Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Model based experimental performance analysis of a microscale LiBreH2O

steam-driven double-effect absorption Chiller
Hongxi Yin a,1, Ming Qu a, *, David H. Archer b, 2
a
School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051, United States
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This work presents a comprehensive chiller model based on the scientific fundamentals and engineering
Received 23 December 2009 principles adapted to the design of a chiller and to the analysis of extensive, detailed test data. The chiller
Accepted 3 April 2010 studied is a 16 kW (4.6 refrigerant tons) LiBreH2O double-effect absorption chiller, which has been
Available online 14 April 2010
installed and tested in a Micro Building Cooling Heating and Power (BCHP) system at Carnegie Mellon
University. The developed steady-state computational performance model for the chiller has been
Keywords:
refined by measured data from absorption chiller tests under various conditions, and used to analyze
Absorption chiller
chiller performance and to improve the chiller design.
Double effect
LiBreH2O
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Coefficient of performance
Heat transfer coefficient

1. Introduction
Combined heating and power (CHP) systems produce electrical
energy on site and recovers rejected heat for useful purposes like
space heating and cooling. Compared with conventional power
plants, CHP systems could improve overall energy efficiency from
30% to 70% or more. An absorption chiller is one of important
devices in CHP system. It is a machine, principally driven by heat,
which could be from direct firing of natural gas or other fuel or
recovered heat from power generation or industrial processes, etc.,
to produce chilled water for space and ventilation air-cooling. CHP
has proven its effectiveness in large-scale industrial plants, hospi-
tals, university campuses, and urban district energy systems.
However, up to date, microscale CHP systems with power genera-
tion capacities below 500 kW still stay at research stage. To explore
the technical feasibility of CHP technologies at microscale, a Micro
CHP energy supply system has been designed for the Intelligent
Workplace (IW), a 6500 ft2 office at Carnegie Mellon University, to
provide power, cooling, heating, and ventilation. As the first stage
in realizing this overall system, a 16 kW steam fired watereLiBr
(LiBeH2O) double-effect absorption chiller was installed with its
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 765 494 9125.
E-mail addresses: hyin@purdue.edu (H. Yin), mqu@purdue.edu (M. Qu),
archerdh@andrew.cmu.edu (D.H. Archer).
1
Tel.: þ1 765 269 7917.
2
Tel.: þ1 412 268 2004.
auxiliary steam and chilled-water supply, and test load systems.
This chiller, provided by Broad Co., is the smallest chiller available
in the existing market.
Absorption chillers were quite frequently used in the early years
of this century. Since 1945, LiBeH2O absorption chillers have ach-
ieved widespread use. This trend reached its peak in the 1960s, and
then diminished in the late 1970s with the development of cheap
and reliable compressor and electrical motors. The technology has
recently revived in Asia, because the rapidly increasing electricity
demand has limited the application of electrically driven vapor
compression chillers. Today, LiBeH2O absorption chiller technology
is returning to the United States with the increasing application of
CHP systems.
In the past decades, computer models have been developed to
investigate the performance of various LiBeH2O absorption chiller
cycles. Among these models, some [1,3] are system specific for
particular machines, flow configurations, and working materials.
The others [4,9,10] are generic to handle various potential absorp-
tion cycles with one modularized model. The system specific
models are performance models aimed at modeling a specific
design and investigating its performance under various operation
conditions; the generic models are aimed at exploring novel
absorption cycles and evaluating their performance under various
boundary conditions. The advantage of system specific or perfor-
mance models is that the model simulates the configuration of
absorption chiller systems in detail. Thermodynamic cycle, heat,
and mass transfer characteristic can be investigated on the basis of
the physical details of the chiller. In most cases a simplified

1359-4311/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2010.04.004
1742 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750

approach is adopted to solve the models, such as a specified heat
transfer coefficient of specific chiller components provided by the
manufacturer. A generic model is normally developed on the basis
of the thermodynamic theory to investigate the performance of
different absorption cycles and working fluids. This type of model is
used in the conceptual design of an absorption machine. It can be
used effectively to predict the performance of different design
configurations, but because of its generic characteristics, it is
difficult to investigate the details of the physical configuration of
the chiller and its components. Beyond absorption cycle simula-
tions, modeling efforts [2,6e8,11] focus mainly on chiller compo-
nent design. Numerous modeling studies and experimental efforts
have been made on combined heat and mass transfer, working fluid
additives, noncondensable gas measures, and other features of
absorption chillers. On the basis of the experiments, some empir-
ical correlations for combined heat and mass transfer have been
proposed for several typical absorber configurations and working
fluids. However, the existing simulation models of LiBeH2O
absorption chillers focus on relatively large-scale installations for
commercial buildings or for district energy centers. None of the
studies consider microscale absorption chillers with a cooling
capacity less than 17 kW for residential or light commercial appli-
cations. There are, theoretically, no distinctions between the large-
scale and the microscale absorption chillers in terms of scientific
and engineering principles, but the design criteria and operating
conditions for microscale absorption chillers are different from
those for the large capacity chillers. Secondly, at present, nearly all
performance models of absorption chillers have been numerical
simulations without significant experimental validation under
design and off-design conditions. Thirdly, the model validation
method has been simplified in the past studies. The deviations
between the experimental and the performance simulation results
for the COP and the cooling capacity at a single given operational
condition are used to judge the overall quality of the model. This
work presents an experimental verified mathematic model at
various operational conditions and performance analyses of
a 16 kW double-effect absorption chiller installed at Carnegie
Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
evaporator through the expansion valve. Then the absorption cycle
repeats from the evaporator.
The absorption chiller installed in the IW is a steam-driven,
double effect, watereLiBr, parallel-sorbent-flow series-cooling-
water flow chiller with a cooling tower. This chiller, provided by
Broad Co., has a 16 kW rated cooling capacity. It is the smallest
absorption chiller available in the existing market and the only
steam-driven absorption chiller of such capacity in the world. It was
designed on the basis of basic absorption cycle with several
modifications to reduce the heat required to operate the chiller and
also to reduce the extent of heat transfer surface incorporated in
the machine. The schematic flow diagram of this double-effect
absorption chiller is depicted in Fig. 1 and its absorption cycle is
illustrated in Fig. 4. Firstly, there are two generators in the double
effect absorption chiller: a low-temperature generator and a high-
temperature generator. The refrigerant vapor leaving the high-
temperature and high-pressure generator is used to vaporize an
equal quantity of refrigerant from the sorbent solution in a second
generator operating at a lower temperature and pressure. This
second regeneration reduces the heat requirement of the absorp-
tion chiller by a factor approaching 2. Secondly, countercurrent heat
interchange has been arranged between the two sorbent solution
flows connecting the two generators. This interchange can signifi-
cantly reduce the heat quantities involved in the operation of both;
less heat will need to be supplied to the generator, and less heat will
need to be removed from the absorber. The dilute solution, there-
fore, from the absorber is pumped to two generators in parallel; and
concentrated solutions from both generators are recombined and
returned to the absorber. As shown in Fig. 1, the absorption chiller
consists of five major and four minor heat transfer components,
three pumps, a cooling tower (CT), an automatic inert gas purge
device, and the associated valves and pipe fittings. Specifically, the

2. Absorption chiller test program

2.1. Absorption chiller description

An absorption chiller produces chilled water by removing heat

from it and transferring this heat to a vaporizing refrigerant. An
absorption chiller basically consists of the evaporator, absorber,
generator, and condenser. An absorption chiller requires two
working fluids, a refrigerant and a sorbent solution of the refrig-
erant. In a watereLiBr absorption chiller, water is the refrigerant;
and watereLiBr solution, the sorbent. In the absorption chiller cycle
the water refrigerant undergoes a phase change in the condenser
and evaporator; and the sorbent solution, a change in concentra-
tion in the absorber and evaporator. The refrigerant liquid flows
into an evaporator, evaporates at a reduced pressure and temper-
ature, and absorbs heat from chilled water flowing in a tube
through the evaporator. The refrigerant vapor from the evaporator
is absorbed at low pressure into a sorbent solution in the absorber.
Heat is released as the refrigerant vapor is absorbed. This heat is
removed by cooling water flowing through the absorber. The
diluted sorbent solution in absorber is then pumped to the gener-
ator, where refrigerant vapor is boiled off from the sorbent solution
by the addition of heat at high temperature and pressure. The
refrigerant vapor is condensed at high pressure and temperature in
the condenser with the removal of heat to ambient or to cooling
water. The liquid refrigerant in the condenser is returned to the Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the absorption chiller.
 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750 1743

five major components are: an evaporator (EVP), a countercurrent
two-phase heat exchanger; an absorber (ABS), a countercurrent
two-phase heat and mass exchanger; a high-temperature generator
(HTG), a well-mixed, two-phase, boiling heat exchanger; a low-
temperature generator (LTG), a well-mixed, two-phase boiling heat
exchanger; a condenser (COND), a countercurrent heat exchanger.
The four minor components are: a high-temperature heat inter-
changer (HTHX), a countercurrent, single-phase heat exchanger;
a low-temperature heat interchanger (LTHX), a countercurrent,
single-phase heat exchanger; a heat recovery heat exchanger
(HRHX), a countercurrent, single-phase heat exchanger; a refrig-
erant by-pass heat exchanger (BPHX), a countercurrent, single-
phase heat exchanger. The three pumps are: a solution pump (SP),
a variable-speed pump; a chilled-water pump (CHWP), a single-
speed pump; a refrigerant pump (RP), a single-speed pump.
2.2. Absorption chiller test program
A system was set up to test the absorption chiller and to evaluate
its performance under a wide range of external and internal oper-
ating conditions. In the system, the absorption chiller is connected
with the steam supply system and the variable cooling-load system.
Systematic testing of the chiller requires a load that can be adjusted
independently and maintained constant during a test run. This load
is provided by a shell-and-tube heat exchanger fed with water at
80  C to the shell from the building hot water grid. The flow of
chilled water from the chiller outlet to the tubes of the load
exchanger is controlled by a valve to achieve a desired flow set
point. The flow of hot water to the exchanger is also controlled by
a valve to maintain a desired set point temperature for the chilled
water at the inlet to the chiller. For operation of the chiller test
system, an instrumentation, control, and data acquisition system
has been provided by the Automated Logic Co. A web based data
acquisition and control system (ALC) was developed and installed
to operate the chiller and its auxiliary equipment while storing and
displaying the test measurement data. Except the instruments and
sensors installed in the chiller by its manufacturer, there were
a total of 27 sensors installed on site including surface temperature
sensors (range: 0e204  C; accuracy: 0.1% of full span), RTD
temperature sensors (range: 10e122  C; accuracy: 0.1% of full
span), flow rate sensors (accuracy: 1% of full span), pressure
sensors (accuracy: 0.13% of full span), and electricity sensors
(range: 0e2400 A, accuracy: 1% of full span).
The chiller was tested at various operating conditions in accor-
dance with a test program. On the basis of the test program, the
effects of varied chilled water, cooling water, and steam input
operating conditions on the chiller coefficient of performance and
capacity were examined systematically. The chiller was first tested
at design condition and then under off-design conditions. An
individual chiller test was conducted by setting six operating
conditions that are the primary input to the test system, all external
to the chiller:
 the pressure of the saturated steam supply
 the flow rate, inlet, and outlet temperature of the chilled water
 the flow rate and inlet temperature of the cooling water.
Each of the six operating conditions was varied one at a time
over a range of design values, as indicated in Table 1. Each oper-
ating condition was tested at 5e10 values at the ranges of each of
these six variables. Each test collected 20e200 data sets obtained
at 2-min intervals during steady-state operation of the chiller. A
total of 38 tests were conducted over an estimated 220 h of chiller
operation. Steady state was established by observing that these
conditions had a constant average value over a period of 20 min
or longer. The chiller load, Coefficient Of Performance (COP), and
power consumption were calculated for the test. The chiller load
is the product of the chilled-water flow, the temperature differ-
ence between the inlet and outlet chilled-water temperature, and
the specific heat of the chilled water. The COP is the quotient of
the chiller load and the enthalpy difference of the inlet steam and
the outlet condensate from the chiller. The results of all these
tests in terms of the steam flow and chilled-water outlet
temperature, the chiller load and the COP has been reported and
discussed [5].
3. Absorption chiller performance model
A comprehensive computational model was developed to
further refine the understanding of the principles of the chiller, to
analyze the experimental data from the test program, to assist in
equipment design, and to evaluate the performance of various
BCHP systems.
3.1. Performance model description
On the basis of the schematic flow diagram of the absorption
chiller installed in Fig. 1, a simplified flow diagram labeled with
corresponding state points was constructed as illustrated in Fig. 2.
Each state point is represented by its pressure, temperature,
composition, and flow rate. The steady-state computational model
for each chiller component consists of equations representing mass
balances for water and LiBr, the energy balance, the working fluids
property relations, and the heat and mass transfer relations
involving the state point conditions of the streams entering and
leaving the component. These nonlinear algebraic equations were
programmed in the Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The chiller
model comprises 416 variables, state-point operating conditions,
and 409 equations expressing basic engineering principles. The
model can calculate the conditions e pressure, temperature,
composition, and flow e at each state point within the chiller, when
appropriate assumptions and a certain number of operating
parameters are assigned.

Table 1
Input and primary output of the test program.

Inputs Primary outputs Calculated performance

CHW return T CHW flow CW supply T CW flow Steam pressure Steam flow CHW supply COP Cooling load
( C) (kg/s) ( C) (kg/s) (kPa) (kg/s) ( C) (kW)
Design condition 13.9 0.5616 30.78 1.546 600 0.00727 7 1.03 16.63
CHW return T 8e14 Design Design Design Design .00382e0.00771 6.25e6.9 0.95e1.03 9e18
CHW flow Design 0.531e0.864 Design Design Design 0.00705e0.00771 6.42e8.97 0.93e1.02 16.56e17.96
CW supply T Design Design 27.5e36 Design Design 0.00609e0.00764 6.13e9.26 1.11e0.91 19.22e13.29
CW flow Design Design Design 0.784e1.547 Design 0.00618e0.00709 7.52e9 0.81e0.98 11.73e15.23
Steam pressure Design Design Design Design 360e700 0.00556e0.00748 6.34e10.27 0.65e0.99 8.41e17.47
1744 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750

To HRHX Steam
52 51
Sorbent solution 23
LTG HTG
Refrigerant (inside) High temp. generator

State points: pressure, temperature,

composition, flow of streams 20 21
24
entering/leaving chiller components
Equilibrium states: thermal and vapor HTHX
liquid equilibrium between streams Heat to High-temp. heat exchanger
leaving a chiller component Cooling
water LTRG
19 22
42 43 25

10 LTG (outside)
Condenser
Low-temp. generator
Steam 54
11 trap 52
53 5
6
BPHX HRHX

4
12
Refrigerant Heat to LTHX
combiner Absorber Low-temp. heat exchanger
13
3 7
Refrigerant
spray nozzle Solution Solution
17 Splitter 8 combiner 46
2
RP Solution 43 from
P SP spray nozzle
14 9
Condenser
1 91 CT
Evaporator 16 92
18 44 41 to
Absorber
Absorber
32 31 42 41 CWP
45 47
Chilled water CHWP Cooling water Air City water

Fig. 2. Simplified flow diagram for chiller model.

3.1.1. Model assumptions
The following assumptions were employed to properly repre-
sent the absorption cycle:
 The system operates at steady-state conditions. The control of
streams between components allows only all liquid or all
gaseous flows. There is no accumulation/depletion of mass or
energy at any point within the system.
 The overall system is considered a three-pressure system:
B The high pressure, Ph, is determined by the equilibrium
water vapor pressure and the temperature entering the
condenser. The pressures in the HTG and in the heating
tubes of the LTG are at this high pressure.
B The intermediate pressure, Pm, is determined by the equi-
librium water vapor pressure and temperature of the
refrigerant leaving the condenser. The pressure of sorbent
solution in the LTG is at this intermediate pressure.
B The low pressure, Pl, is determined by the equilibrium of
water vapor pressure and temperature of the refrigerant in
the evaporator. The sorbent solution in the absorber is at this
same pressure. The pressure difference due to flow from the
evaporator to the absorber is small enough to be neglected.
The equilibrium pressure at state point 18 in Fig. 3 repre-
sents the low pressure in the absorber and the evaporator.
[9]
 The dilute solution leaving the absorber is in phase equilibrium
at the same water vapor pressure as the refrigerant from the
evaporator.
 The temperatures of superheated vapors leaving two genera-
tors have the same temperature as the concentrated solution
leaving the HTG and the LTG. The vapor leaving the generator
has the equilibrium temperature of the weak solution at
generator pressure. [1]
 The steam input is saturated vapor, and the condensate after
the steam trap is saturated liquid.
 There is no liquid carryover between the evaporator and the
absorber.
 Flow restrictors, such as expansion valves, spray nozzles, and
the steam trap are adiabatic.
 Pump work is isentropic. There are no pressure changes except
for flow restrictors and pumps. Flow head losses in the piping
system are negligible.
 There are no convection and radiation heat losses through
surfaces to ambient.
3.1.2. Heat and mass transfer
For each chiller component, mass and heat balances for refrig-
erant, chilled water, cooling water, steam and condensate, and LiBr
have been used in the steady-state performance model.
In the model, the log-mean temperature difference approach is
used to specify the size and performance of the heat transfer
components of absorber, evaporator, condenser, HTG, LTG, HRHX,
and BPHX. The other two minor heat exchangers (HTHX and LTHX)
are evaluated by the heat transfer effectiveness method. The
effectiveness is defined as the ratio of the actual heat transfer to the
maximum potential heat transfer. In practice, the overall heat
transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger, U, is not a constant
variable but is a function of flow rate, temperature, pressure, and
other properties. Physical information on the heat exchanger
 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750
} hring chart at design condition.
Fig. 3. Du
configuration and the characteristics of flow in and out of the heat
exchanger must be known to calculate the overall heat transfer
coefficient and heat exchanger surface area. Heat transfer areas,
sometimes are not constant when partial load operation is
considered. For instance, concentrated solution spray from nozzles
on the surface of the absorber tube bank and the refrigerant from
nozzles on the surface of the evaporator tube banks may not cover
the tubes at low flow conditions. In this model all the heat transfer
areas are assumed to be constants.
The process of mass transfer is complicated by coupled heat
transfer and by the properties of the working fluids. Mass transfer
occurs in the absorber, the HTG, and the LTG. The boiling processes
in the LTG and HTG, however, mix the solution well, and therefore
the mass transfer effects are minimized. In the model only the mass
transfer in the absorber is considered. Although a full under-
standing of both the heat and mass transfer process in the absorber
is necessary and critical, it is usually more convenient to analyze
them respectively with heat transfer study in the first step and
coupled mass transfer next. Numerous modeling and experimental
studies found that the absorption process is controlled by the mass
transfer resistance on the liquid side. This is because the refrigerant
vapor absorbed at the liquid interface transfers slowly into the bulk
of the liquid. The absorption of additional refrigerant is inhibited.
The energy released at the liquid interface causes an increase in
temperature there, and this energy must also transfer through the
liquid film to the bulk of the liquid. A coupled mass and heat
transfer model for the absorber is developed on the basis of
1745
a correlation given by Cosenza and Vliet [2]. They found that the
mass transfer rate is a linear relation to the heat transfer rate
through an observation of an experiment on a 3/4 -inch (19 mm)
tube bank.
4. Model-based data analysis
The model developed for the chiller has been used to analyze
the experimental data from the test program.
4.1. Analysis method
Firstly, the outlier data from achieved steady-state test data are
removed. The rest data from the chiller test are averaged. The seven
operating parameters from the averaged data are used as the model
input to solve the model. The measured values from the chiller tests
are compared with the same parameters calculated by the chiller
model. The comparison showed the discrepancies between the
measurements and the model calculations. The differences
between the calculated and measured values of the 11 operating
parameters are weighted and summed in a statistical procedure to
arrive at a measure of the data accuracy and model validity. After
checking the equations and assumptions in the model and exper-
imental settings, it is found that the discrepancies between the
measurements and the model solutions are introduced mainly by
the following factors:
1746 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750
Fig. 4. Absorption cycle variations with load changes.
 inaccurate stream flow-temperature measurements from
sensors mounted on the external pipe surface
 fluctuating measurements of steam flow due to periodic feed
water addition to the boiler
 imprecise cooling-water flow measurements because of space
limitations in mounting the flow sensor
 inaccurate assumptions regarding the quality of the refrigerant
flow from various chiller components
 inaccurate values of heat transfer coefficients calculated from
available correlations
Root mean square deviation and weighted error has been used
to validate model. An initial standard and weighted error is calcu-
lated by the statistical analysis procedure and then model
assumptions are adjusted one by one to reduce standard and
weighted errors. This has proved effective in improving the model
and in identifying ways in which the chiller performance might be
improved. At design condition, the overall deviations between the
measurements and the model solutions are about 5%, the weighted
overall deviation is 1.67%. The major deviation is introduced by the
steam flow meter and the cooling-water flow meter. By using the
weights, the systematic deviations introduced by the two flow
meters are deemphasized.
4.2. Model analysis at design condition
The improved model was used to analyze all the experimental
data from the test program. The absorption cycle for each test
has been plotted on a Dühring diagram based on the model
calculations to visualize the absorption cycle and associated
design parameters. The Du } hring chart is a tool to rapidly perform
a number of checks on the measurement data or model solu-
tions. In such a plot, many design parameters can be illustrated,
such as the heat rejection temperatures, solution concentrations,
equilibrium pressures, and pinch point of each heat transfer
component. Fig. 3 is the Dühring diagram at design condition.
The ordinate of a typical Dühring plot is the equilibrium vapor
pressure of water (kPa), and the abscissa is corresponding
temperature ( C). The inclined line on the left of the plot
represents vapor pressureetemperature relation for the water
refrigerant. The parallel lines within the plot represent the water
vapor pressure of the sorbent solution at various concentrations
and temperature. A crystallization line is located at the bottom of
the chart. If the state point of solution drops below this line,
sorbent solution will tend to deposit LiBr solid crystals. The
connected bold lines in the middle of the figure are the water-
eLiBr sorbent solution, and the bold dash lines represent the
refrigerant. The lines are connected to form two complete cycles:
the sorbent solution cycle and the refrigerant cycle. Fig. 3
describes performance of the major chiller components in
dashed ellipses. The pinch points of the heat exchanger are also
indicated in the Du } hring chart. The temperature pinch point is
the point of minimum temperature difference between the fluids
involved in the heat transfer process. Small temperature differ-
ences at the pinch point require large heat transfer areas in the
exchanger.
4.3. Analysis of coolingeload variation
In the cooling-load variation sensitive analysis, the chiller
cooling load was changed in the model by adjusting the chilled-
water return temperature with a fixed chilled-water supply
temperature and flow rate. The cooling loads were varied in 9 tests
from 100% to 35%. According to model calculation results, Fig. 4
plots the chiller performances of the 9 steady-state tests at
various load conditions. The trends of the major state points illus-
trate the variation of composition, temperature, and equilibrium
pressure with the change of the operating load conditions in one
Du} hring diagram.
 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750 1747

Fig. 5. Chiller performance curve under various load conditions.

Fig. 7. Sorbent solution split ratio under various load conditions.

4.3.1. Chiller performance curves under various load conditions

constant. The sorbent solution flow rates to the LTG decrease with
The chiller COP calculated by the model is, on average, higher
the drop of cooling loads. This result is consistent with the chiller
than the measurement by 8%, as shown in Fig. 5. The reason for the
control principle that the variable frequency solution pump main-
discrepancy is the calculation of the heat input. The model and the
tains the sorbent solution level in the HTG. The sorbent solution
measurement share the same steam inlet pressure/temperature
split ratio is defined by the dilute sorbent solution flow to the HTG
and the flow, but in the measurement the condensate from the
over the total solution flow from the absorber. The chiller does not
chiller is assumed to be saturated water at atmospheric pressure.
control sorbent solution distribution ratio, the ratio is preset
The model solution, however, shows that the condensate is
roughly at 0.5 at design load condition by predetermining the pipe
partially vaporized when it leaves the chiller above an 82% design
diameters of each sorbent stream. When the cooling load
load. Therefore the model predicts lower quantity of heat trans-
decreases, the pressure drops in the HTG faster than in the LTG, so
ferred to the chiller than the measurements. Below 82% load
more sorbent solution flows into the HTG than the LTG as indicated
conditions, the model predicts higher condensate return temper-
in Fig. 7, and the sorbent solution split ratio increases the value up
ature than the measurements. Theoretically, the performance curve
to 0.7 when chiller is operated at 34%.
calculated by the model is a better representation of the chiller
The model calculation results have indicated that the refrigerant
performance. To study the thermal performance of each chiller
flow vaporized in the evaporator is proportional to the cooling-load
components, the quantity of heat transferred in each component in
condition, as shown in Fig. 8. The HTG consistently generates more
the chiller is illustrated in Fig. 6. The load in the five major heat
refrigerant than the LTG. This result agrees well with the chiller
transfer components is linearly related to the cooling load. The heat
control principle in which, under lower load conditions, the
transferred on the four minor heat recovery exchangers, the HTHX,
refrigerant level in the water tray of the evaporator drops, and the
LTHX, HRHX, and BPHX, are relatively constant. The heat transfer in
refrigerant pump is on/off less frequently than at the higher load
the BPHX could be negligible as shown in Fig. 6.
conditions.

4.3.2. Flow rate variations under various load conditions

4.3.3. Temperature variations under various load conditions
The flow rates of the dilute sorbent solution from the absorber
The refrigerant vaporization temperature in the evaporator is
to the HTG and LTG change at various load conditions, as indicated
plotted to illustrate state point 18 more clearly in Fig. 9. The
in Fig. 7. The dilute solution flow in the HTG remains relatively
refrigerant vaporization temperature is in equilibrium with the

Fig. 6. Heat transfer load on each component under various load conditions. Fig. 8. Refrigerant regeneration rate under various load conditions.
1748 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750
Fig. 9. Refrigerant vaporization temperature under various load conditions.
vapor pressure in the absorber. The refrigerant has a higher
vaporization temperature, around 3.2  C at design conditions; this
temperature drops to 0.5  C at 34% design load conditions. The
result agrees with the chiller control principle that when the
cooling load drops too low, ice may form in the evaporator. Ice
formation affects chiller operation by blocking the spray nozzles;
the problem may be solved automatically when the chiller stops for
a short while. To avoid the hazard of ice formation in the recircu-
lation pump, an electrical heater installed in the evaporator is
turned on to protect the refrigerant pump from freezing.
4.3.4. Composition variations under various load conditions
The composition of the sorbent solutions changes with the
variations of the load conditions as illustrated in Fig. 10. The sorbent
solution leaving the HTG shows higher concentration than that of
the LTG at design load conditions. With the load decrease, the
concentration of sorbent leaving the LTG becomes higher than that
of the HTG. This result is introduced by sorbent solution split ratio
changes from design load to partial load condition. The concen-
trations of the dilute solution do not change appreciably. The
average concentration of the sorbent solution approaches 57% from
the design load condition to lower load condition. This result
checks well with the design parameter from manufacturer indi-
cating when the chiller is off, the concentration of the dilute
solution is 57%. The composition differences between the dilute
sorbent solution and the concentrated solutions variations reflect
Fig. 10. Sorbent solution composition changes under various load conditions.
0.4
0.35
0.3
Vapor quality of
Vapor quality (q ) .
0.25 refrigerant entering
Condenser
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Vapor quality of refrigerant entering condenser Actual cooling load (kW)
Fig. 11. Refrigerant vapor quality leaving the LTG under various load conditions.
the chiller performance. When the concentration of sorbent solu-
tion in the HTG is greater than the one in the LTG, the wider the
discrepancies between the dilute and concentrated sorbent solu-
tion are, the higher the COP values will be.
4.3.5. Vapor quality variations under various load conditions
The vapor qualities of the chiller internal conditions at different
state points are assumed in the model. The refrigerant vapor from
the HTG at state point 23 was initially assumed to be completely
condensed in the LTG, so only saturated water enters the condenser
at state point 24, q24 ¼ 0. This assumption results in generating high
COP values because the LTG recovers most of the latent heat by the
condensation process. This assumption, however, produces higher
overall and weighted deviations for all 9 data sets. The values of
vapor quality q24 have been adjusted as shown in Fig. 11. The overall
and weighted deviations are reduced dramatically by using these
new q24 values. The chiller performance can be improved by an
appropriate measure reducing the vapor carryover.
4.3.6. Heat transfer area variations under various load conditions
The UA values of the five major heat transfer components are
plotted in Fig. 12. The overall heat transfer coefficients (Us) of the
five major heat transfer components are functions of the mass flow
rates, inlet and outlet temperature of streams on both sides of the
tubes; the effects of the stream flow rates and temperature. The
model initially assumes that the contact area (As) of each heat
Fig. 12. UA changed for the five major components under various load conditions.
 H. Yin et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1741e1750
Fig. 13. Surface contact area changes under various load conditions.
transfer component remains constant. The model analysis,
however, shows that the decrease in surface contact areas for the
heat transfer components in the evaporator, and the LTG under
partial load conditions may contribute to the decrease of UA values.
The variations of contact areas in the evaporator and the LTG are
due to the significant flow rate changes. Fig. 13 shows the estima-
tions of the area changes in the evaporator and the LTG on the basis
of the overall deviations between the measured values and the
model solutions. The surface contact areas for the evaporator
decrease at partial load conditions by 30e50%. The reason for this
change is the significant refrigerant flow decrease. For instance,
Fig. 8 indicates that this drops from 0.0075 kg/s at design load
condition to 0.0016 kg/s at 34% of design load condition. The
surface variations also exist in the LTG because of the flow decrease
from the design load condition to the partial load condition. Fig. 7
indicates that the sorbent solution distributed to the LTG drops
from 0.048 kg/s at design load condition to 0.022 kg/s at 34% of
design load condition. The chiller controls the solution levels in the
HTG but not in the LTG. The total contact area of the LTG is esti-
mated to decrease by 20e30% from the design load to 34% of design
load conditions. This means that under the lower load conditions,
some of the tubes in the LTG may be exposed to the refrigerant
vapor. The surface contact areas of the HTG, condenser, and
absorber are not significantly affected by the load variations. First,
the control system maintains the solution level in the HTG. As
indicated in Fig. 7, the solution sorbent solution flow rate is rela-
tively constant for all load conditions; second, the absorber contact
area does not vary much from the design load condition to the
partial load condition because the dilute sorbent solution circula-
tion rate does not change significantly for all load conditions; third,
the condenser contact area does not change much because the
tubes are consistently exposed in the refrigerant vapor.
4.3.7. Deviation variations under various load conditions
The statistical analysis procedure is used to evaluate the devia-
tions between the model calculations and the test measurements.
The overall deviations and the weighted deviations of the
measurements and the model solutions are plotted in Fig. 14. The
overall deviations are below 6% when the cooling loads are above
60% of the design condition. When the load drops below 60%, the
overall deviations increase fast to 13% at 34% of design load condi-
tion. The dramatic increase of overall deviation is due to the inac-
curacy of steam flow measurements and the relative increasing
discrepancy of condensate return temperature between the
measured values and the model solutions. By using the weights in
the model, the overall deviation between the model solutions and
the measurements is less affected by the uncertainties of the
1749
16%
14%
Overall and weighted deviations .
12%
10%
Overall deviation
8%
6%
4%
Weighted deviation
2%
0%
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Overall deviationr Weighted deviation Actual cooling load (kW)
Fig. 14. Overall and weighted deviations under various load conditions.
measurements. The weighted deviation for all operation condition is
around 2%. Only the results of the cooling-load variation tests have
been presented in this section. The analyses of other test data are
presented by Yin [5] regarding the effects on the COP, capacity, and
chilled-water supply temperature, chilled-water flow rate, cooling-
water supply temperature, cooling-water supply flow rate, steam
supply temperature.
5. Recommendation and conclusion
These research efforts have provided a solid basis for future
studies on microscale absorption chiller design, application, and
simulation. For the manufacturer and equipment designer, the
model has been used to size the chiller components and to deter-
mine configurations; and for the building system engineer and
architect, the model has been used to predict chiller performance
under various design conditions in buildings. This study develops
methods for the effective design and evaluation of an absorption
chiller for micro-BCHP systems that reduce energy consumption,
decrease operational costs, and improve environmental benefits in
residential and light commercial buildings. The work can be
extended into many research areas in the future. The model can be
extended to other various heat sources including natural gas, hot
water, and exhaust gases from engines and gas turbines. On the basis
of the chiller models developed, the design and analysis of an indi-
vidual absorption chiller can be expanded to overall BCHP systems.
An integrated design, control, and operation strategy can be devel-
oped to maximize the overall efficiency while lowering the capital
cost and later the associated operation and maintenance costs.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of people
from Carnegie Mellon University:
 Zhang Yue (the CEO and Chairman of Broad)
 Volker Hartkopf (Director of Center for Building Performance
and Diagnostics)
 David Claridge (Professor of Texas A&M University)
 Richard Christensen (Professor of Ohio State University)
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