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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012)
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/er.2943

RESEARCH ARTICLE

An investigation on the absorption–compression hybrid

refrigeration cycle driven by gases and power from
vehicle engines
Shiming Xu*,†, Jianbo Li and Fusen Liu
Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, School of Energy and Power, Dalian
University of Technology, Dalian, China

SUMMARY
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.

KEY WORDS
absorption–compression; exhaust gases; hybrid refrigeration cycle; vehicle engine

Correspondence
*Xu Shiming, Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, School of Energy and
Power, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
†
E-mail: xsming@dlut.edu.cn

Received 21 December 2011; Revised 19 March 2012; Accepted 27 May 2012

1. INTRODUCTION Transportation, Freight Management and Operations, a

Currently, there are more than 100 million automobiles in
China, which are continuously increasing by the day.
These automobiles consumed more than 150 million tons
of fuel oil in 2010, and it was reported that the automobiles
will consume more than 250 million tons of fuel oil in
2020 [1]. The automobiles are not only consuming large
amounts of fuel oil but are also emitting harmful gases that
pollute the environment. As such, improving energy
efficiency and reducing fuel oil consumption have become
important projects in automobile energy saving.
The conventional refrigeration system currently used
in automobiles is the compression refrigeration system
(CRS), which consumes a tremendous amount of fuel
oil. It has been estimated that approximately 8% to
12% of the engine rated power is required to drive
the automobile air-conditioning. As a result, the average
fuel oil consumption increases approximately 16% to
20% when driving the automobile with air-conditioning
in operation [2]. According to the US Department of
conservative estimate for the annual fuel consumption
for refrigeration of approximately a million trucks in
the USA is 2 billion litres [3].
Furthermore, automotive engines typically have
approximately 35% (gasoline engine) to 40% (diesel engine)
thermal efficiency rate, which means that only approxi-
mately one third of the energy in the fuel used is converted
to useful work. The remaining 60% to 65% of the primary
energy is rejected to the environment by cooling liquid/lu-
bricant losses of approximately 28% to 30%, exhaust gas
losses of approximately 30% to 32% and the remainder by
radiation [4]. Much of the work now in progress is directed
to the improvement of thermal efficiency by achieving better
fuel consumption. Some effort has been devoted to the
utilization of the vast amount of waste heat dissipated in
the exhaust gases. Heat recovery from automotive engines
has predominantly been for turbo charging or for cabin
heating. However, some have focused on using the waste
heat for automobile air-conditioning and refrigeration to
reduce the oil consumption of automobiles [5].

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU
Although the waste heat refrigeration system (WHRS)
for automobile application is one of the perennial topics,
it has not been developed to a significant state of maturity
up to date. The reason is the specific technical require-
ments of the WHRS for automobiles
➣The WHRS should be compact and light and the
components in WHRS could either be installed sepa-
rately or together to fit the narrow space of automobiles.
➣The WHRS should be cooled by air directly.
➣The WHRS should function normally whenever the
vehicle runs under any road condition such as bumping,
slanting, swinging and speeding up or down.
➣The refrigerant and absorbent/adsorbent used in the
WHRS should be nontoxic or low toxic, nonflammable
or low flammable and has suitable operating pressure
and good heat and mass transfer characteristics.
➣The WHRS should meet the automobile cooling require-
ment under any driving scenarios, such as during high-
way driving, city driving, idling or in traffic jams.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
A thorough search of present open literature shows that
there are several studies about the refrigeration technolo-
gies driven by waste heat from automotive engines.
Koehler et al. [5] designed, built and tested a prototype
of a single-stage NH3–H2O absorption refrigeration system
(ARS) for truck refrigeration powered by the exhaust gases
of the tractor. The prototype was tested for trailer tempera-
tures between 20
C and 0
C and ambient temperatures
in the range of 20–30
C. The results showed that for ex-
haust gas temperatures of 440–490
C entering the genera-
tor and exhaust gas flow rate of 360 kg h1, cooling
capacities in the range of 6 to 10 kW and coefficient of
performance (COP) between 0.23 and 0.3 could be
obtained. The simulation results indicated that such a
system will have sufficient capacity to satisfy 80% of the
refrigeration needs of the truck when driving on level
roads. However, the authors also indicated that to address
this deficiency as well as the cooling requirements of the
truck in city driving conditions when the available heat
from the engine exhaust gases will be even lower, an
auxiliary cooling system will be required.
Horuz et al. [4,6] used the exhaust gases of a 6-L turbo
diesel engine to drive a 10 kW commercial NH3–H2O
ARS for experimental investigation. The refrigeration unit
was powered up successfully to its rated capacity, but a
significant reduction in capacity (down to 1 kW) was
observed when the engine was run at low speeds. The
authors suggested that the exhaust gas–driven system
would provide an alternative to the conventional vapour
CRS and its associated internal combustion engine (ICE).
However, suggestions were also made regarding the
operation of the ARS during off-road/slow running condi-
tions, and some problems need to be resolved in practice.
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle
Talbi et al. [7] explored the theoretical performance of
four different configurations of a turbocharger diesel
engine and ARS combination when operating under high
ambient temperature of 35
C. The simulation results showed
that an ARS interfaced with a Caterpillar diesel engine has
been used for cooling the charged air before ingestion to
the engine cylinder or for other cooling purposes such as
air-conditioning, and it was demonstrated that a diesel
absorption unit combination is a practical possibility.
Yang et al. [8] studied two combined absorption/com-
pression refrigeration cycles using NH3–H2O solution as
working fluid to use the waste heat efficiently for a gas
engine–driven heat pump running in cooling mode. The
combined cycle with one solution circuit was a conven-
tional absorption chiller with a mechanical compressor,
using both work and heat output from an engine. The com-
bined cycle with two solution circuits was a generalized
version of the previous cycle, in which the condenser and
the evaporator were replaced by a second absorber and a
second generator. The primary energy ratio, defined as
the ratio of the design cooling capacity and the total energy
input to the engine, increased considerably for the com-
bined cycles compared with a conventional engine-driven
compression cycle working with pure ammonia.
Hilali and Soylemez [9] presented an economic analysis
and optimization method to estimate the optimum size of
absorption-type automotive air-conditioning systems pow-
ered by exhaust gases. Through a thermal analysis and
thermoeconomic optimization for the absorption cooling
system, the authors stated that the absorption-type automo-
tive air-conditioning system seems to be a viable alterna-
tive to the commonly used automotive air-conditioning
systems of vapour compression type.
Talom and Beyene [10] modified and tested a 10.55 kW
absorption chiller that was driven by exhaust gases and
matched it to a 2.8 L V6 ICE. Mathematical model and ex-
perimental results suggested that the concept is thermody-
namically feasible and could significantly enhance system
performance depending on the part load of the engine.
However, possible challenges faced during transient opera-
tions as well as issues related to scalability and reliability
require further investigation.
Manzela et al. [11] presented an experimental study of
an absorption–diffusion refrigerator using NH3–H2O solu-
tion as working fluid. The refrigerator was powered by the
exhaust gases of an ICE as its energy source. The experi-
mental results showed that the refrigerator not only had
low COP and did not provide the cooling capacity needed
for automotive application but also spent approximately 3
h to reach a steady-state temperature of between 4
C and
13
C after it started up. However, the authors pointed
out that a dedicated ARS may be able to take advantage
of the exhaust gas power availability and provide the cool-
ing capacity required for automotive air-conditioning.
Besides the absorption refrigeration technology applied
to recover the waste heat for automotive air-conditioning
or cooling, the adsorption refrigeration technology was
also reported.
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle
Suzuki [12] analyzed a design of an adsorption refriger-
ation system (AdRS) using zeolite–water as working pairs
for automobile air-conditioning and indicated that the
overall heat transfer coefficient and system cycle time have
the most significant effects on the specific cooling power
(SCP); hence, it is possible to improve heat transfer char-
acteristics if the appropriate design of adsorbents and
bed configurations are made for improved heat transfer
characteristics.
Zhang and Wang [13,14] described a dual zeolite–water
adsorption unit driven by automobile waste heat and
addressed the fact that a low SCP is the primary technolog-
ical limit associated using waste heat adsorption systems in
automobiles. An experimental intermittent zeolite–water
adsorption cooling system driven by the exhaust gases of
a diesel engine was set up. The COP of the system was
0.38 and the SCP was 25.7 W kg1. The system studied
by the authors could meet the demands of the COP, but it
was far from meeting the demands of the SCP.
Wang [15] reported that a prototype of waste heat
adsorption air-conditioning system with activated carbon–
ammonia for automobiles had been developed and tested.
The adsorption bus air-conditioning had a cooling capacity
of approximately 20 kW, in which the continuous opera-
tion was achieved with the operational phase change of
two adsorbers. The research results showed that automo-
bile air-conditioning driven by the exhaust gases is very
attractive because of the use of natural refrigerants and at
nearly no energy cost. However, there are many difficulties
for its application in practice, such as the size of an adsorp-
tion air-conditioning system is much bigger than a normal
electric-driven vapour compression system and the cooling
supply stability is difficult to control.
Meunier [16] also discussed adsorption air-conditioning
for automobiles as a very challenging possibility for adsorp-
tion cooling. The author stated that car air-conditioning is an
ideal solution for sorption systems to be competitive from the
global warming point of view, even with low COP. The
technological difficulties were the need for light and compact
units, the requirement for efficiency improvement and the
heat transfer intensification in the adsorbers to reduce the size
and weight of the units.
Lu et al. [17] and Shu et al. [18] developed and
conducted an experimental study of a locomotive driver
cabin air conditioner driven by the exhaust gases from
the locomotive engine using zeolite–water as working pair.
This air conditioner was based on a laboratory prototype
developed by Shu et al. [19]. The cooling power of such
an air conditioner under typical running conditions ranged
from 3 to 5 kW, with a COP of 0.21. The temperature
inside the cabin was between 4
C and 6
C lower than that
of the ambient temperature. This system had a problem
similar to that of the system studied by Zhang [14], with
respect to the cooling of the adsorbent in the adsorption
phase. In the experiments with this machine, the temp-
erature of the adsorbent bed at the end of the adsorption
phase was close to 90
C, which greatly reduced the
cooling performance.
S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU
Christy et al. [20] researched a trailer refrigeration and
bus air-conditioning ambient-air cooled adsorption system
using activated carbon–ammonia as the working pairs. The
sorption system was capable of maintaining temperatures
in the range of 18
C to 4.5
C for transport refrigeration.
The available heat from diesel engines in the power range
of 168 and 392 kW was determined to be between 40 and
140 kW from testing of the exhaust gases. The cooling
requirement of large refrigerated semitrailers was consid-
ered to be equal to the cooling capacities of the units
usually installed on these vehicles, that is, around 15 kW.
Hu et al. [21] proposed a new composite zeolite/foam
aluminum material to enhance heat and mass transfer for
adsorption refrigeration. The effective thermal conductiv-
ity of this composite reached 2.89 W m1 K1. Authors
calculated the performance of the composite zeolite/foam
aluminum–water mass recovery adsorption refrigeration
device driven by engine exhaust gases. The results showed
that the composite zeolite/foam aluminum–water system
has much higher COP and SCP when cycle time is short.
The conclusion was that an AdRS was only suitable for
automobiles that are usually driven on the highway, such
as long distance coach or truck because the driving scenar-
ios or engine working conditions affect the performance of
adsorption refrigeration greatly.
Comparing with ARSs, the drawbacks of AdRSs are
that the SCP and the COP of AdRSs are too low to meet
the requirements of the application. It is not enough just
to resolve the problems such as directly cooled by air,
directly chilled by refrigerant and separate installation, as
well as overcoming difficulties like oversized, overweight,
vacuum leakage, poor mass and heat transfer. The adsorp-
tion deterioration of adsorbent is also nonnegligible. It
shortens the life span of AdRSs. However, the conven-
tional ARSs also cannot meet the requirements completely
because of the difficulty of holding liquids in an acceler-
ated, moving system and the toxicity and corrosiveness
of liquid for the aqueous ammonia system or the over-
sized, overweight, vacuum leakage for the aqueous lithium
bromide system.
3. THE ABSORPTION–COMPRESSION
HYBRID REFRIGERATION CYCLE
DESIGN
3.1. The absorption–compression hybrid
refrigeration cycle proposed
In fact, the waste heat generated from vehicle engines
depends on the driving scenarios. The waste heat is too
small to drive the WHRS to meet the vehicle cooling
demands when the vehicle runs under the idling or traffic
jam conditions. Therefore, ARSs or AdRSs powered only
by waste heat cannot resolve the inconsistency between
the vehicle cooling demands and the supplies by these
systems. Hence, we have proposed a novel absorption–
compression hybrid refrigeration cycle (ACHRC) driven
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU
by waste heat and power from vehicle engines, as shown in
Figure 1. The ACHRC comprises two subcycles. One is
the absorption refrigeration subcycle (ARSC) driven by
gas heat and the other is the compression refrigeration
subcycle (CRSC) driven by power.
3.2. Working process
The working process of the ACHRC is described as fol-
lows. In the ARSC, the refrigerant vapour from the fan-coil
evaporator (K, L) enters the bottom of the vertical fin-tube
bubble absorber (H) cooled directly by ambient air and
forms bubbles in the tubes. Bubbles are absorbed by the
weak solution from the solution heat exchanger (O), and
the weak solution becomes the strong solution. The
absorption heat is rejected into the environment by cooling
air produced by a cooling fan (J). The strong solution from
the top of the absorber is pumped by a solution pump (N)
into the multithread coil generator (A) through the solution
heat exchanger where it is heated. The solution in the
generator is continuously heated by the gases exhausted
from an ICE (C), and the refrigerant vapour is partially
separated from it. The vapour–liquid mixture from the gen-
erator flows into a separator (B) in which the vapour and
liquid are separated. The refrigerant vapour flows through
a one-way valve (G) and into the condenser (I) and is con-
densed. The condensation heat is directly rejected by the
cooling air. The refrigerant liquid passes through the throt-
tle and flows into the evaporator in which the refrigerant
evaporates, and a cooling effect is produced. The weak
solution from the separator flows through the solution heat
exchanger and the control valve (D), and the temperature
and the pressure of the solution decease. Finally, the weak
solution enters the absorber.
When the cooling capacity of the ARSC cannot meet
the cooling demands for vehicles, the CRSC will run to
Gas
Engine
Waste heat
Refrigerant vapor
Figure 1. The working process of the ACHRC.
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle
supply partial or total cooling demand. The partial or full
refrigerant vapour from the evaporator is sucked and
compressed by the compressor (E) in the CRSC. The
vapour discharged from the compressor flows through a
one-way valve and mixes with the vapour from the separa-
tor and then flows into the condenser. A high-efficiency
vapour–oil separator (F) and an accumulator (M) are set
up to prevent the lubrication oil in the compressor from
entering the ARSC and to prevent the liquid from entering
the compressor.
The operating strategy of the ACHRC is that the ARSC
is primary to the CRSC operation, which means that the
cooling capacity for automobiles is first supplied by the
ARSC and the CRSC then supplies the insufficient part
under most vehicle driving conditions. Under idling and
traffic jam conditions, the CRSC supplies the total cooling
load.
The generator and absorber are both important equip-
ment in the ARSC. Their structures, sizes, weights and
working characteristics determine whether the ACHRC
can be applied in automobiles or not. The multithread coil
generator and the vertical fin-tube bubble absorber are
specially designed for replacing the conventional shell-tube
generator and fall-film absorber in holding liquids and de-
creasing the amount of the working fluid charged into the
ACHRC. Their structures are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
3.3. Working fluid
The conventional working fluids are unsuitable for the
ACHRC. For ARSs using LiBr–H2O solution as working
fluid, very low operating pressure results in huge equip-
ment volume, weight and leak risk. In addition, for ARSs
using H2O–NH3 solution as working fluid, the corrosion,
toxicity and high working pressure also result in large
equipment volume and weight.
Cooling air
Power
Cold Air
Poor solution Rich solution Exhaust gas
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU

R124, R134a, and so on, and the absorbents are

chemical solvents, such as dimethylacetamide (DMAC),
dimethylformamide, dimethylether tetraethyleneglycol, and
so on. Research on organic working fluids used in ARSs
has been performed by many scholars [22–28]. In accor-
dance with the technical requirements of WHRS for automo-
biles, the R124 (2-chloro-l,l,l,2,-tetrafluoroethane)–DMAC
(N0 ,N0 -dimethylacetamide) organic working pair is thought
to be more suitable for use in the ACHRC. Under the
ambient air cooling condition, the R124–DMAC organic
working pair has relatively low condensation pressure,
low generation temperature, low solution circulation ratio
and high COP [23,26]. These mean low power consump-
tion of the solution pump and small size and weight of the
devices in the ARSC. The thermal properties of R124 and
DMAC are listed in Table I, and their thermal property
correlation equations had been presented by Borde [23].

4. THERMAL CALCULATION MODELS

4.1. Models of the ARSC

Figure 2. The structure of the multithread coil generator.

Generation heat; qg ¼ hv1 þ f hl7  hl12  hl7 (1)

Solution circulation ratio; f ¼ ð1  xs Þ=ðxs  xw Þ

(2)
¼ ð1  xs Þ=Δx

Absorption heat; qa ¼ hv6 þ f hl9  hl10  hl9 (3)

Solution heat exchanging heat; qex ¼ ðf -1Þ hl7  hl8


¼ f hl12  hl11
(4)

f Δp
Solution pump specific work wpump ¼
1000rpump

Figure 3. The structure of the vertical fan-coil bubble absorber [29].

(5)
qe;ars
Coefficient of performance COPars ¼
qg þ wpump
However, some organic working fluids can be used in the (6)
hv6  hl4
ACHRC. The refrigerants are hydrochlorofluorocarbons ¼
(HCFCs) or hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), such as R22, qg þ wpump

Table I. The basic property parameters of R124 and DMAC.

Molecular Evaporation
Molecular weight Density Specific heat Boiling latent Critical Critical pressure
Medium formula (g mol1) (kg m3) (kJ kg1
C1) point (
C) heat (kJ kg1) temperature (
C) (MPa)

R124 C2HF4Cl 136.5 564.97 1.13 11.0 194.0 122.2 3.574

DMAC C4H9NO 87.12 942.8 1.92 165.0 519.16 382.4 4.211

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle

4.2. Models of the CRSC vehicles except for the solution pump. Therefore, the
integration COP (COPint) of the ACHRC is defined as
hv2s  hv6
Compressor specific work wcomp ¼ hv2  hv6 ¼
is;comp
Q0
(7) COP int ¼ (17)
Ncomp þ Npump þ Nfan
qe;crs hv  hl4
Coefficient of performance COPcrs ¼ ¼ 6
wcomp wcomp Here, Nfan is the power consumed by two fans (J and K
(8) in Figure 1) in the ACHRC.

4.3. Models of the ACHRC

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Setting the cooling load of automotive air condition as Q0
kW and the heating load of the generator in the ARSC as
5.1. Case study
Qg kW, the total necessary refrigerant mass flow rate of
the ACHRC is A coach air-conditioning system, for example, needs rela-

tively large cooling capacity. The most widely used system
m_ ref ¼ Q0 = hv6  hl4 (9) currently uses a vapour compression machine powered by
the vehicle engine via pulley and belt or by an auxiliary
The refrigerant mass flow rate of the ARSC is power unit (APU). If the conventional systems are replaced
by the ACHRCs, the power consumed by vapour compres-
m_ ref;ars ¼ Qg =qg (10) sion machine can be reduced or APU can be removed,
which means that much of the fuel oil being consumed
The refrigerant mass flow rate of the CRSC is by air-conditioning systems can be saved.
The coach type studied is the XMQ6140 made by King
m_ ref;crs ¼ m_ ref  m_ ref;ars (11) Long United Automotive Industry Co. Ltd. The rated
power of the engine in the coach is 288 kW, and the rated
The refrigerant volume flow rate of the CRSC is seats are 57 with 55 passengers and two drivers for long
distance driving. On the basis of the passenger-estimating
method of vehicle air-conditioning load in China, the
V_ r;comp ¼ m_ ref;crs v6 (12)
air-conditioning load per passenger is approximately
0.515 kW [2]. The total cooling capacity is 29.36 kW.
Absorber heat load; Qa ¼ m_ ref;ars qa (13) The rated air-conditioning load for the coach is 30 kW
after some allowance is considered. The operating para-


Condenser heat load; Qc ¼ m_ ref;ars hv1  hl4 meters of devices in the ACHRC are determined by given

(14) operating parameters for the two subcycles and the
þm_ ref;crs hv2  hl4
thermal calculation for the ACHRC. The given operating
parameters for the two subcycles are listed in Tables II
Compressor power; Ncomp ¼ m_ ref;crs wcomp (15) and III.
The solution concentration difference between the
Solution pump power; N pump ¼ m_ ref ;ars wpump (16) strong and the weak solutions in the ARSC is set at 0.09.
The cooling air temperature is 35
C, and it flows through
4.4. The COPint definition the absorber and the condenser in sequence. The total
temperature increase of the cooling air is set at 10
C.
The traditional definition of the COP for refrigeration The design mass flow rate of the cooling air fan is
systems is the ratio of refrigerating capacity (benefit) to determined by the ARSC. When the CRSC runs alone,
the energy consumed by systems (cost). For the ACHRC, the cooling air temperature increase is lower than 10
C
the ARSC recovers the waste heat from vehicle engines, because the heat load of the absorber is zero. If the heat
which does not increase the fuel oil consumption of transfer temperature difference of the condenser hot side

Table II. The given parameters of the ARSC.

Outlet Evaporation Condensation Solution inlet Solution outlet

Cooling Inlet temperature temperature of temperature temperature temperature of temperature of
Item load (kW) of cooling air (
C) cooling air (
C) (
C) (
C) absorber (
C) absorber (
C)

Value 30 35 45 3 55 55 50

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU

Table III. The given parameters of the CRSC.

Cooling load Inlet temperature Evaporation Superheat degree Supercooling degree Isentropic
Item (kW) of cooling air (
C) temperature (
C) of vapour (
C) of liquid (
C) efficiency (%)

Value 30 35 3 5 3 70

Table IV. Thermal calculation results of ARSC.

Parameter

Equipment Status point Temperature (
C) Pressure (MPa) Mass fraction Mass flow rate (kg s1) Load (kW)

10 50 0.1665 0.555 0.8803 42.45

Absorber 9 55 0.1665 0.465 0.7322
6 8 0.1765 1 0.1481
12 130 0.8641 0.555 0.8803 58.68
Generator 7 147 0.8641 0.465 0.7322
1 147 0.8641 1 0.1481
7 147 0.8641 0.465 0.7322 153.35
Heat exchanger 8 55 0.8641 0.465 0.7322
11 50 0.8641 0.555 0.8803
12 130 0.8641 0.555 0.8803
3 147 0.8641 1 0.1481 46.23
Condenser
4 55 0.8641 1 0.1481
5 3 0.1765 1 0.1481 30.00
Evaporator
6 8 0.1765 1 0.1481
10 50 0.1665 0.555 0.8803 0.92
Solution pump
11 50 0.8641 0.555 0.8803
COPars 0.511

Table V. The thermal calculation results of CRSC.

Parameter

Equipment Status point Temperature (
C) Pressure (MPa) Mass flow rate (kg s1) Volume flow rate (m3 s1) Load (kW)
4
5 3 0.1765 0.1481 1.04  10 30.00
Evaporator
6 8 0.1765 0.1481 1.08  102
6 8 0.1765 0.1481 1.08  102 11.30
Compressor
2 110 0.8641 0.1481 1.26  103
3 110 0.8641 0.1481 1.26  103 41.30
Condenser
4 52 0.8641 0.1481 1.18  104
COPcrs 2.66

is kept at 10
C, the condensation temperature will
decrease in the event where the CRSC runs alone.
5.2. Simulation assumptions
(1) The flow resistance of the working fluid in the
ACHRC is negligible and the generation pressure
equals to the condensation pressure.
(2) The absorption pressure is 10 kPa lower than that of
the evaporation pressure, considering the static pres-
sure produced by the liquid column in the absorber.
(3) The heat loss in the refrigeration system is neglected.
(4) The isentropic efficiency of the compressor is 70%,
and the efficiency of the solution pump is 60%.
(5) The power consumed by two fans is 1.1 kW.
5.2.1. Simulation results and analysis
Under the given working conditions, when the ARSC
or the CRSC runs alone, the thermal calculation results
are listed in Tables IV and V, respectively, in which the
power consumed by the two fans is not considered in
COP. All devices in the ACHRC can be designed or
selected by the results.
The gas waste heat from automotive engines is a type of
limited heat resource, and its parameters of gas temperature
and mass flow rate vary with change in engine output. After
the structural form and heat transfer area of the generator is
fixed, the generator load will be affected by the waste heat
parameters, which results in the cooling capacity supplied
by the ARSC and CRSC altering. Therefore, the generator
load ratio is defined as follows:

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle

The generator load ratio equals to the actual generator

load divided by the generator load when the cooling load
is fully supplied by the ARSC.
The solution pump is the only running equipment in the
ARSC. There are two extreme control strategies for the
solution pump, one (case 1) is to keep the pump flow rate at
a constant value, which means the pump flow rate is not con-
trolled and always runs at the designed flow rate under any
generator load ratio. The other (case 2) is to keep the concen-
tration difference between the strong and the weak solution at
a constant value, which means that the solution pump flow
rate will vary with the generator load ratio changing. Under
both solution pump control strategies, the influences of the
generator load ratio on the working parameters and COPint
of the ACHRC are shown in Figures 4–7 by simulation.
Figure 4 illustrates that the variation of the cooling
capacities of each subcycle in the ACHRC with respect Figure 6. The variations of the compressor and solution pump
to the generator load ratio is linear under case 2 (in which loads with respect to the generator load ratio.
the concentration difference between the strong and the

Figure 7. The variations of the solution pump and refrigerant

Figure 4. The variations of cooling capacity of the ARSC and
CRSC with respect to the generator load radio.
Figure 5. The variations of the COPint of the ASHRC with re-
spect to the generator load ratio.
flow rates in the ARSC with respect to the generator load ratio.
weak solution keeps a constant value, 0.09 kg1). The
drop in cooling capacity of the ARSC is equal to
the increase in cooling capacity of the CRSC. The sum of
the cooling capacities supplied by two subcycles must
meet the coach air-conditioning demand (30 kW). How-
ever, under case 1 (in which the pump flow rate keeps a
constant value, 0.8803 kg s1), the cooling capacity of the
ARSC is zero when the generator load ratio is lower than
13.5%. The reason is that the heat recovered by the gener-
ator from the gases only heats the solution through the
generator, and no refrigerant vapour is separated from the
solution. The cooling capacity of the ARSC is lower than that
of the CRSC until the generator load ratio reaches 55.2%.
Figure 5 illustrates the variation of the COPint of the
ACHRC with respect to the generator load ratio. The
COPint can reach 14.85 when the coach air-conditioning
load is supplied by the ARSC completely, which is 6.13
times as high as that which is supplied by the CRSC alone.
(The COPint is 2.42 when the CRSC runs alone, in which

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU

the power consumed by the two fans is taken into consider-

ation.) When the generator load ratio is more than 56.5%, the
COPint of the ACHRC will exceed 4.0 with whichever solu-
tion pump control strategy taken. Comparing Figure 4 with
Figure 5, it is noted that the COPint of the ACHRC under
case 2 is higher than that under case 1. To keep the concen-
tration difference between the strong and the weak solutions
at a constant value means to keep the solution circulation
ratio invariant whatever the change in the generator load ratio
is, which causes the solution flow rate to be simultaneously
reduced with the generator load ratio decreasing. Although
the power consumed by the solution pump can be decreased
when the generator load ratio reduces, the running control for
the solution pump is very difficult. On the contrary, the
power consumed by the pump is invariant whatever the
generator load ratio changes under case 1, and it is very easy
to control the solution pump running.
Figure 6 illustrates the variation of the compressor and Figure 8. The variations of the cooling capacity of the ARSC and
solution pump loads with respect to the generator load ratio. CRSC with respect to the generator load ratio at different
It shows that the solution pump power is constant under case ambient temperatures under case 1.
1 and in direct proportion to the generator load ratio under case
2. The difference of the compressor loads under the two pump
control strategies is relatively large while the generator load
ratio is low, but it narrows with the generator load ratio
increasing. For simplifying the pump control and for reducing
the power consumed by the pump at a low generator load ratio
under case 1, the pump can be shut down, and the exhaust
gases bypass and do not flow through the generator when
the generator load ratio is lower than 13.5%.
Figure 7 illustrates the variations of the refrigerant and
solution pump flow rates with respect to the generator load
ratio. It shows that the solution pump flow rate must be
continuously adjusted with the change in the generator
load ratio under case 2, which is very difficult. However,
although pump control is easy under case 1, the refrigerant
vapour produced by the generator will reduce with the
generator load ratio decreasing. It makes the solution circu-
lation ratio rise and COPars and COPint decrease while the Figure 9. The variations of the solution circulation ratio and
generator load ratio is lower than 50% especially. When COParc with respect to the generator load ratio at different
ambient air temperatures under case 1.
the generator load ratio is lower than 13.5%, the
refrigerant cannot be separated from the solution in the
generator although the phenomenon of the heat exchange
between gases and solutions exists. The heat recovered
from the gases only heats the solution and the generator
loses its function. Hence, the ARSC in the ACHRC cannot
supply any cooling load for coach air-conditioning when
the coach drives at idling, traffic jam or low-speed condi-
tions. The cooling load is fully supplied by the CRSC in
the ACHRC under these conditions.
The ambient temperature will have an effect on the
performance of the ACHRC, especially on that of the
ARSC. Figures 8–10 illustrate the influence of ambient
temperature on the working parameters of the ARSC and
CRSC in the ACHRC. Figure 8 shows the variations of
the cooling capacities of the ARSC and CRSC with respect
to the generator load ratio at different ambient tempera-
tures. It can be found from Figure 8 that the ambient Figure 10. The variations of the COPint and COPcrs with respect to
temperature significantly affects the cooling capacities of generator load ratio at different ambient temperatures under case 1.

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU
the ARSC and CRSC. The cooling capacity of the ARSC
reduces quickly with the ambient temperature increasing at
the same generator load ratio. Consequently, the cooling
capacity of the CRSC increases quickly to meet the coach
air-conditioning load. The high ambient temperature results
in the high temperatures of the condensation, and the strong
solution from the absorber, which produces high condensa-
tion or generation pressure, lowers the concentration of the
strong solution from the absorber and increases the concen-
tration of the weak solution from the generator while the
temperature of the weak solution from the generator is invari-
ant. The concentration difference between the strong and the
weak solutions reduces, the solution circulation ratio (f)
increases and the COPars decreases relatively (see Figure 9).
Figure 8 also illustrates that when the ambient tempera-
ture reaches 40
C, only approximately 17.5 kW cooling
capacity for the coach air-conditioning is supplied by the
ARSC and the rest of the cooling capacity should be sup-
plied by the CRSC at the designed or rated generator load.
The ARSC cannot supply any cooling capacity when the
generator load ratio is lower than 50.4%. Fortunately, the
days when the highest ambient temperature reaches 40
C
during the air-conditioning season are scarce in China.
However, when the ambient temperature falls to 30
C,
the ARSC can supply total cooling capacity at 89.9%
generator load ratio, which means that the CRSC does
not need to run although the generator load ratio is only
89.9%. It also means that a lesser amount of waste heat
exhausted from the engine can drive the ARSC in the
ACHRC to meet coach air-conditioning load.
Figure 10 shows the variations of the COPint and COPcrs
with respect to the generator load ratio at different ambient
temperatures under case 1. Because the ambient temperature
increase makes both the COPars and the COPcrs reduce, the
COPint of the ACHRC drops off sharply from 14.85 to
3.95 at the rated generator load when the ambient tempera-
ture rises from 35
C to 40
C. Conversely, the COPars and
COPcrs will increase with the ambient temperature dropping
when the ambient temperature is lower than 35
C. Actually,
the cooling capacity of the given example is 30 kW. When
the ambient temperature is lower than 35
C and the gener-
ator load ratio is 100%, the mass flow rate of the refriger-
ant separated from strong solution in the generator
is larger than the rated refrigerant mass flow rate
(0.1481 kg s1). The surplus refrigerant cannot fully evap-
orate because the heat transfer load and the area of the
evaporator are designed in accordance with its rated load
(30 kW). Hence, when the ambient temperature is lower
than 35
C, the generator load ratio can be reduced to meet
the coach air-conditioning load demand.
Generally, the designed or rated cooling capacity is a
maximum value for a vehicle air-conditioning system.
The actual cooling load is usually lower than the rated load
when the ambient temperature, climate and passengers
change during the air-conditioning season. Figure 11
shows the variations of cooling load supplied by the ARSC
and CRSC with respect to the generator load ratio under
different ambient temperatures and cooling load ratios.
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle
Figure 11. The variation of cooling load of the ARSC and CRSC
with respect to the generator load radio at different cooling load
ratios and ambient temperatures.
(Here, the cooling load ratio is defined as the actual cooling
load is divided by the rated load.) Figure 11 shows that the
generator load ratio can also be reduced to meet the coach
air-conditioning load demand when the actual cooling load
and ambient temperature decreases. It explains that the coach
air-conditioning load can mainly be supplied by the ARSC in
the ACHRC during the entire air-conditioning season in
China and a lot of fuel oil can be saved if it replaces the
conventional air-conditioning system.
6. CONCLUSIONS
1) On the basis of the technical requirements of WHRS
for automobiles, a novel ACHRC driven by gases
and power from vehicle engines is proposed, in
which R124–DMAC mixture is used as working fluid.
It is comprised of the ARSC powered by exhaust gases
and the CRSC driven by power. The ACHRC operat-
ing strategy is that the cooling capacity is first supplied
by the ARSC and the CRSC does not run until the
ARSC cannot supply enough cooling capacity.
2) Under the given operating conditions in which the
temperatures of cooling air, condensation and evapo-
ration are 35
C, 55
C and 3
C, respectively, and
the coach air-conditioning load is 30 kW, the rated
generator and absorber loads in the ARSC are
58.68 and 42.45 kW, respectively. When the waste
heat load recovered by the generator from the gases
exhausted by the coach engine reaches or exceeds
its rated value, the air-conditioning load can be fully
supplied by the ARSC and the COPint of the ACHRC
reaches maximum of 14.85. Otherwise, the CRSC will
run to make up for the lack of cooling capacity supplied
by ARSC, and the COPint will be reduced.
3) There are two control strategies for the solution
pump in the ARSC. One is to keep the pump flow
Absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle S. XU, J. LI AND F. LIU

rate at a constant value (case 1), and the other is to comp = compression or compressor
keep the concentration difference between the strong e = evaporation or evaporator
and the weak solutions at a constant value (case 2). ex = heat exchanger
Although the pump power under case 2 is lower than fan = fan
that under case 1 while the generator load ratio is g = generation or generator
lower than 100%, the control of the pump under case int = integration
2 is very difficult. ref = refrigerant
4) The ambient temperature greatly affects the operating pump = solution pump
characteristic of the ACHRC. When the ambient tem- s = strong solution
perature rises from 35
C to 40
C, the maximum value sol = solution
of the COPint reduces quickly from 14.85 to 3.95. How- w = weak solution
ever, when the ambient temperature drops from 35
C
to 30
C, the generator load ratio reduces from 100%
to 89.9%. Similarly, the generator load ratio can also
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
be reduced when cooling load ratio decreases, which
means that less waste heat exhausted from vehicle
This work is supported by the Natural Science Fund of China
engines can drive the ACHRC to meet the vehicle air- (NSFC) (grant no. 61076022).
conditioning demands. If it replaces the conventional
vehicle air-conditioning system, many fuel oil can be
saved during the air-conditioning season in China.
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