Experimental studies on an ammonia ejector refrigeration system

An ejector refrigeration system has been designed and developed to operate with a simulated (electric) heat source, which can be realized in practical applications by renewable energy sources like solar energy, geothermal energy, etc., or waste heat. In this paper, an experimental study on an ejector refrigeration system working with ammonia is presented. The influence of the generator, condenser, and evaporator temperatures on the ejector refrigeration system performance is presented. The entrainment ratio and COP of the system increase with increasing generator and evaporator temperatures and decrease with increasing condenser temperature.     

Experimental investigation of a combined ejector-absorption refrigerator

This paper describes an experimental study of a novel heat-operated refrigeration cycle, ‘combined ejector-absorption refrigeration cycle’. In this novel cycle, an ejector was placed between a generator and a condenser of a conventional single-effect absorption refrigerator. The high-pressure vapour refrigerant produced in the generator section was used as the motive fluid for the ejector which entrained low-pressure refrigerant vapour from the evaporator and discharged it to the condenser. This was shown to significantly increase the cooling capacity and COP of the novel refrigerator above that of a conventional absorption unit with little increase in system complexity. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Numerical Simulation of the Performance of a Capillary Thermal Driven Ejector Refrigerator

A capillary driven ejector refrigerator is a new refrigeration system that can use solar energy and other low-grade heat sources. In this paper, the performance of the refrigeration system is simulated numerically by use of an iteration algorithm and block exchanging technology for all unit models. The flow and heat transfer characteristics in a solar collector, generator, ejector, condenser, and evaporator are analyzed and calculated. The results show that when the generating temperature is higher than 75–80°C and the environmental temperature is lower than 35°C, the system can work normally; the coefficient of performance of this refrigeration system is in the range of 0.05–0.15 by use of water as a refrigerant. The cooling capacity and COP increase with an increasing generative temperature and decreasing condensing pressure.     

Performance improvement of absorption refrigeration system using triple-pressure-level

In the absorption refrigeration system (ARS) working with aqua–ammonia, the ejector is commonly located at the condenser inlet. In this study, the ejector was located at the absorber inlet. Therefore, the absorber pressure becomes higher than the evaporator pressure and the system works with triple-pressure-level. The ejector has two main functions: (i) aiding pressure recovery from the evaporator, (ii) upgrading the mixing process and the pre-absorption by the weak solution of the ammonia coming from the evaporator. In addition to these functions, it can also act to lower the refrigeration and heat-source temperatures. Energy analyses show that the system’s coefficient of performance (COP) and exergetic coefficient of performance (ECOP) were improved by 49% and 56%, respectively and the circulation ratio (f) was reduced by 57% when ARS is initiated at lower generator temperatures. Due to the reduced circulation ratio, the system dimensions can be reduced; consequently, this decreases overall cost. The heat source and refrigeration temperatures decreased in the range of 5–15 °C and 1–3 °C, respectively. Exergy analyses show that the exergy loss of the absorber of ARS with ejector had a higher exergy loss than those of the other components. Therefore, a multiple compartment absorber can be proposed to reduce the exergy loss of the absorber of ARS with ejector.     

Modeling and optimization of a novel pressurized CHP system with water extraction and refrigeration

A novel cooling, heat, and power (CHP) system has been proposed that features a semi-closed Brayton cycle with pressurized recuperation, integrated with a vapor absorption refrigeration system (VARS). The semi-closed Brayton cycle is called the high-pressure regenerative turbine engine (HPRTE). The VARS interacts with the HPRTE power cycle through heat exchange in the generator and the evaporator. Waste heat from the recirculated combustion gas of the HPRTE is used to power the absorption refrigeration unit, which cools the high-pressure compressor inlet of the HPRTE to below ambient conditions and also produces excess refrigeration in an amount that depends on ambient conditions. Water produced as a product of combustion is intentionally condensed in the evaporator of the VARS, which is designed to provide sufficient cooling for the inlet air to the high-pressure compressor, water extraction, and for an external cooling load. The computer model of the combined HPRTE/VARS cycle predicts that with steam blade cooling and a medium-sized engine, the cycle will have a thermal efficiency of 49% for a turbine inlet temperature of 1400°C. This thermal efficiency, is in addition to the large external cooling load, generated in the combined cycle, which is 13% of the net work output. In addition, it also produces up to 1.4 kg of water for each kg of fuel consumed, depending upon the fuel type. When the combined HPRTE/VARS cycle is optimized for maximum thermal efficiency, the optimum occurs for a broad range of operating conditions. Details of the multivariate optimization procedure and results are presented in this paper. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermodynamic analysis of a tri-generation system based on micro-gas turbine with a steam ejector refrigeration system

In the present work, performance of new configuration of Micro-gas turbine cogeneration and tri-generation systems, with a steam ejector refrigeration system and Heat recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) are studied. A micro-gas turbine cycle produces 200 KW power and exhaust gases of this micro-gas turbine are recovered in an HRSG. The main part of saturated steam in HRSG is used through a steam ejector refrigeration system to produce cooling in summer. In winter, this part of saturated steam is used to produce heating. In the first part of this paper, performance evaluation of this system with respect to Energy Utilization Factor (EUF), Fuel Energy Saving Ratio (FESR), thermal efficiency, pinch point temperature difference, net power to evaporator cooling load and power to heat ratio is carried out. It has been shown that by using the present cogeneration system, one can save fuel consumption from about 23% in summer up to 33% in winter in comparison with separate generation of heating, cooling and electricity.     

太阳能喷射式制冷系统的模拟

介绍了结构简单、工作可靠的太阳能喷射式制冷系统的原理和工作过程,给出了一个模拟计算。采用Ｒ１３４ａ为制冷剂,在发生器温度９０℃、冷凝器温度２０～３８℃和蒸发器温度 ６～１４℃时,对系统效率进行了模拟计算。结果表明,该系统具有一定的可行性。本文还对理想状况下水作为制冷剂的系统效率进行了讨论。     

太阳能喷射/压缩复合制冷循环性能研究

研究了一种太阳能喷射/压缩复合制冷循环,由太阳能集热子系统、喷射制冷子系统及压缩制冷子系统组成,系统充分利用热电两种能源以及两种制冷方法各自的优点,优化喷射制冷子系统工作性能的同时,改善压缩式子系统的工作条件,从而提高复合制冷循环性能的同时节约高品位电能。采用性能较好的高蒸发温度式喷射制冷带走压缩机排气余热具有实际意义。通过数值模拟的手段分析系统性能及其主要影响因素,并优化工作条件。研究表明,与相同工作条件下的单压缩制冷循环相比,复合制冷循环工作日全天候运行时电力性能系数提升约为31.5%,节电优势显著。存在一个最佳的喷射子系统蒸发温度使得复合制冷循环性能系数达到运行工况的最大值。     

Particular characteristics of transcritical CO2 refrigeration cycle with an ejector

The present study describes a theoretical analysis of a transcritical CO₂ ejector expansion refrigeration cycle (EERC) which uses an ejector as the main expansion device instead of an expansion valve. The system performance is strongly coupled to the ejector entrainment ratio which must produce the proper CO₂ quality at the ejector exit. If the exit quality is not correct, either the liquid will enter the compressor or the evaporator will be filled with vapor. Thus, the ejector entrainment ratio significantly influences the refrigeration effect with an optimum ratio giving the ideal system performance. For the working conditions studied in this paper, the ejector expansion system maximum cooling COP is up to 18.6% better than the internal heat exchanger cycle (IHEC) cooling COP and 22.0% better than the conventional vapor compression refrigeration cycle (VCRC) cooling COP. At the conditions for the maximum cooling COP, the ejector expansion cycle refrigeration output is 8.2% better than the internal heat exchanger cycle refrigeration output and 11.5% better than the conventional cycle refrigeration output. An exergy analysis showed that the ejector expansion cycle greatly reduces the throttling losses. The analysis was also used to study the variations of the ejector expansion cycle cooling COP for various heat rejection pressures, refrigerant temperatures at the gas cooler exit, nozzle efficiencies and diffuser efficiencies.     

Exergy optimization of a novel hydrogen production plant with fuel cell,heat recovery,and MED using NSGAII genetic algorithm

In the current research, 4E analysis and multi-criteria optimization are applied to the poly generation unit for power, heating, refrigeration, and freshwater generation. This system consists of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), multi-effect thermal vapor desalination (MED-TVC), an organic system with ejector refrigeration (OSER), a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and a domestic hot water generator. The mathematical simulation is applied to assess the performance of the plant at design conditions and the genetic algorithm finds the optimum operating point with two different scenarios. Parametric analysis and multi-objective optimization are carried out. Findings represent that the developed plant can provide 257.65 kW power, 12.13 kW, 7.44 kW cooling and heating load, and 0.04 kg/s freshwater with a total cost rate of 10.62 $/h. In this case, the plant energy and exergy efficiency is 73.9% and 71.35% respectively. The results of multi-objective optimization show that these values can be improved to 79% and 73.9% respectively. In addition, the plant cost can be reached to 10.07 $/h in this condition.     

基于太阳辐射值的喷射制冷系统动态性能分析

为了了解气象参数对喷射制冷系统性能的影响,选取HCFC-134a作为制冷剂,基于EES软件建立了太阳能喷射制冷系统动态性能仿真程序,模拟研究了太阳辐射值对系统性能的影响。研究表明:一定运行工况下,随着太阳辐射量的增加,系统COP呈现先升高后下降的趋势;发生热量和发生温度均呈现递增趋势;制冷量则呈现先增加,当太阳辐射到达一定值时,系统的制冷量则基本不变的趋势。系统在相同蒸发温度和冷凝温度下运行时,存在一个最佳发生热量工作区,在该最佳发生热量区,系统COP最大,出冷量也最多。     

Optimal control and performance test of solar-assisted cooling system

The solar-assisted cooling system (SACH) was developed in the present study. The ejector cooling system (ECS) is driven by solar heat and connected in parallel with an inverter-type air conditioner (A/C). The cooling load can be supplied by the ECS when solar energy is available and the input power of the A/C can be reduced. In variable weather, the ECS will probably operate at off-design condition of ejector and the cooling capability of the ECS can be lost completely. In order to make the ejector operate at critical or non-critical double-choking condition to obtain a better performance, an electronic expansion valve was installed in the suction line of the ejector to regulate the opening of the expansion valve to control the evaporator temperature. This will make the SACH always produce cooling effect even at lower solar radiation periods while the ejector performs at off-design conditions. The energy saving of A/C is experimentally shown 50–70% due to the cooling performance of ECS. The long-term performance test results show that the daily energy saving is around 30–70% as compared to the energy consumption of A/C alone (without solar-driven ECS). The total energy saving of A/C is 52% over the entire test period.     

Transient simulation of a solar-based hydrogen production plant with evacuated tube collector and ejector refrigeration system

This article is a careful examination of an energy poly-generation unit integrated with an evacuated solar thermal tube collector. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis unit is used for hydrogen production, an ejector refrigeration system (ERS) is utilized for cooling demand, and a heater unit is used for heating demand. All sub-systems are validated by considering recent articles. Cooling and heating demand, as well as the net output power are calculated. The modeled poly-generation system's exergy and energy efficiency are maximized by considering the inlet temperature of the heat exchanger and primary pressure of the ejector with the parametric evaluation of the system. The proposed poly-generation set-up can produce cooling load, heating load, and hydrogen with amounts of 5.34 kW, 5.152 kW, and 63 kg/year, respectively. Based on these values, the energy ef?ciency, and exergy ef?ciency are computed to be 64.14%, and 49.62%, respectively. Higher energy and exergy ef?ciencies are obtained by reducing high pressure of the refrigeration cycle or decreasing the temperature outlet of an auxiliary heater. The heat exchanger and thermal energy storage unit have the highest cost rate among all system components with 73,463 $ and 46,357, respectively. Parametric study indicates that the main determinative elements in the total cost rate of the system are the heater, and the solar collector.     

Computer-aided conceptual thermodynamic design of a two-stage dual fluid absorption cycle for solar refrigeration

This communication presents thermodynamic assessment of a two-stage dual fluid absorption refrigeration system using H₂O---LiBr and NH₃---H₂O as working fluids at the first and second stage, respectively. Both stages are assumed to be operated with hot water available from separate solar collectors. In the cascading of two-stage absorption systems, the evaporator of the first stage produces cooling water which is circulated in the absorber of the second stage. It is found that two-stage systems can be used for the production of very low temperatures using moderate generator temperatures at the first stage. The effects of generator temperature, absorber temperature and condenser temperature on the coefficient of performance, minimum evaporator temperature and effective refrigeration produced are also presented.     

Experimental investigations on ejector refrigeration system with ammonia

A vapor ejector refrigeration system has been designed and developed to operate with ammonia. In this paper, performance of ejector refrigeration system has been experimentally studied with three different area ratio ejectors by varying operational parameters namely generator, condenser and evaporator temperatures. Effect of non-dimensional parameters like compression ratio, expansion ratio and area ratio on the system performance is studied. Entrainment ratio and coefficient of performance of the system increase with increase in ejector area ratio and expansion ratio and they increase with decrease in compression ratio.     

Thermoeconomic analysis of SOFC-GT-VARS-ORC combined power and cooling system

The integration of the gas turbine cycle and organic Rankine cycle with the solid oxide fuel cell for power generation is quite prevalent. However, the need is also felt for systems capable of providing power with cooling. Therefore, it is proposed to integrate solid oxide fuel cell with gas turbine cycle, vapour absorption refrigeration system and organic Rankine cycle through the heat available with fluid in the cycle. Here intercooled and reheat gas turbine cycle is integrated with solid oxide fuel cell. Heat rejected in intercooling is used in vapour absorption refrigeration system for cooling. This paper presents thermoeconomic analysis. Results show that the combination of solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine-vapour absorption refrigeration system-organic Rankine cycle yields increase in efficiency to 68.79% as compared to 58.88% from combined solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine cycle. The cost of electricity per unit power output is found as 1939.93 $/kW.     

Exergy analysis of double effect vapor absorption refrigeration system

Energy and exergy analyses previously performed by the authors for a single effect absorption refrigeration system have been extended to double effect vapor absorption refrigeration system with the expectation of reducing energy supply as well as an interest in the diversification of the motive power employed by HVAC technologies. The total exergy destruction in the system as a percentage of the exergy input from a generator heating water over a range of operating temperatures is examined for a system operating on LiBr–H₂O solution. The exergy destruction in each component, the coefficient of performance (COP) and the exergetic COP of the system are determined. It is shown that exergy destructions occur significantly in generators, absorbers, evaporator2 and heat exchangers while the exergy destructions in condenser1, evaporator1, throttling valves, and expansion valves are relatively smaller within the range of 1–5%. The results further indicate that with an increase in the generator1 temperature the COP and ECOP increase, but there is a significant reduction in total exergy destruction of the system for the same. On the other hand, the COP and ECOP decrease with an increase in the absorber1 temperature while the total exergy destruction of the system increases significantly with a small increase in the absorber1 temperature. The results show that the exergy method can be used as an effective criterion in designing an irreversible double effect absorption refrigeration system and may be a good tool for the determination of the optimum working conditions of such systems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of solar absorption-subcooled compression hybrid refrigeration system in subtropical city

Solar absorption-subcooled compression hybrid refrigeration system is a new type of efficient and economical solar refrigeration device which always meets the demand of cooling load with the change of solar irradiance. The performance of the hybrid system is higher due to the improvement of evaporator temperature of absorption subsystem. But simultaneously, the variation of working process as well as performance is complicated since the absorption and compression subsystems are coupled strongly. Based on the measured meteorological data of Guangzhou, a subtropical city in south China, a corresponding parametric model has been developed for the hybrid refrigeration system, and a program written by Fortran has been used to analyze the performance of the hybrid system under different external conditions. As the condensation temperature ranges from 38°C to 50°C, the working time fraction of the absorption subsystem increases from 75% to 85%. Besides, the energy saving fraction also increases from 5.31% to 6.02%. The average COP of the absorption subsystem is improved from 0.366 to 0.407. However, when the temperature of the absorption increases from 36°C to 48°C, the average COP of hybrid system decreases from 2.703 to 2.312. Moreover, the working time fraction of the absorption subsystem decreases from 80% to 71.7%. The energy saving fraction falls from 5.67% to 5.08%. In addition, when the evaporate temperature increases from 4°C to 14°C, the average COP of the absorption subsystem decreases from 0.384 to 0.365. The work of the compressor decreases from 48.2 kW to 32.8 kW and the corresponding average COP of the absorption subsystem is improved from 2.591 to 3.082.     

Simulation to analyze operation strategy of combined cooling and power system using a high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell for data centers

With the development of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, the energy consumption of data centers is continuously increasing. High-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (HT-PEFC) have a high operating temperature of 120 °C or higher; thus, the heat generated from fuel cells stack is effectively used as a heat source for a absorption refrigerator (AR) to generate cooling. The combined cooling and power (CCP) system is proposed to satisfy the energy demand of data centers that require both power and cooling. The CCP system comprises an HT-PEFC and a double-effect AR that recovers the wasted heat of the fuel cell stack. As a result of analyzing the electrical and cooling efficiency of the CCP system according to the fuel cell operating conditions, the overall efficiency increased to 95%, which was significantly higher than the existing system. Based on the simulation of the developed model, coefficient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity depending on the temperature changes of chilled water and cooling water were calculated within the stack temperature range of 150–180 °C, and the COP changed from 1.1 to 1.58 depending on the conditions. The developed CCP system model can be used to plan strategies for flexible fuel cell operation according to the power and cooling demands required in the data center.