Performance of ammonia–water refrigeration systems using artificial neural networks

In this paper, a new formulation, based on artificial neural network (ANN) model, is presented for the analysis of ammonia–water absorption refrigeration systems (AWRS). Performance analysis of the AWRS is very complex because of analytic functions used for calculating the properties of fluid couples and simulation programs. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to perform analysis of this system. It is well known that the generator temperature, evaporator temperature, condenser temperature, absorber temperature, poor and rich solution concentration affect the AWRS's coefficient of performance (COP) and circulation ratio (f). In this study, COP and f are estimated depending on the above temperatures and concentration values. Using the weights obtained from the trained network a new formulation is presented for the calculation of the COP and f; the use of ANN is proliferating with high speed in simulation. The R²-values obtained when unknown data were used to the networks was 0.9996 and 0.9873 for the circulation ratio and COP, respectively which is very satisfactory. The use of this new formulation, which can be employed with any programming language or spreadsheet program for the estimation of the circulation ratio and COP of AWRS, as described in this paper, may make the use of dedicated ANN software unnecessary.     

Performance trends and heat transfer considerations in an ammonia–water resorption cycle

An experimental test facility was constructed to examine the potential of ammonia–water mixtures as the working fluid in high‐temperature heat pumps. The nature of the working fluid necessitates an alternative design to the conventional vapour compression cycle. The addition of a solution circuit in parallel with the compressor leads to the resorption cycle. The composition of the working fluid can be altered by varying the flow ratio between the compression and solution pump circuits. Changes in the composition of the circulating fluid are accompanied by changes in the dryness fraction at the end of the heat transfer process in the desorber. Higher rates of heat transfer from the source to the working fluid were measured at higher concentrations of ammonia in the circulating fluid, though this was accompanied by lower overall flow rates of the circulating fluid. A 70/30 ammonia/water mass concentration is thought to be the optimum composition of the working fluid due to a combination of temperature glide and circulation ratio. Significant differences were observed in the overall heat transfer coefficient achieved in the two heat exchangers, which may restrict the range of likely applications. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance characteristics of an ammonia–water absorption heat pump system

The influences of the performance parameters and the heat transfer characteristics of the absorption heat pump using ammonia–water mixture are theoretically carried out. There is a pronounced effect of the ammonia concentration ξ after rectifier on the temperature glides that has been investigated. At ξ = 0.9000 and saturation pressures of 75 and 0.5 bar, the temperature glides are 64.4°C and 81.21°C, respectively, whereas these glides are 0°C and 16.1°C at ξ = 0.9999 and at the same pressures. This mixture property considerably affects the absorption system performance and the design of the rectifier as well as other absorption components. A correlation of the Nusselt number, Nu, is developed and compared with some published work in the literature for plate type heat exchanger. The effects of ammonia concentration ξ, mass fraction spread Δξ, specific solution circulation ratio f, and pressure ratio R_p on the refrigerant mass flow rate, the pressure drop, and the heat transfer coefficients during the condensation, the evaporation, and the absorption processes are investigated. It was found that increasing ammonia mass fraction spread Δξ results in both specific circulation ratio f and R_p that have insignificant effects on the refrigerant mass flow rate. Mounting Δξ at constant f reduces the pressure drop gradually and subsequently starts to increase as Δξ escalates. The ammonia concentration ξ has insignificant effect on the evaporation heat transfer coefficient but has a little effect on the condensation and the absorber heat transfer coefficients. The ammonia mass fraction spread Δξ and f have considerable effects on the heat transfer coefficient for different absorption heat pump components. R_p has a pronounced effect on the evaporation heat transfer coefficient, although it has a slight effect on the condensation and the absorber heat transfer coefficients. The effect of R_p on the heat transfer coefficient may be eliminated in the absorber for Δξ > 0.18. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling of an intermittent solar absorption refrigeration system operating with ammonia–lithium nitrate mixture

The theoretical performance of an intermittent absorption refrigeration system operating with ammonia–lithium nitrate mixture is presented. The analysis was done for representative days of each season of 2001. Meteorological data were taken from a local meteorological station installed in the Energy Research Centre of the National University of Mexico in Temixco, Morelos, Mexico. The system consists of a generator-absorber, a condenser, a valve and an evaporator. A compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) with a glass cover, operates as the generator-absorber of the cooling system. Since lithium nitrate does not evaporate during the generation, it is not necessary to use a rectifier. The theoretical efficiencies of the CPC varied from 0.78 to 0.33 depending on the time of the day and the season. Also, the results showed that with the proposed system it is possible to produce up to 11.8 kg of ice at generation temperatures around 120°C and condensation temperatures between 40°C and 44°C. These temperatures allow the system to be chilled with air or water. The overall efficiencies of the systems were between 0.15 and 0.4 depending on the generation and condenser temperatures. The efficiencies are satisfactory considering the simplicity of the system.     

An investigation on the absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle driven by gases and power from vehicle engines

A novel absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle (ACHRC) driven by gases and power from vehicle engines is proposed in this article, in which R124–dimethylacetamide is used as working fluid. The ACHRC composes the absorption refrigeration subcycle powered by exhaust gases and the compression refrigeration subcycle driven by power from both automotive engines. It can also meet the technical requirements for vehicle air‐conditioning systems. The thermal calculation for the ACHRC was performed under the given operating conditions in which the temperatures of cooling air, condensation and evaporation are 35 °C, 55 °C and 3 °C, respectively, and the coach air‐conditioning load is 30 kW. The operating characteristics of the ACHRC, which vary with the generator load ratio and cooling air temperature, have been simulated and analyzed. The simulation results show that the maximum integration coefficient of performance of the ACHRC can reach 14.85 under the given operating conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parametric analysis for a new combined power and ejector–absorption refrigeration cycle

A new combined power and ejector–absorption refrigeration cycle is proposed, which combines the Rankine cycle and the ejector–absorption refrigeration cycle, and could produce both power output and refrigeration output simultaneously. This combined cycle, which originates from the cycle proposed by authors previously, introduces an ejector between the rectifier and the condenser, and provides a performance improvement without greatly increasing the complexity of the system. A parametric analysis is conducted to evaluate the effects of the key thermodynamic parameters on the cycle performance. It is shown that heat source temperature, condenser temperature, evaporator temperature, turbine inlet pressure, turbine inlet temperature, and basic solution ammonia concentration have significant effects on the net power output, refrigeration output and exergy efficiency of the combined cycle. It is evident that the ejector can improve the performance of the combined cycle proposed by authors previously.     

Theoretical thermodynamic analysis of Rankine power cycle with thermal driven pump

A new approach to improve the performance of supercritical carbon dioxide Rankine cycle which uses low temperature heat source is presented. The mechanical pump in conventional supercritical carbon dioxide Rankine cycle is replaced by thermal driven pump. The concept of thermal driven pump is to increase the pressure of a fluid in a closed container by supplying heat. A low grade heat source is used to increase the pressure of the fluid instead of a mechanical pump, this increase the net power output and avoid the need for mechanical pump which requires regular maintenance and operational cost. The thermal driven pump considered is a shell and tube heat exchanger where the working fluid is contained in the tube, a tube diameter of 5 mm is chosen to reduce the heating time. The net power output of the Rankine cycle with thermal driven pump is compared to that of Rankine cycle with mechanical pump and it is observed that the net power output is higher when low grade thermal energy is used to pressurize the working fluid. The thermal driven pump consumes additional heat at low temperature (60 °C) to pressurize the working fluid.     

Exergy analysis of Joule–Thomson cryogenic refrigeration cycle with an ejector

In this paper, exergy method is applied to analyze the ejector expansion Joule–Thomson (EJT) cryogenic refrigeration cycle. The exergy destruction rate in each component of the EJT cycle is evaluated in detail. The effect of some main parameters on the exergy destruction and exergetic efficiency of the cycle is also investigated. The most significant exergy destruction rates in the cycle are in the compressor and ejector. The ejector pressure ratio and compressor isothermal efficiency have a significant effect on the exergetic efficiency of the EJT cycle. The exergy analysis results show the EJT cycle has an obvious increase in the exergetic efficiency compared to the basic Joule–Thomson refrigeration cycle. A significant advantage from the use of the ejector is that the total exergy destruction of the EJT cycle can be reduced due to much more decreasing of the exergy destruction rates in the compressor and expansion valve. The exergy analysis also reconfirms that applying an ejector is a very important approach to improve the performance of the Joule–Thomson cryogenic refrigeration cycle.     

Performance analysis and validation on transportation of heat energy over long distance by ammonia–water absorption cycle

This paper presents the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic feasibility of the application of the ammonia–water absorption system for heat or cold transportation over long distance. A model of a long‐distance heat energy transportation system is built and analyzed, and it shows satisfactory and attractive results. When a steam heat source at the temperature of 120°C is available, the user site can get hot water output at about 55°C with the thermal COP of about 0.6 and the electric COP of about 100 in winter, and cold water output at about 8°C with the thermal COP of about 0.5 and the electric COP of 50 in summer. A small‐size prototype is built to verify the performance analysis. Basically the experimental data show good accordance with the analysis results. The ammonia–water absorption system is a potential prospective solution for the heat or cold transportation over long distance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

First and second law analysis of an ejector expansion Joule–Thomson cryogenic refrigeration cycle

In this paper, a combined first and second law approach is applied to study an ejector expansion Joule–Thomson cryogenic refrigeration cycle. The effects of the evaporator temperature, ejector pressure ratio and compressor function on the coefficient of performance (COP), exergy destruction and the exergetic efficiency have been investigated. The present study has been conducted for the evaporator and compressor temperature in the range of 75–135 and 270–330 K, respectively. The ejector pressure ratio is varied from 1.5 to 5.5. Simulation results show that COP and exergy efficiency increase with increasing evaporator temperature and ejector pressure ratio. In addition, it was found that the increase in the compressor temperature leads to the reduction in the first and second law efficiencies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

First and second law analysis of a new power and refrigeration thermodynamic cycle using a solar heat source

The first and second laws of thermodynamics were used to analyze a novel thermodynamic cycle proposed by Goswami in 1995 that uses an ammonia–water binary mixture as the working fluid, while producing both power and refrigeration simultaneously. The thermodynamic performance of the cycle was optimized for maximum second law efficiency using a commercially available optimization program. A maximum second law efficiency of 65.8% was obtained at a heat source temperature of 420 K. An exergy analysis was performed to study losses in different components of the cycle. It is seen that the largest contribution to cycle irreversibility comes from the absorber, with the rectifier and solution heat exchanger also contributing significantly. Irreversibility generation in the boiler is high at very low heat source temperatures, but drops at higher temperatures.     

Proposal and analysis of a novel ammonia–water cycle for power and refrigeration cogeneration

Cogeneration has improved sustainability as it can improve the energy utilization efficiency significantly. In this paper, a novel ammonia-water cycle is proposed for the cogeneration of power and refrigeration. In order to meet the different concentration requirements in the cycle heat addition process and the condensation process, a splitting /absorption unit is introduced and integrated with an ammonia–water Rankine cycle and an ammonia refrigeration cycle. This system can be driven by industrial waste heat or a gas turbine flue gas. The cycle performance was evaluated by the exergy efficiency, which is 58% for the base case system (with the turbine inlet parameters of 450 °C/11.1 MPa and the refrigeration temperature below −15 °C). It is found that there are certain split fractions which maximize the exergy efficiency for given basic working fluid concentration. Compared with the conventional separate generation system of power and refrigeration, the cogeneration system has an 18.2% reduction in energy consumption.     

Theoretical analysis of a thermodynamic cycle for power and heat production using supercritical carbon dioxide

A numerical study of a thermodynamic cycle is described: solar energy powered Rankine cycle using supercritical carbon dioxide as the working fluid for combined power and heat production. A model is developed to predict the cycle performance. Experimental data is used to verify the numerical formulation. Of interest in the present study is the thermodynamic cycle of 0.3–1.0 kW power generation and 1.0–3.0 kW heat output. The effects of the governing parameters on the performance are investigated numerically. The results show that the cycle has a power generation efficiency of somewhat above 20.0% and heat recovery efficiency of 68.0%, respectively. It is seen that the cycle performance is strongly dependent on the governing parameters and they can be optimized to provide maximum power, maximum heat recovery or a combination of both. The power generation and heat recovery are found to be increased with solar collector efficient area. The power generation is also increased with water temperature of the heat recovery system, but decreased with heat exchanging area. It is also seen that the effect of the water flow rate in the heat recovery system on the cycle performance is negligible.     

Performance analysis of a waste‐heat‐powered thermodynamic cycle for multieffect refrigeration

A multieffect refrigeration system that is based on a waste‐heat‐driven organic Rankine cycle that could produce refrigeration output of different magnitudes at different levels of temperature is presented. The proposed system is integration of combined ejector–absorption refrigeration cycle and ejector expansion Joule–Thomson (EJT) cooling cycle that can meet the requirements of air‐conditioning, refrigeration, and cryogenic cooling simultaneously at the expense of industrial waste heat. The variation of the parameters that affect the system performance such as industrial waste heat temperature, refrigerant turbine inlet pressure, and the evaporator temperature of ejector refrigeration cycle (ERC) and EJT cycles was examined, respectively. It was found that refrigeration output and thermal efficiency of the multieffect cycle decrease considerably with the increase in industrial waste heat temperature, while its exergy efficiency varies marginally. A thermal efficiency value of 22.5% and exergy efficiency value of 8.6% were obtained at an industrial waste heat temperature of 210°C, a turbine inlet pressure of 1.3 MPa, and ejector evaporator temperature of 268 K. Both refrigeration output and thermal efficiency increase with the increase in turbine inlet pressure and ERC evaporator temperature. Change in EJT cycle evaporator temperature shows a little impact on both thermal and exergy efficiency values of the multieffect cycle. Analysis of the results clearly shows that the proposed cycle has an effective potential for cooling production through exploitation of lost energy from the industry. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vapor–liquid equilibrium of ammonia–water–lithium nitrate solutions

Experimental results on the pressure–temperature data for the NH₃‐H₂O binary and NH₃‐H₂O‐LiNO₃ ternary solutions are reported. The pressure was varied between 100 and 800 kPa, while the mass fraction of ammonia was varied in the range 0–0.30. The lithium nitrate concentration of the solution was chosen in the range of 10–50% of mass ratio of lithium nitrate in pure water. An analytical equation for the equilibrium pressure as a function of temperature and concentration was obtained with a good fit to experimental data. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20351     

Development of an alternative refrigeration cycle

The paper describes the experimental development of an alternative regenerative refrigeration cycle. The cycle attempts to overcome the inefficiencies caused by flash gas entering the evaporator by a novel use of the main compressor. The system incorporates an extra vessel in place of the traditional expansion valve. The vessel is filled with high temperature, high pressure refrigerant from the condenser. The compressor is then switched from the evaporator, thus reducing the pressure. As the pressure is lowered, it is hoped that the flash gas is removed. The cycle is compared, both theoretically and practically, with the standard vapour compression cycle. The problems encountered and their solutions are also presented were possible.     

Ammonia–water absorption refrigeration systems with flooded evaporators

The harmful effects of water accumulation in the evaporator in ammonia–water absorption refrigeration systems (AARS) with flooded evaporators are a crucial issue. In this paper, the effects of the ammonia purification and the liquid entrainment and blow-down from the evaporator in AARS are analyzed. A mathematical model based on a single stage system with complete condensation has been developed. The ammonia purification is evaluated by means of the Murphree efficiencies of the stripping and rectifying sections of the distillation column. The entrainment and blow-down are taking into account considering the corresponding flow rates as a fraction of the dry vapour at the evaporator outlet. The influence of the distillation column components efficiency on the attainable distillate concentration and the effects of the distillate concentration and the liquid entrainment and blow-down on the system operating conditions and performance are analyzed and quantified. If no liquid entrainment or blow-down is considered, very high efficiencies in the distillation column are required. Small values of liquid entrainment or blow-down fractions increase significantly the operating range of the absorption system. If high values of the blow-down fraction are required, then a heat exchanger should be added to the system in order to recover the refrigeration capacity of the blow-down by additional subcooling of the liquid from the condenser. For a fixed value of the distillation column efficiency, an optimum value of the liquid blow-down fraction exists. Moreover, an optimum combination of generation temperature, reflux ratio and blow-down fraction can be found, which should be considered in designing and controlling an AARS.     

Theoretical performances of various refrigerant–absorbent pairs in a vapor-absorption refrigeration cycle by the use of equations of state

The vapor-absorption refrigeration cycle is an old and well-established technique, particularly with ammonia/water and water/LiBr systems. New types of refrigerant–absorbent pairs are also being actively studied. Modeling the cycle performance requires thermodynamic properties, which have been largely based on empirical correlation equations fitted to a large amount of experimental data such as solubility at various temperatures, pressures, and compositions. In this report, we have demonstrated, for the first time, a thermodynamically consistent model based on the equations of state for refrigerant–absorbent mixtures. Various commonly known binary-pairs for the absorption cycle are used as examples. Cycle performances and some new insights on understanding the cycle process are shown.     

Thermodynamic analysis of monomethylamine–water solutions in a single-stage solar absorption refrigeration cycle at low generator temperatures

A theoretical analysis of the coefficient of performance COP was undertaken to examine the efficiency characteristics of the monomethylamine–water solutions for a single-stage absorption refrigeration machine, using low generator temperatures (60–80°C), which allows the use of flat plate solar collectors. The thermodynamic analysis considers both, basic and refined cycles. The refined absorption cycle included a sensible heat recover exchanger (that is a solution heat exchanger). The thermal coefficients of performance COP_h for the basis cycle and COP_SHE for the refined cycle were calculated using the enthalpies at various combinations, at the operating temperatures and concentrations. The flow ratio F_R has been calculated as additional optimization parameter. Due to the relative low pressure and the high coefficients of performance, the monomethylamine–water solutions present interesting properties for their application in solar absorption cycles at moderate condenser and absorber temperatures (25–35°C), with temperatures in the evaporator from −10°C to 10°C which are highly usable for food product preservation and for air conditioning in rural areas.     

Thermodynamic analysis of an electrochemical refrigeration cycle

Electrochemical processes may be used to form thermodynamic cycles in a variety of manners. In this paper, an electrochemical cell and fuel cell are combined to form a refrigeration cycle. Water is chosen as an example for the analysis in order to show ideal performance characteristics of such a cycle. Ideally, the system is close to Carnot performance. In actual systems, the electrolyser side of the system must be operated below neutral voltage levels in order to achieve a refrigeration effect. For the water‐based system results presented, water mass flow rates less than 6 kg per h are required per ‘ton’ of refrigeration effect for the ideal system. The effects of operating temperatures on cycle efficiency for the example system are also presented. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.