Experimental researches on characteristics of vapor–liquid equilibrium of NH3–H2O–LiBr system

An improved system of NH₃–H₂O–LiBr was proposed for overcoming the drawback of NH₃–H₂O absorption refrigeration system. The LiBr was added to NH₃–H₂O system anticipating a decrease in the content of water in the NH₃–H₂O–LiBr system. An equilibrium cell was used to measure thermal property of the ternary NH₃–H₂O–LiBr mixtures. The pressure–temperature data for their vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data were measured at ten temperature points between 15–85 °C, and pressures up to 2 MPa. The LiBr concentration of the solution was chosen in the range of 5–60% of mass ratio of LiBr in pure water. The VLE for the NH₃–H₂O–LiBr ternary solution was measured statically. The experimental results show that the equilibrium pressures reduced by 30–50%, and the amount of component of water in the gas phase reduced greatly to 2.5% at T=70 °C. The experimental results predicted much better characteristics of the new ternary system than the NH₃–H₂O system for the applications.     

A dynamic simulation model for transient absorption chiller performance. Part I: The model

This paper is the first of two which presents the development of a dynamic model for single-effect LiBr/water absorption chillers. The model is based on external and internal steady-state enthalpy balances for each main component. Dynamic behaviour is implemented via mass storage terms in the absorber and generator, thermal heat storage terms in all vessels and a delay time in the solution cycle. A special feature is that the thermal capacity is partly connected to external and partly to internal process temperatures.In this paper, the model is presented in detail. For verification, the model has been compared to experimental data. The dynamic agreement between experiment and simulation is very good with dynamic deviations around 10 s. General functionality of the model and a more detailed comparison with experimental data are presented in Part II of this paper.     

Extended temperature–entropy (T–s) diagrams for aqueous lithium bromide absorption refrigeration cycles

Temperature–entropy (T–s) diagrams have the unique capability of being able to quantify processes in terms of both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Although use of generalised T–s diagrams has been made to indicate or represent generalised absorption cycles, with the exception for NH₃/water systems, these diagrams have not been specifically tailored to scale to quantify LiBr/water systems. The main barrier for this is that the diagram needs to represent the necessary properties of both the refrigerant (water) and of the solution (LiBr/water). This paper describes the use of the T–s diagram of water extended with additional curves to represent real and ideal LiBr/water absorption cycles. An explanation is provided on several methods available, including details of the thermodynamic justification of the method that was used, to construct the extended diagrams. Finally, the extended T–s diagram is provided with the representation of a real single-effect LiBr/water absorption refrigeration cycle. This should prove to be a valuable tool for design and research engineers to study and optimise LiBr/water chillers.     

Thermodynamic properties of lithium bromide–water solutions at high temperatures

Emerging triple-effect LiBr–water absorption chillers operate at higher temperatures and pressures than traditional double-effect chillers. However, there is not enough data about thermodynamic properties of LiBr–water solutions at such high temperatures. Using recently measured data of vapor pressure and heat capacity, we have developed the equations which can calculate the vapor pressure, enthalpy and entropy of LiBr solutions at such high temperatures. The developed equations are valid from concentrations of 40–65 wt.% and also from temperatures of 40–210°C. These equations will be very helpful for the modeling and design of triple-effect LiBr–water chillers.     

Heat and mass transfer enhancement of binary nanofluids for H2O/LiBr falling film absorption process

The objectives of this study are to measure the vapor absorption rate and heat transfer rate for falling film flow of binary nanofluids, and to compare the enhancement of heat transfer and mass transfer under the same conditions of nanofluids. The key parameters are the base fluid concentration of LiBr, the concentration of nanoparticles in weight %, and nanoparticle constituents. The binary nanofluids are H₂O/LiBr solution with nanoparticles of Fe and Carbon nanotubes (CNT) with the concentrations of 0.0, 0.01 and 0.1 wt %. The vapor absorption rate increases with increasing the solution mass flow rate and the concentration of Fe and CNT nanoparticles. It is found that the mass transfer enhancement is much more significant than the heat transfer enhancement in the binary nanofluids with Fe and CNT. It is also found that the mass transfer enhancement from the CNT nanoparticles becomes higher than that from the Fe nanoparticles. Therefore, the CNT is a better candidate than Fe nanoparticles for absorption performance enhancement in H₂O/LiBr absorption system.     

An absorption based miniature heat pump system for electronics cooling

The development of an absorption based miniature heat pump system is motivated by the need for removal of increasing rates of heat from high performance electronic chips such as microprocessors. The goal of the present study is to keep the chip temperature near ambient temperature, while removing 100 W of heat load. Water/LiBr pair is used as the working fluid. A novel dual micro-channel array evaporator is adopted, which reduces both the mass flux through each micro-channel, as well as the channel length, thus reducing the pressure drop. Micro-channel arrays for the desorber and condenser are placed in intimate communication with each other using a hydrophobic membrane. This acts as a common interface between the desorber and the condenser to separate the water vapor from LiBr solution. The escaped water vapor is immediately cooled and condensed at the condenser side. For direct air cooling of condenser and absorber, offset strip fin arrays are used. The performance of the components and the entire system is numerically evaluated and discussed.     

Numerical simulation of an advanced energy storage system using H2O–LiBr as working fluid, Part 2: System simulation and analysis

This paper is the second part of our study on the advanced energy storage system using H₂O–LiBr as working fluid. In the first part, the system working principle has been introduced, and the system dynamic models in the operation process have also been developed. Based on the previous research, this paper focuses on the numerical simulation to investigate the system dynamic characteristics and performances when it works to provide combined air-conditioning and hot water supplying for a hotel located near by Yangzi River in China. The system operation conditions were set as follows: the outdoor temperature was between 29 °C and 38 °C, the maximum air-conditioning load was 1450 kW, the total air-conditioning capacity was 19,890 kWh and the 50 °C hot water capacity for showering was 20 tons which needed heat about 721 kWh on a given day. Under these conditions, the system operation characteristics were simulated under the full- and partial-storage strategies. The simulation results predicted the dynamic characteristics and performances of the system, including the temperature and concentration of the working fluid, the mass and energy in the storage tanks, the compressor intake mass or volume flow rate, discharge pressure, compression ratio, power and consumption work, the heat loads of heat exchanger devices in the system and so on. The results also showed that the integrated coefficient of performances (COP_int) of the system were 3.09 and 3.26, respectively, under the two storage strategies while the isentropic efficiency of water vapor compressor was 0.6. The simulation results are very helpful for understanding and evaluating the system as well as for system design, operation and control, and device design or selection in detail.     

A dynamic simulation model for transient absorption chiller performance. Part II: Numerical results and experimental verification

This paper is the second paper out of two which present the development of a dynamic model for single-effect LiBr/water absorption chillers. The first part describes the model in detail with respect to the heat and mass balances as well as the dynamic terms. This second part presents a more detailed investigation of the model performance, including performance analysis, sensitivity checks and a comparison to experimental data. General model functionality is demonstrated.A sensitivity analysis gives results which agree very well to fundamental expectations: it shows that an increase in both external and internal thermal mass results in a slower response to the step change but also in smaller heat flow oscillations during the transient period. Also, the thermal mass has been found to influence the heat flow transients more significantly if allocated internally. The time shift in the solution cycle has been found to influence both the time to reach steady-state and the transients and oscillations of the heat flow. A smaller time shift leads to significantly faster response.A comparison with experimental data shows that the dynamic agreement between experiment and simulation is very good with dynamic temperature deviations between 10 and 25 s. The total time to achieve a new steady-state in hot water temperature after a 10 K input temperature step amounts to approximately 15 min. Compared to this, the present dynamic deviations are in the magnitude of approximately 1–3%.     

The effect of micro-scale surface treatment on heat and mass transfer performance for a falling film H2O/LiBr absorber

The objectives of this paper are to develop a new method of wettability measurement, to study the effect of micro-scale surface treatment on the wettability across horizontal tubes and to apply it for numerical analysis of heat and mass transfer in a H₂O/LiBr falling film absorber. Three types of tubes with roughness are tested in a test rig. Inlet solution temperature (30–50 °C), concentration (55–62 wt.% of LiBr) and mass flow rate (0.74–2.71 kg/min) are considered as key parameters. Reynolds number ranged from 30 to 120 by controlling the inlet mass flow rate. The wettability on the roughened tubes was higher than that for the smooth tubes. The wettability decreased linearly along the vertical location but was proportional to the solution temperature and mass flow rate. The experimental correlations of the wettability for the smooth and the roughened tubes were developed with error bands of ±20 and ±10%, respectively. These are used for the heat and mass transfer analysis of absorbers with micro-scale hatched tubes.     

Measurement of solubility and density of water + lithium bromide + lithium chloride and water + lithium bromide + sodium formate systems

Solubility of aqueous solutions containing lithium bromide + lithium chloride and lithium bromide + sodium formate were measured (LiBr/NaHCO₂ = 2 and LiBr/LiCl = 2 by mass ratio) at different temperatures. Visual polythermal method was used in the temperature range of (283.15–340.15) K and mass fraction range of (0.4–0.8). Also density of mentioned systems was reported in the temperature range of (288.15–333.15) K. Each set of experimental measurements were correlated using least-square regression as a function of temperature. Our results indicate that solubility of LiBr + LiCl is higher than LiBr and its density is lower than density of aqueous solution of LiBr.     

Experimental verification of H2O/LiBr absorber bundle performance with smooth horizontal tubes

A model for absorption of water vapor into LiBr flowing over horizontal smooth tubes is developed to predict the absorption performance of a tube bundle. The performance of a horizontal smooth tube absorber is calculated and compared with experimental data. The calculation results of absorber performance are found to vary considerably depending on mass diffusivity. The literature value of mass diffusivity, of the order of 10⁻⁹ m² s⁻¹, causes the model to deviate from the experimental results especially for solution side heat transfer coefficient. A parametric study varying mass diffusivity shows that a value of 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹ gives a better agreement with the experimental results. The effects of absorber capacity, heat transfer coefficient of droplets ejected from the system (slinging) and number of tubes in the bundle on the absorption performance are also discussed.     

Review of advanced absorption cycles: performance improvement and temperature lift enhancement

The objective of this study is to propose and evaluate advanced absorption cycles for the coefficient of performance (COP) improvement and temperature lift enhancement applications. The characteristics of each cycle are assessed from the viewpoints of the ideal cycle COP and its applications. The advanced cycles for the COP improvement are categorized according to their heat recovery method: condensation heat recovery, absorption heat recovery, and condensation/absorption heat recovery. In H₂O–LiBr systems, the number of effects and the number of stages can be improved by adding a third or a fourth component to the solution pairs. The performance of NH₃–H₂O systems can be improved by internal heat recovery due to their thermal characteristics such as temperature gliding. NH₃–H₂O cycles can be combined with adsorption cycles and power generation cycles for waste heat utilization, performance improvement, panel heating and low temperature applications. The H₂O–LiBr cycle is better from the high COP viewpoints for the evaporation temperature over 0°C while the NH₃–H₂O cycle is better from the viewpoint of low temperature applications. This study suggests that the cycle performance would be significantly improved by combining the advanced H₂O–LiBr and NH₃–H₂O cycles.     

A theoretical study of a novel regenerative ejector refrigeration cycle

There has been a demand for developments of the ejector refrigeration systems using low grade thermal energy, such as solar energy and waste heat. In this paper, a novel regenerative ejector refrigeration cycle was described, which uses an auxiliary jet pump and a conventional regenerator to enhance the performance of the novel cycle. The theoretical analysis on the performance characteristics was carried out for the novel cycle with the refrigerant R141b. Compared with the conventional cycle, the simulation results show that the coefficient of performance (COP) of the novel cycle increases, respectively, by from 9.3 to 12.1% when generating temperature is in a range of 80–160 °C, the condensing temperature is in a range of 35–45 °C and the evaporating temperature is fixed at 10 °C. Especially due to the enhanced regeneration with increasing the pump outlet pressure, the improvement of COP of the novel cycle is approached to 17.8% compared with that in the conventional cycle under the operating condition that generating temperature is 100 °C, condensing temperature is 40 °C and evaporating temperature is 10 °C. Therefore, the characteristics of the novel cycle performance show its promise in using low grade thermal energy for the ejector refrigeration system.     

A simple model for falling film absorption on vertical tubes in the presence of non-absorbables

Most water–lithium bromide (LiBr) absorption chillers have a purge system to remove non-absorbable gases that cause a reduction in cooling capacity. Generally, the non-absorbables are originated in corrosion/passivation processes inside the machine, but leaks can also be a source of concern. However, since leaks must be corrected immediately to avoid machine deterioration, this study is mostly aimed at the non-absorbables evolved during operation. This paper analyses the effect of inlet non-absorbable air concentration, outlet purge velocity, absorber pressure and cooling water temperature on the falling film absorption process inside a vertical tube absorber, based on a simple transport coefficient model. This model consists of three ordinary differential equations solved with as method for initial-value problem, and a set of auxiliary equations. The study shows that the effect of non-absorbables can be significant, and furthermore provides a quantitative framework to aid in purge design. The nominal working conditions in this study were a solution Reynolds number of 100, an absorber pressure of 1.3 kPa, a cooling water temperature of 35 °C and an inlet solution concentration of 62% LiBr by weight. The results indicate that a minimum vapour velocity is required to sweep the non-absorbables along the absorber towards the purge, thus preventing reduced absorption fluxes. At a cooling water temperature of 35 °C, an inlet air concentration of 20% (by mole) resulted in a 61% reduction in mass absorption flux.     

Modelling of the heat exchangers of a small capacity, hot water driven, air-cooled H2O–LiBr absorption cooling machine

General models for the design of the heat exchangers (absorber, generator, condenser and evaporator) of a prototype of an air-cooled absorption chiller of 2 kW for air-conditioning using the pair H₂O–LiBr have been developed. An absorption machine of such characteristics has been constructed to be used as a test facility for validating the results obtained from the mathematical models developed. The discrepancies considering the heat exchanged between numerical results and experimental data are under 15% in most cases for all these components except the condenser, where the discrepancies are higher. The conclusions reported will lead to: (i) future improvements of the mathematical simulation models and (ii) improvements in the experimental infrastructure.     

Experimental performance analysis and modelling of liquid desiccant cooling systems for air conditioning in residential buildings

The paper presents a new desiccant cooling cycle to be integrated in residential mechanical ventilation systems. The process shifts the air treatment completely to the return air side, so that the supply air can be cooled by a heat exchanger. Purely sensible cooling is an essential requirement for residential buildings with no maintenance guarantee for supply air humidifiers. As the cooling power is generated on the exhaust air side, the dehumidification process needs to be highly efficient to provide low supply air temperatures. Solid rotating desiccant wheels have been experimentally compared with liquid sorption systems using contact matrix absorbers and cross flow heat exchangers. The best dehumidification performance at no temperature increase was obtained in an evaporatively cooled heat exchanger with sprayed lithium chloride solution. Up to 7 g kg⁻¹ dehumidification could be reached in an isothermal process, although the surface wetting of the first prototype was low. The process then provides inlet air conditions below 20 °C for the summer design conditions of 32 °C, 40% relative humidity. With air volume flow rates of 200 m³ h⁻¹ the system can provide 886 W of cooling power.A theoretical model for both the contact absorber and the cross flow system has been developed and validated against experimental data for a wide range of operating conditions. A simulation study identified the optimisation potential of the system, if for example the surface wetting of the liquid desiccant can be improved.     

Convective boiling performance of refrigerant R-134a in herringbone and microfin copper tubes

This paper reports an experimental investigation of convective boiling heat transfer and pressure drop of refrigerant R-134a in smooth, standard microfin and herringbone copper tubes of 9.52 mm external diameter. Tests have been conducted under the following conditions: inlet saturation temperature of 5 °C, qualities from 5 to 90%, mass velocity from 100 to 500 kg s⁻¹ m⁻², and a heat flux of 5 kW m⁻². Experimental results indicate that the herringbone tube has a distinct heat transfer performance over the mass velocity range considered in the present study. Thermal performance of the herringbone tube has been found better than that of the standard microfin in the high range of mass velocities, and worst for the smallest mass velocity (G=100 kg s⁻¹ m⁻²) at qualities higher than 50%. The herringbone tube pressure drop is higher than that of the standard microfin tube over the whole range of mass velocities and qualities. The enhancement parameter is higher than one for both tubes for mass velocities lower than 200 kg s⁻¹ m⁻². Values lower than one have been obtained for both tubes in the mass velocity upper range as a result of a significant pressure drop increment not followed by a correspondent increment in the heat transfer coefficient.     

Improved thermodynamic property fields of LiBr–H2O solution

This article presents a thermodynamically consistent set of specific enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity fields for LiBr–H₂O solution. The temperatures span from 0 to 190°C, while the concentrations span from 0 to 75 wt%. The work is based on the empirical inputs of Dühring's gradient and intercept, specific heat capacity data at a reference concentration of 50 wt% and density data. These properties have been evaluated using most of the experimental data available in the literature. The present approach circumvents the issue of negative dew point at low temperatures and high concentrations. The information provided in this article could be useful for designers of absorption chillers.