Chapter Two:

Absorption Refrigeration Cycle

2.1 INTRODUCTION:

Typical refrigeration and heat pumps systems found in industrial, domestic, medical, (XXX)
operate on the principles of the simple vapor-compression cycle with slight modifications of
hardware and systems setup. Figure 2-1 demonstrates the basics of a VPCS. After heat is
absorbed from the cold medium into the evaporator, the refrigerant in its vapor phase enters the
compressor through the suction line. An electrical power input (Pin) is provided to drive the
compressor. The refrigerant pressure and temperature increase to higher levels before they enter
the condenser to reject this heat to the outside medium before being throttled through an
expansion valve to the evaporator so the whole cycle can repeat itself.

Figure 2-1: Simple Vapor Compression Cycle

An absorption Cycle differs from the vapor compression cycle by its ability to utilize heat instead of
electricity to generate the refrigeration effect. This heat is usually provided by waste heat from industrial
operations, solar energy, geothermal energy, and many other sources.
(Here you will speak about the usefulness of using Absorption Cycles instead of vapor compression
cycles. No need to electricity, operation cheaper, nontoxic working fluid, reduce problems related to
global warming etc)
(Here you will speak about the history of the cycle and how it was first used and by who.)

2.2 Working Principle:

A typical single-effect absorption cycle contains two circuits: a refrigeration circuit and a binary
solution circuit, where the solution consists of the refrigerant and an absorbent. The absorbent
is a substance that has strong affinity for the refrigerant vapor. Commonly a combination of
ammonia/water or water/Lithium Bromide are used in the system such that the ammonia (or
water) are the refrigerant and the water (or lithium bromide) are the absorbents. For this project
the system in consideration is water/lithium bromide for the designed cooled space temperature
above 0c.
To demonstrate the cycle principle, see figure 2-2 (a). Two evacuated vessels are connected to
each, water (the refrigerant) occupies the left vessel whereas the right vessel contains a solution
of water and lithium bromide. Both exists in thermal equilibrium with the surroundings To. At a
specified To, the water will have a pressure of certain value and the equilibrium vapor pressure
of the solution will be less than that of the pure water. This pressure difference will be the force
to drive the water vapor from the left vessel to the right vessel and this vapor will be absorbed
by the solution due to the strong affinity of LiBr to water vapor (this absorption is exothermic
and will produce heat (QI) and the concentration of the solution changes but for our example
let's consider that somehow both temperatures and concentrations are constant), the absorption
process will cause a reduction in the water pressure in the left side. We'll assume this reduction
in pressure reduced the corresponding saturation temperature to below To creating the
refrigeration effect (QL).
The temperature of the solution through the absorption process can be maintained constant by
rejecting the produced heat (QL) to the surroundings and the concentration of water can be
reduced by the process of regenerating, see figure 2-2 (b). The regenerating process is simply a
separation process through the addition of heat to the solution (QH) this addition produced boils
off the water from the solution and transfers it back to the refrigerant as pure water, while the
solution becomes stronger (LiBr relative concentration increases).

Figure 2-2: (a)The Absorption Process. (b)The Generation Process.

The absorption cycle system applies the above principle through the cycle sketch in figure 2-3.
The refrigerant circuit is in the right side; condenser to evaporator. Which is the same in a
typical vapor-compression cycle, the difference is the removal of the compressor and replacing
 it with the solution circuit; absorber to generator. Through the solution circuit the pressure is
raised from the evaporator pressure to the condenser pressure assuming that the cycle is
operating between two pressure levels and there's no losses in the system.

Figure 2-3: Basic Absorption Cycle

The performance of the absorption cycle is critically dependent on the chemical and
thermodynamic properties of the working fluid [reference#insertedhere]. Fundamental
requirements state that the mixture should be nontoxic, stable, non-explosive, high difference in
boiling temperature of the solution constituents, and in liquid phase it should have a margin
miscibility within the operating temperature of the cycle.

2.3 Various Designs of Absorption Refrigeration Cycles:

Two main types of absorption cycle are the single effect cycle and the double "multi" effect
one. Further discussions will only focus on the single effect cycle since a multi effect cycle is applied for
large [explain why we won't discuss the multi effect + add reference to strengthen this statement this]

2.3.1. Single Effect Absorption Cycle:

The most commonly used cycle [#addReference] and the basic for any new system
configuration. See figure 2-4. The evaporator absorbs the heat from the cold space generating
water vapor and it flows towards the absorber where the solution (strong with LiBr) absorbs the
vapor. The generated heat from this exothermic reaction is rejected into a cooling medium
generally water from a cooling tower. As the solution absorbs more vapor it becomes weaker
and loses its ability to absorb more, thus a pump is connected to the absorber where part of the
solution is sent to another chamber called the generator "desorber" where the regeneration
process happens by a heat input source (ex: solar energy) it was found that for an effective
regeneration process of a typical LiBr absorption cycle the heat source should be at a
 temperature not less than 90c [insertreference] LiBr boiling temperature is above 300c and it's
nonvolatile, only pure water vapor leaves the solution strengthening it. The strong solution is
sent back to the absorber through a flow restriction device (usually an expansion valve) and
bypasses a heat exchanger (HX) where it exchanges some of its heat with the weak solution
reducing the amount of heat input in the generator while cooling off the strong solution.
Experimental studies show that the solution heat exchanger can increase the COP for the cycle
by 60% [addreference04]. The water vapor from the generator flows to the condenser to extract
the extra heat to a cooling medium usually the same cooling medium of the of the absorber (ex:
water from the cooling tower) and is sent to the evaporator through an expansion valve.

Figure 2-4: Single Effect Absorption Cycle

2.3.2. multi Effect Absorption Cycle:

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 Refrigerant-Absorbent Mixture Analysis:
LiBr salt is a hydroscopic salt meaning it has a high affinity for water vapor, absorbing it to
become a liquid solution of LiBr and water. This solution state is fixed when Temperature,
Pressure, and its composition is fixed. The composition can be defined based on mass analysis
or mole analysis such that:

----Assuming the mixture is ideal & homogenous, there's some set of rules it must follows:
1)The mixture's volume is equal to the combination of its constituents' volumes:

2)The mixing process doesn't absorb heat nor doesn't generate, then the specific enthalpy is:

3)The mixture obeys Raoult's law which states that the vapor pressure of each componenet in the mixture in
the liquid phase at a defined temeprature is given by:
4)The mixture obeys Dalton law which states that the vapor pressure of each component in the
mixture in the gaseous phase at a defined temperature is given by:

Since LiBr is not volatile, the mole fraction is almost zero, thus the exerted vapor pressure in the
gaseous state is mainly due to water.

---For real mixture analysis:

1)The solution either contracts or expands thus the specific volume equation is incorrect.
2)Mixing will release either heat or absorbs, the enthalpy of the mixture will contain the heat of
mixing component (which is +ve when heat is absorbed, -ve when heat is rejected.):

Mixing LiBr with water produces a solution with an increased temperature (exothermic process)
so the heat of mixing takes the ve sign. The equation:

The enthalpy of pure water (hw.liquid) and LiBr can be obtained from pure property tables, or the
enthalpy of the mixture can be obtained directly from the following chart:
 Cycle Steady State Analysis:
The equations are based on the following assumptions:
1-Only pure refrigerant boils in the generator: which is mostly accurate since LiBr boiling temperature
is much higher than water at the same saturation conditions.

2-Changes in KE and PE energies through the cycle is negligible compared to changes in

enthalpies of the working fluids.
3-No pressure drop due to friction: The cycle only operates between the evaporator pressure and
the condenser pressure.
4-Steady flow and steady state.
 Nomenclature:

Process 1-2 in condenser: Only refrigerant flows.

 Process 2-3 in expansion valve: Only refrigerant flows.

Process 3-4 in evaporator: Only refrigerant flows.

Process 4-5 in absorber: Mixture flow.

Process 5-6 in pump:

 Process 6-7 and 8-9 in the heat exchanger:

Process 7-8 in the generator:

Process 9-10 in the expansion valve: