ABSORPTION COOLING SYSTEMS J.

ILANGUMARAN

VAPOUR COMPRESSION CYCLE

Commercial absorption chiller single effect

Working Principle Process 1

Solution Pump A dilute lithium bromide solution is collected in the bottom of the absorber shell. From here, a hermetic solution pump moves the solution through a shell and tube heat exchanger for preheating.

Working Principle Process 2

Generator After exiting the heat exchanger, the dilute solution moves into the upper shell. The solution surrounds a bundle of tubes which carries either steam or hot water. The steam or hot water transfers heat into the pool of dilute lithium bromide solution. The solution boils, sending refrigerant vapor upward into the condenser and leaving behind concentrated lithium bromide. The concentrated lithium bromide solution moves down to the heat exchanger, where it is cooled by the weak solution being pumped up to the generator.

Working Principle Process 3

Condenser The refrigerant vapor migrates through mist eliminators to the condenser tube bundle. The refrigerant vapor condenses on the tubes. The heat is removed by the cooling water which moves through the inside of the tubes. As the refrigerant condenses, it collects in a trough at the bottom of the condenser.

Working Principle Process 4

Evaporator The refrigerant liquid moves from the condenser in the upper shell down to the evaporator in the lower shell and is sprayed over the evaporator tube bundle. Due to the extreme vacuum of the lower shell [6 mm Hg (0.8 kPa) absolute pressure], the refrigerant liquid boils at approximately 3.9 C, creating the refrigerant effect. (This vacuum is created by hygroscopic action - the strong affinity lithium bromide has for water - in the Absorber directly below.)

Working Principle Process 5

Absorber As the refrigerant vapor migrates to the absorber from the evaporator, the strong lithium bromide solution from the generator is sprayed over the top of the absorber tube bundle. The strong lithium bromide solution actually pulls the refrigerant vapor into solution, creating the extreme vacuum in the evaporator. The absorption of the refrigerant vapor into the lithium bromide solution also generates heat which is removed by the cooling water. The now dilute lithium bromide solution collects in the bottom of the lower shell, where it flows down to the solution pump. The chilling cycle is now completed and the process begins once again.

DOUBLE EFFECT VARS

TRIPLE EFFECT VARS

ABSORPTION SYSTEM MODELS

Steam Based VAM : Double Effect Steam Fired Machines Steam pressure : 3.5 kg/sq.cm to 10 kg/sq.cm Capacity : 40 TR to 1400 TR Sp.Consumption : 4.5 kg/hr @ 8 kg/sq.cm Single Effect Steam Fired Steam pressure : 0.5 kg/sq.cm to 3 kg/sq.cm Capacity : 70 TR to 1400 TR Sp.Consumption : 8.5 kg/hr @ 8 kg/sq.cm Oil /Gas Based VAM : Fuels : Kerosene,Diesel, LPG,LNG, Natural gas & F.O Capacity : 30 TR to 770 TR
Hot Water Fired VAM : Source : Hot Water ( minimum of 85 deg C.) Capacity : 30 TR to 650 TR

PERFORMANCE

---------------------------------------------------------------------Chiller SITE COP Source to Site Resource COP factor ---------------------------------------------------------------------Electric 2.0 6 0.16 0.32- 0.96

Absorption 0.5 1.2 0.91 0.45 1.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

General
Fruits & Vegetables : 32 & 71 millions MT Wastage : 20-25 % The average expected increase in production of food stuffs is 900 tons for every 1 percent increase in the number of cold storages
Sl. No Aspect Short-term Use of CA/MA storage only for high value perishable produce Mediumterm Very Limited use of CA/MA Storage Long-term Extensive use of CA/MA Storage

Storage

General
Refrigeration that might otherwise be considered as a luxury is in fact a necessity for a agriculture based developing country like ours, where large parts of our rural area are without the traditional sources of power.

Building of Biomass based cold storage systems at the food ( Fruits and Vegetables) production centres using biomass energy for refrigeration systems seems to be a feasible solutions due to ever increase in the cost / non-availability of electricity for storage applications.

Details of Thermodynamic Analysis on VARS

S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Property Generator temperature (Tg) Evaporator Temperature (Te-) Condenser Temperature (Tc) Absorber Temperature (Ta) Generator heat load (Qg) Evaporator heat load (Qe) Condenser heat load (Qc) Absorber heat load (Q-a) Reflux condenser heat load Qrect Solution hx heat load (Qshx) Pump work COP Refrigerant mass flow rate Strong solution flow rate Weak solution flow rate Circulation Ratio Values 1350C -100C 350C 350C 21 kW 10.62 kW 11 kW 19 kW 1.9 kW 8.7 kW 0.28 kW 0.499 0.01 kg/s 0.04 kg/s 0.03 kg/s 4.0

Generator / Rectifier : Details

Area for heat transfer 4.54m2 Generator Shell : Height 1.5m, Diameter 0.3m Tube : Length 1.5m, Diameter 25.4 mm, No. of tubes 38. Furnace Height 0.75m, Diameter 0.4m Exhaust Shell Height 0.3m, Diameter 0.25m

Generator and Rectifier Details

REFLUX CONDENSER Heat transfer area: 0.056 m2 Shell and Tube type: Counter flow arrangement, Single pass shell and tube side
Component

Fluid

Material

Dimension / Remark Length Diameter 0.3m 0.01m

Shell Tube

Mixed vapor Cooling water

MS MS

Length 0.3m Diameter 1.25x10-2m No. of tubes 5

REFLUX CONDENSER

CONDENSER Heat transfer area 0.73 m2 Shell and Tube type Counter Flow type
Component

Fluid
NH3

Material

Dimension / Remark Length 1m, Diameter 0.02m Length 1m, Diameter 2.54x10-2m No. of tubes 10

Shell Tube

MS MS

Cooling water

CONDENSER

EVAPORATOR

Area for heat transfer: 0.51m2 Evaporator coil Length 13m Diameter 12.5x10-3m

EVAPORATOR

ABSORBER Total heat transfer area : 0.56m2 Vertical Shell and Tube type Counter flow arrangement, Single pass shell and tube side
Comp. Shell Fluid Weak aqua ammonia solution & ammonia ref. Cooling water Mat. MS Dimension / Remark Length 0.5m, Diameter 0.02m Length 0.5m, Dia. 2.54x10-2m No. of tubes 14

Tube

MS

ABSORBER

SOLUTION HEAT EXCHANGER Heat transfer area :0.55 m2 Tube In Tube type heat exchanger

Comp. Inner Tube Outer Tube

Fluid Weak aqua ammonia solution Strong aqua ammonia solution

Mat. MS

Dimension / Remark Length 14m, Dia. 12.5 mm Length 14m, Dia. 2.54 mm

MS

SOLUTION HEAT EXCHANGER

Generator / Rectifier

Absorber

Integration of gasifier with Cold Storage units for its operation in rural areas
DETAILS OF GASIFIER : Mode : Thermal Application ( Down Draft type ) Fuel : Wood chips, Rating : 20 kW thermal, Fuel Loading: Manual ( 10 - 20 hours / d) Auxiliary power requirement: < 1 HP

Ammonia Absorption Cold Storage Plant Technical Specifications

N

PARAMETERS Refrigeration Load (Max) Ammonia Evaporation Temperature Cold Storage Room Temperature COP Cooling Water Temperature Cooling Water Flow rate Cooling Tower heat load Rise in Cooling Water Temperature Heat Input

UNIT TR KW oC
oC

Value/Specifications 3.0 10.5 -10 0 to 2 0.47 30 4.5 32.84 6.27 22.34

1. 2. 3. 4 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

-oC

m3/hr KW
oC

kW

Experimental prototype of 3 TR BM VACS

CT

A Blower B Gas generator C Charging door D Air inlet pipe E Air Manifold F Water tank G Primary air duct H Mixing tube CT - from/to cooling tower tank

1 Furnace 2 Generator 3 Rectifier 4 Reflux condenser 5 Condenser 6 Refrigerant Reservoir 7 Evaporator 8 Absorber GT Glycol tank

9 Solution reservoir 10 Solution pump 11 Solution heat exchanger ED Expansion device T Temperature indicators P Pressure transducers L Level indicator F Flow meter PRV Pressure reducing valve

G/R RC

BM
RS

LI

SS

B SP

BMVARS Without Insulation

BMVARS with Insulation

C G/R RR E

SR

SHX

Biomass gasifier integrated absorption cold storage system

RC

BM
A

G/R RR
DLS

SR F SHX

EP

Instrument Panel, Cooling towers etc.

Operation Mode

Experimental Results
Biomass flow rate : 10 15 kg/h Weak Solution flow rate : 0.01 0.03 kg/s Sink temperature : 26-34oC Evaporator temperature : 5 to 15oC Cooling water flow rate : 0.3 0.5 kg/s CR, Heat Load, Cooling capacity, COP (thermodynamic, actual, Real)

Temperature History
160 140 120 C) Temperature (
o

100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 0 50 100 150 Tim e (m in) GENERATOR TEMPERATURE ABSORBER TEMPERATURE WEAK SOLUTION INLET TEMPERATURE STRONG SOLUTION INLET TEMPERATURE CHILL WATER TEMPERATURE CONDENSER TEMPERATURE EVAPORATER TEMPERATURE WEAK SOLUTION OUTLET TEMPERATURE STRONG SOLUTION OUTLET TEMPERATURE 200 250 300 350

Biomass consumption : 10 2 kg/h, mws : 0.30 kg/s, mch : 0.244 kg/s, mcw: 0.40 kg/s)

Heat load Vs Sink temperature

20 Biomass Consumption :: 10 2 kg / h mcw : 0.402 kg / s 15 Heat Load (kW) mws mch : 0.03 kg / s : 0.244 kg / s

10

5 Gen.load 0 20 25 30 Sink Temperature(o C) 35 40 Abs.load Con.load Eva.load

COP Vs Sink temperature

0.7

0.6

0.5 COP

0.4

0.3

0.2 Thermodynamic 0.1 20 25 30 Sink Temperature ( o C ) 35 40 Actual Real

Performance of BMVARS
0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 Actual 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Experimental Run Thermodynamic Real
Biomass consumption : : 10 2 kg / h mcw : 0.402 kg/s mws : 0.03 kg/s mch : 0.244 kg/s

COP

COP / Economics and Comparisons

0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2
COP real COP thermodynamic COST BMVACS

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 8 10 12 14 16 18 Biomass Consumption (kg/h)

COP actual COST VCRS

0.1 0

Cost/ TR (Rs)

COP

Uncertainty in the measurement

Measured/Estimated parameter Temperature Pressure Solution flow rate Mass flow rate of water in absorber, evaporator & condenser Actual heat input to the generator Actual heat input to the evaporator Actual heat obtained the absorber Actual COP Actual Second Law Efficiency Actual Circulation Ratio Unit
OC

Maximum uncertainty percent (%)

1.53 0.8 0.00388 0.006 2.71 0.68 2.73 6.65 8.18 0.945

bar kg/s kg/s kW kW kW -

APPLICATIONS

Example In a thermal power plant uses 100 TR mechanical chillers air-conditioning applications with COP of 3.5 used for 8000 h of operation/year. The cost of Electricity is 4 Rs/kWh. If the plant is replaced by WH VARS Annual Savings in Energy cost : 354 kW / 3.5 x 8000 h / year x 4 Rs / kWh = Rs 32, 36, 571/Investment required : For the Chiller : Rs 28 00 000/For Waste heat recovery unit. 20 00 000/Simple Pay back period ~ 1.8 Years

OPERATING COST ANALYSIS W/C SCREW DESF VARS -----------------------------------------------------------------------Steam Cost Nil Rs 753.75 (Rs 0.67/kg) (250 x 4.5 x 0.67) Electricity cost @ Rs 5 /kWh Equipment alone Rs 875.00 Rs 25.00 (250 x 0.7 x 5) (5 x 5) Condenser water Rs 27.50 Rs 37.50 Pump (5.5 x 5) (7.5 x 5) Cooling tower Rs 18.50 Rs 27.50 Motor (3.7 x 5) (5.5 x 5) Makeup water Rs 150 Rs 225 (@ Rs 600/12000ltr) ----------------------------------------------------------------------Total cost / h Rs 10.71.00 Rs 1068.75

Advantages
Energy Saving Options Inlet Air cooling Trigeneration Concepts Cogeneration Heating & Cooling Demand Side Management Environmentally safe working fluids Clean Development Mechanism

LIMITATION
- Cost and Low COP