8
process

_ k ePH
_ k eCH
E_ j m
m
j
j .
_ 1314 h14  h13 .
 h3 f h3  h4  m
(30)

(38b)

The specic physical exergy of the jth ow is

ePH
j

hj  hj;0  T 0 sj  sj;0 .

(39)

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

898

For ows E_ 6 and E_ 7 splitting the physical exergy into

thermal and mechanical parts is necessary [12]
hj  hj;M  T 0 sj  sj;M pconst
ePH
j
|{z}
eT

hj;M  hj;0  T 0 sj;M  sj;0 T 0 const

|{z}

40

eM

with the point M dened at the pressure p and the

temperature T0.
The specic chemical exergy of the jth ow for the
mixture refrigerantabsorbent can be calculated as [1]
CH
rev
eCH
xj  eCH
j
refrigerant 1  xj  eabsorbent wX j ,

(41)

with
wrev
X j hj;0  xj hrefrigerant;0  1  xj habsorbent;0 
 T 0 sj;0  xj srefrigerant;0  1  xj sabsorbent;0 ,

42

where wrev
X j is the specic work associated with the mixing of
pure refrigerant (xD 1) and pure absorbent (xD 0).
Let us illustrate the location of the points mentioned
above on a hx diagram (Fig. 4). The points 0 for the pure
absorbent and the pure refrigerant are xed. The position
of point 0 for calculating the physical exergy will depend on
the concentration of the mixture (x). Many points are
located on the isotherm of T0 (for example, T0
293.15 1C) at pressure p0 (for example, p0 0.1 MPa)
Fig. 4.
Thus, for the exergetic analysis of ARM three values of
the specic chemical exergy should be determined for
concentrations xA, xR and xD as well as three points 0 for
calculating the physical exergy at the respective concentrations of the mixture.
4.3. Exergy analysis of the real cycle
All calculations reported here were conducted with the
aid of the EES software [13].
For the analysis of an ARM, the following operational
conditions were used here: The temperatures T11, T13, T15,
T17 and T18 are known and cannot be changed but the
values of T12, T14 and T16 are variable (Fig. 2a). The
working uid is a mixture NH3H2O, the cold heat rate is
Q_ cold 100 kW; Thot T11 413.2 K; T0 T13 T15
293.2 K; Tcold T18 263.2 K; T17 268.2 K. Note
that all heat transfer processes can be assumed as isobaric.
Fig. 5 represents the real thermodynamic cycle of an
ARM with all irreversibilities included: DTCD; DTEV; DTG
and DpG; DTA and DpA. For the real ARM we assumed
DTCD 5 K; DTEV 5 K; DTG 10 K and DpG
0.02 MPa; DTA 3 K and DpA 0.015 MPa as shown in
Table 1.
For the exergetic analysis of an ARM the values
CH
CH
and eCH
eabsorbent eCH
H 2 O 45 kJ/kmol
refrigerant eNH 3
336 684 kJ/kmol were used [1,14]. For the real system we

Fig. 4. The reference points 0 for calculating the exergy values for
mixtures with various concentrations (xA, xR, xD, etc.).

present the detailed exergetic analysis (Tables 1, 2 and 10)

but for further calculations only the nal results are given.
For the cycles discussed below (Figs. 68), the values of
_ 1112 as well as
T11 and the corresponding mass ow rate m
_ 1314 ; T15 and m
_ 1516 ; T17, T18 and m
_ 1718 remain
T13 and m
constant. These values are given for the real cycle in Table
1 and are not repeated in Tables 39.
4.4. Exergy analysis of the theoretical cycle
The thermodynamic analysis discussed above has
shown that creating a theoretical cycle of an ARM is
necessary for splitting the exergy destruction within
each component into the endogenous and exogenous
parts. Note that for the theoretical cycle both throttling valves TVM and TVR should be replaced by
expanders according to Figs. 2b and c and 3, i.e. s2=s3
and s6=s7 [5,6].
For creating the theoretical cycle, the following assumptions are usually made [9]: DTCD 0; DTEV 0; DpG 0;
DpA 0; T2 T11 and T4 T13. These conditions correspond to the maximal value of f (Eq. (28)) which
simultaneously is the necessary and the sufcient condition
for dening the theoretical thermodynamic cycle of an
ARM for the energy analysis.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

The creation of a theoretical cycle of an ARM for the

exergetic analysis needs some additional discussion: The
conditions T2 T11 (DTG 0) and DpG 0 describe
the theoretical heat and mass transfer in the generator.

899

Similarly, the conditions T4 T13 (DTA 0) and DpA 0

correspond to the theoretical heat and mass transfer
processes in the absorber. The conditions DTCD 0 and
DTEV 0 correspond only to xD 1 and cannot be
assumed for the exergetic analysis of an ARM if xDo1.
A more general case is the one in which xD is kept constant,
thus DTCD const and DTEV const (where the values
DTCD and DTEV correspond to the real cycle), i.e.
pEV const and pCD const for the analysis. The conditions T6 T15 and T8 T17 are assumed for the theoretical condenser and evaporator, respectively.
Fig. 6 shows the theoretical cycle of the ARM, the
calculation data of which are given in Tables 3 and 10.
5. Splitting the exergy destruction
5.1. Unavoidable and avoidable parts
For splitting the total exergy destruction within each
component of the ARM (according to Section 2.2) into the
unavoidable and avoidable parts we need to create a cycle
with only unavoidable irreversibilities (Fig. 7). To calculate
the values of unavoidable irreversibilities, the following
assumptions were made: T8 T17DT8 with DT8 0.2 K;
T6 T15+DT6 with DT6 0.2 K; DTG 0.2 K and
DpG 0.005 MPa; DTA 0.2 K and DpA 0.005 MPa.
Note that for the exergetic analysis of the ARM with
unavoidable exergy destruction both throttling valves are
included in the structure of ARM.
The thermodynamic data for this cycle are given in Table
4, and the avoidable and unavoidable parts of the exergy
destruction are given in Table 10.
5.2. Endogenous and exogenous parts

Fig. 5. The real cycle of an absorption refrigeration machine (3

saturated liquid; 300 saturated vapor; 1*beginning of the boiling
process for a mixture with the concentration xR in the generator).

The theoretical basis for calculating the endogenous

exergy destruction and the endogenous unavoidable exergy

Table 1
Thermodynamic data for the real ARM
_ (kg/s) T (K) p (MPa) x (kg/kg) h (kJ/kg) s (kJ/kg K) eCH (kJ/kg) ePH (kJ/kg) eM (kJ/kg) eT (kJ/kg) e (kJ/kg)
Stream Material ow m
1R
1*R
2R
3R
4R
5R
6R
7R
8R
11R
12R
13R
14R
15R
16R
17R
18R

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Air
Water
Water
Water
Water
Air
Air

0.6727
0.6727
0.4308
0.4308
0.6727
0.1969
0.1969
0.1969
0.1969
14.23
14.23
4.477
4.477
3.625
3.625
19.88
19.88

296.2
355.7
403.1
353.7
296.1
379.4
301.0
260.5
263.1
413.2
373.2
293.2
313.2
293.2
313.2
268.2
263.2

1.204
1.204
1.204
0.201
0.201
1.003
1.003
0.236
0.236
0.15
0.15
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

0.4374
0.4374
0.2227
0.2227
0.4374
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

131.5

0.2012

8599

6.023

8605

414.7
414.7
132.7
1603.0
63.55
63.55
571.3
414.6
374.0
83.93
167.6
83.93
167.6
414.6
307.6

1.652
1.706
0.2012
5.218
0.444
0.496
2.429
7.077
6.974
0.296
0.572
0.296
0.572
7.077
6.778

4337
4337
8599
17 959
17 954
17 959
17 959

73.91
57.91
4.843
353.1
212.9
197.6
138.7
53.76
43.47
0
2.73
0
2.73
1.138
1.658

4411
4395
8604
18 312
18 167
18 157
18 098
53.76
43.47
0
2.73
0
2.73
1.138
1.658

212.4
102.2

0.5
95.4

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

900

Table 2
Thermodynamic properties used for the exergetic calculations of the mixture NH3-H2O for the points of the real cycle

Reference points

Point M
Point M

For a point

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

h (kJ/kg)

s (kJ/kg  K)

4, 1
2, 3
5, 6, 7, 8
11,12,17,18
13,14,15,16
6
7

293.2
293.2
293.2
293.2
293.2
293.2
293.2

0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
1.003
0.2362

0.4374
0.2227
0.9074

77.75
63.18
1167
293.4
83.93
26.11
1075

0.9356
0.2737
4.933
6.847
0.2962
0.3181
4.271

0.9074
0.9074

Fig. 6. The theoretical cycle of an absorption refrigeration machine.

Fig. 7. Cycle of an absorption refrigeration machine having only the

unavoidable irreversibilities.

destruction is the same. Therefore, two different values of

efciency are used in the calculation:

of the endogenous and exogenous exergy destruction as

well as the splitting of exergy destruction into four parts
are given in Table 10.




the real efciency of a component is used to calculate the

endogenous part;
the efciency corresponding to the unavoidable exergy
destruction is used for calculating the endogenous
unavoidable part of the exergy destruction.

In the following we briey discuss the application of

these concepts to the components of an ARM. The values

5.2.1. Generator
Initially we assume that only the generator of the ARM
operates with irreversibilities while all other components
are theoretical (Fig. 8a). The operating conditions of the
generator are given by DTG and DpG, with DTG 5 K and
EN
DpG 0.02 MPa for calculating the value of E_ D;G and
DT G 0.2 K and DpG 0.005 MPa for calculating the

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

901

Fig. 8. Hybrid cycles of an absorption refrigeration machine for calculating the endogenous exergy destruction in the (a) generator; (b) absorber;
(c) condenser; and (d) evaporator.
EN;UN

value of E_ D;G . The thermodynamic data for calculating

the endogenous and endogenous unavoidable exergy
destruction in the generator are given in Table 5.
5.2.2. Absorber
The endogenous exergy destruction within the absorber
is calculated at DT A 5 K and DpA 0.015 MPa when all
other components are theoretical. The value of endogenous
unavoidable
exergy
destruction
corresponds
to
DT A 0.2 K and DpA 0.005 MPa (Fig. 8b and Table 6).
The throttling valve TVM is a dissipative component. If
we assume that this component serves exclusively the

absorber then we should consider the two components

together and calculate the exergy destruction in a hybrid
process in which only the absorber and the TVM are
irreversible. The endogenous exergy destruction for the
system (absorber+TVM) amounts to 30.4 kW whereas the
endogenous exergy destruction of the absorber alone is
29.92 kW. It is apparent that the effect of TVM is relatively
small.
5.2.3. Condenser
Now we assume that only the condenser in the ARM
operates with irreversibilities while all other components

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

902
Table 3
Thermodynamic data for the theoretical ARM
Stream

Material ow

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

1T
2T
3T
4T
5T 5R
6T
7T
8T
12T
14T
16T

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

0.2914
0.1628
0.1628
0.2914
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
413.1
370.0
293.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.1
352.7
305.2
306.5

1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.1507
0.1507
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3009
2996
9552
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 075
39.49
1.0
1.237

Table 4
Thermodynamic data for the ARM having only unavoidable irreversibilities
Stream

Material ow

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

1RU
2RU
3RU
4RU
5RU
6RU
7RU
8RU
12RU
14RU
16RU

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3-H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

0.3119
0.1808
0.1808
0.3119
0.1311
0.1311
0.1311
0.1311
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.4
413.0
367.9
293.4
379.4
293.4
260.4
268.0
389.3
305.9
306.8

1.054
1.054
0.2244
0.2244
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4742
0.16
0.16
0.4742
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9342
3192
3180
9341
18 312
18 172
18 161
18 076
47.23
1.128
1.284

Table 5
Thermodynamic data for the hybrid ARM with irreversibilities only in the generator
Material ow

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

Stream

1H
2R
3H
4T
5R
6T
7T
8T
12H
14H
16H

Endogenous

Stream

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.3360
0.2074
0.2074
0.3360
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
403.1
356.7
293.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.1
389.5
305.7
306.5

1.204
1.204
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.2227
0.2227
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
4411
4394
9552
18312
18172
18163
18075
47.28
1.096
1.237

are theoretical. The real condition for the condenser is the

placement of point 6 on the line of saturated liquid
(Figs. 6 and 8c). Thus, this assumption should be used also
EN
for calculating the value of E_ D;CD . The value of the
endogenous unavoidable exergy in the condenser corresponds to T6=T15+DT6 with DT6=0.2 K (Fig. 8c and
Table 7).

1HU
2RU
3HU
4T
5R
6T
7T
8T
12HU
14HU
16HU

Endogenous unavoidable
_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.2960
0.1674
0.1674
0.2960
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
412.9
368.6
293.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.1
390.1
305.3
306.5

1.054
1.054
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.16
0.16
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3192
3178
9552
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 075
47.45
1.017
1.237

5.2.4. Evaporator
Now the evaporator in the ARM operates under real
conditions while all other components are theoretical
(Fig. 8d). The real condition for the evaporator for
EN
calculating the value of E_ D;EV is T8 T18; the value of
the endogenous unavoidable exergy destruction can be
calculated if T8 T17+DT8 with DT8 0.2 K (Table 8).

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

903

Table 6
Thermodynamic data for the hybrid ARM with irreversibilities only in the absorber
Material ow

NH3-H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

Stream

1H
2T
3H
4R
5R
6T
7T
8T
12H
14H
16H

Endogenous

Stream

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.3394
0.2108
0.2108
0.3394
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
14.23
4.477
3.625

296.2
413.1
365.9
296.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.1
388.5
306.4
306.5

1.003
1.003
0.2008
0.2008
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4374
0.1507
0.1507
0.4374
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

8605
3009
2994
8604
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 075
47.05
1.222
1.237

Endogenous unavoidable
_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

1HU
2T
3HU
4RU
5R
6T
7T
8T
12HU
14HU
16HU

0.3008
0.1722
0.1722
0.3008
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
0.1286
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.4
413.1
368.7
293.3
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.1
389.9
305.4
306.5

1.003
1.003
0.2244
0.2244
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4742
0.1507
0.1507
0.4742
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9342
3009
2995
9341
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 075
47.39
1.049
1.237

Stream

Endogenous unavoidable

Table 7
Thermodynamic data for the hybrid ARM with irreversibilities only in the condenser
Material ow

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3-H2O
NH3H2O
NH3-H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

Stream

1T
2T
3T
4T
5R
6R
7H
8T
12H
14H
16H

Endogenous
_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.3035
0.1695
0.1695
0.3035
0.134
0.134
0.134
0.134
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
413.1
370.0
293.1
379.4
301.0
260.5
268.1
389.3
305.7
306.7

1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.1507
0.1507
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3009
2996
9552
18 312
18 167
18 155
18 075
47.25
1.085
1.279

1T
2T
3T
4T
5R
6RU
7HU
8T
12HU
14HU
16HU

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.2917
0.1629
0.1629
0.2917
0.1288
0.1288
0.1288
0.1288
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
413.1
370.0
293.1
379.4
293.4
260.4
268.1
390.2
305.2
306.5

1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.1507
0.1507
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3009
2996
9552
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 075
47.48
1.003
1.238

Table 8
Thermodynamic data for the hybrid ARM with irreversibilities only in the evaporator
Material ow

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

Stream

1T
2T
3T
4T
5R
6T
7T
8R
12H
14H
16H

Endogenous

Stream

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.4088
0.2283
0.2283
0.4088
0.1805
0.1805
0.1805
0.1805
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
413.1
370.0
293.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
263.1
381
307.8
311.9

1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.1507
0.1507
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3009
2996
9552
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 098
45.24
1.49
2.409

5.2.5. Throttling valve (TVR)

The presence of a throttling valve in the schematic of an
ARM means real conditions for the expansion process.
Thus, the endogenous exergy destruction and the endogenous unavoidable exergy destruction in the throttling

1T
2T
3T
4T
5R
6T
7T
8RU
12HU
14HU
16HU

Endogenous unavoidable
_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

0.2933
0.1638
0.1638
0.2933
0.1295
0.1295
0.1295
0.1295
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
413.1
370.0
293.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.0
390.1
305.2
306.6

1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.1507
0.1507
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3009
2996
9552
18 312
18 172
18 163
18 076
47.45
1.008
1.253

valve TVR are equal. A cycle with the TVR can be

obtained if in the theoretical ARM (Fig. 6) point 6
corresponds to point 7, as in Fig. 5 for the real ARM
(Table 9).
Note that the throttling valve is the only component in a
refrigeration machine that cannot be improved through

ARTICLE IN PRESS
T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

904

Table 9
Thermodynamic data for the hybrid ARM with irreversibilities only in the throttling valve TVR
Stream

Material ow

_ (kg/s)
m

T (K)

p (MPa)

x (kg/kg)

e (kJ/kg)

1T
2T
3T
4T
5R
6T
7H
8T
12H
14H
16H

NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
NH3H2O
Air
Water
Water

0.2947
0.1646
0.1646
0.2947
0.1301
0.1301
0.1301
0.1301
14.23
4.477
3.625

293.2
413.1
370.0
293.1
379.4
293.1
260.4
268.1
390.0
305.4
306.7

1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
1.003
1.003
0.2362
0.2362
0.15
0.1
0.1

0.4847
0.1507
0.1507
0.4847
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074
0.9074

9553
3009
2996
9552
18312
18 172a
18 161a
18075
47.42
1.023
1.265

T
M
Where eT6 0.1 kJ/kg and eM
6 212.5 kJ/kg; e7 99.9 kJ/kg and e7 102.2 kJ/kg.

changes in the same component. Decreasing the exergy

destruction in the throttling valve can be achieved only
through decreasing the exogenous part of the exergy
destruction, i.e. through improving the other components
and their structure in the overall system.
6. Results and discussion
All results from the exergy analysis are summarized in
Table 10. A conventional exergy analysis (without splitting
the exergy destruction) would suggest that rst the
components with the highest values of yk (Eq. (4)) should
be improved. Thus, the components should be improved in
the following order: absorber (40.4%), generator (39.2%),
condenser (16.4%) and evaporator (1.2%).
When we consider the information provided through the
splittings of the exergy destruction (Table 10), the
UN
following additional conclusions are obtained: E_

D;tot

70.96 kW (or 65.8% of the total exergy destruction) within

EN;UN
54.61 kW
the real ARM is unavoidable, while E_
D;tot

(or 50.1%) depends on the components themselves. Thus,

the total exergy destruction in the real ARM after all
possible improvements cannot be lower than 54.61 kW.
Now we will describe the iteration steps for improving
the ARM according to the information related to
endogenous avoidable and exogenous avoidable exergy
destruction within each component (last two columns in
Table 10).
The component that should be improved rst is the
generator: The value E EN;AV
is the highest among all
D;G
EN;AV
EX ;AV
4E_
. This means that
components, and E_
D;G

D;G

improving the generator itself is more important for

decreasing the value of E_ D;G than improving other
components. In addition, an improvement in the generator
will reduce the exergy destruction also in other components, in which the exogenous avoidable exergy destruction
is larger than the endogenous avoidable.
The absorber is the component that should be improved
in the second place based on the value of E EN;AV
(4.48 kW).
D;A

It should be mentioned, however, that this value is by a

EX ;AV
. This means
factor of 2.9 lower than the value of E D;A
that the total exergy destruction in the absorber can
be reduced mainly through improvements in other
components.
The potential for improving just the condenser is
relatively small and this component can be improved
mainly through reducing the exergy destruction in other
EN;AV
EX ;AV
components because of E_
5E_
:
D;CD

D;CD

We obtain interesting information from the advanced

exergetic analysis of the evaporator. Splitting the exergy
destruction into endogenous and exogenous parts for the
EN
EX
evaporator shows that E_
4E_ D;EV , thus E_
o0. The
D;EV

D;EV

same occurs when calculating the value of endogenous

EN;UN
UN
4E_
with
unavoidable exergy destruction: E_
D;EV

D;EV

EX ;UN
EX ;AV
E_ D;EV o0 and E_ D;EV o0. A detailed analysis of this
effect can be made with the aid of Fig. 9 where the
processes of condensation, throttling (or expansion) and
evaporation on a T-s diagram (created for the mixture with
concentration xD) are given.
The line 5R6R7R8R represents the cycle of the basic
process with real irreversibilities according to Fig. 5. For
this case the value of the mass ow rate is determined as

_
m

basic
process

Q_ cold
8R h7R

0.1969 kg/s (Table 1).

For calculating the value of the endogenous exergy

destruction in the evaporator, the operating conditions for
the condenser and the TVR change (according to the
information provided in Section 4.4, Fig. 8d and Table 8).
Now the evaporation process begins at point 7 T instead of
point 7R. This leads to a decrease of the value of the
temperature at the inlet of the evaporator (T7ToT7R and
h7Toh7R) and to a decrease of the value of
_
m

basic
process

Q_ cold
8R h7T

0.1805 kg/s. The value of the endogen-

ous exergy destruction in the evaporator is larger than the

exergy destruction in the real process because the increase
in specic entropy generation outweighs the effect of the
decrease of the mass ow rate.

Table 10
Summary of the results from advanced exergy analysis of the ARMa
Component Real ARM

Basic process

E_ D;k
(kW)

ek
(%)

yk
(%)

yka
(%)

EN
E_ D;k
(kW)

EX
E_ D;k
(kW)

Splitting E_ D;k real (kW)

UN
E_ D;k (kW)

AV
E_ D;k (kW)

EN;UN
E_ D;k
(kW)

EX ;UN
E_ D;k
(kW)

EN;AV
E_ D;k
(kW)

EX ;AV
E_ D;k
(kW)

146.4

104.1

42.29

71.1 28.9

39.2

15.87

28.94
13.35
38.85
3.44
(68.4%) (31.6%) (91.9%) (8.1%)

28.69
(67.8%)

0.25
(0.6%)

10.16
(23.9%)

3.19
(7.7%)

55.76

12.22

43.53

21.9 29.7

40.4

24.31

26.08
17.45
29.92
13.61
25.44
(59.9%) (40.1%) (68.7%) (31.3%) (58.4%)

0.64
(1.5%)

4.48
(10.3%)

12.97
(29.8%)

Pb
CD

0.81
27.61

0.81
9.896

0
17.71

35.8 12.1

16.4

13.54

13.72
3.99
14.09
3.62
13.55
(77.5%) (22.5%) (79.6%) (20.4%) (76.5%)

0.17
(0.9%)

0.54
(3.1%)

3.45
(19.5%)

TVR

21.74

18.72

3.02

8.6

2.1

2.8

1.392
1.628
1.365
1.655
1.365
(46.1%) (53.9%) (45.2%) (54.8%) (45.2%)

0.027
(0.9%)

1.628
(53.9%)

EV

11.59

10.36

1.23

89.4 0.8

1.2

0.88

0.816
0.414
1.371
0.141 0.9
(66.7%) (33.6%) (111%) (11%) (73.2%)

0.084
(6.8%)

0.471
(38.3%)

0.057
(4.7%)

Overall
system

147.2

10.36

107.78

7.07 73.6

100

54.6
(50.1%)

70.95
36.83
85.6
22.18
69.945
(65.8%) (34.2%) (79.4%) (20.6%) (64.9%)

1.0
(0.9%)

15.651
(14.5%)

21.181
(19.7%)

For the ARM, the exergy loss is E_ L;tot E_ 14 E_ 16 22.12 kW.

a
TVM is a dissipative component. The exergy destruction within the TVM, which is not split, is not shown in this table.
b
The pump was assumed to be ideal.

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Thermochemical
compressor

E_ P;k
(kW)

AV
E_ D;k
(kW)

T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

E_ F ;k
(kW)

EN;UN
UN
E_ D;k
Theoretical ARM E_ D;k
(kW)
(kW)

905

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T. Morosuk, G. Tsatsaronis / Energy 33 (2008) 890907

906

Fig. 9. Ts diagram for the NH3-H2O mixture with the concentration xD

used to explain the advanced exergetic analysis of the evaporator.

A similar analysis can be conducted when calculating the

value of the endogenous unavoidable exergy destruction in
the evaporator (process 7T8RU in Fig. 9 and Table 8),
_ basic
where T8RU4T8R and h8RU4h8R, thus m
process

Q_ cold
h8RU h7T

0.1295 kg/s.

Let us now assume that the designer would like to

improve the evaporator so that the schematic of the ARM
(Fig. 2a) and the concentration xD 0.9047 kg/kg remain
_ 1718 cannot
constant. Note that the values T17, T18 and m
be changed because they represent the product of the
overall ARM. For the real ARM T8 T18 and there is
only one way for decreasing the value of entropy
generation in the evaporator. It is changing the thermodynamic parameters at point 7R, that means changing the
location of point 7R on a Ts diagram, for example, as
point (7R) in Fig. 9. The location of point 7R depends on
the location of point 6R. Therefore, the location of point
6R should also be changed, for example, point (6R) in
Fig. 9, through increasing the temperature and pressure at
point (6R). Increasing the pressure pCD leads to an increase
in the value of pG and, therefore, in the values of exergy
destruction in all components of the ARM through an
increase in the values of the specic entropy generation in
each component and of the mass ow rate of the working
uid because (h8Rh7R)4(h8Rh(7R)).
The above discussion shows that decreasing the exergy
destruction within the evaporator leads to an increase in
the other components. This is denoted by the negative sign
EX ;UN
EX ;AV
in the values of E_
and E_
:
D;EV

D;EV

Improving the condensation and evaporation processes

is possible only by structural changes in the overall ARM,
i.e. through introducing a rectication (or rectication
dephlegmation) process after the generator. This process
gives the possibility to vary the value of concentration xD
(i.e. varying the temperature glide at pCD and pEV), which

leads to lower exergy destructions in the condenser and

evaporator.
The results obtained through an advanced exergy
analysis for the ARM cannot be compared directly with
the results by other authors. There are many publications
where only a conventional exergy analysis for the ARM is
used. For example, one of the rst publications where
exergy analysis was applied to an ARM is Ref. [15] and has
been repeated many times, since then (e.g., [16]). Even the
sensitivity exergy-based analysis for an ARM given in
Ref. [17] does not provide detailed information about the
interconnections among components within an ARM and
misses some options for improving an ARM.
Some of the results presented here have been found
qualitatively in other studies [9,18] of an ARM (not using
the exergy concept). However, none of these studies could
nd all the results reported here (obtained directly through
an advanced exergy analysis) and assign numbers to the
conclusions.
7. Conclusions
The advanced exergetic evaluation of an ARM supplies
useful additional information that is not provided by an
exergy analysis without splitting the exergy destruction
within the components of an ARM.
The avoidable exergy destruction identies the potential
for improving each system component. The values of the
avoidable endogenous and avoidable exogenous exergy
destruction establish the relative importance of improving
single components and the structure of the overall system.
The advanced exergetic evaluation can be extended to
consider components in pairs or larger groups in an effort
to completely understand the thermodynamic interactions
among the system components. However, all these
considerations become more powerful when they are used
for the exergoeconomic evaluation of the same system. In
such a calculation, not only the exergy destruction, but also
the investment cost for each system components is split
into avoidable/unavoidable and endogenous/exogenous
parts [19]. An advanced exergoeconomic evaluation should
be conducted only when the investment costs for the
different cases can be assessed with acceptable accuracy,
whereas an advanced exergetic evaluation, as reported
here, is always helpful.
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