REFRIGERATION

&
AIR CONDITIONING

VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

AJAY KUMAR YADAV, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
 CONTENTS

❖ Introduction, disadvantage of VCRS

❖ Basic principle of VARS
❖ Comparison between VARS and VCRS
❖ Expression for COP
❖ Properties of refrigerant-absorbent mixtures
❖ Steady flow analysis of Water-Lithium Bromide Systems
❖ Commercial systems
 Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System (VARS)

Disadvantage of VCRS: It requires high grade energy (mechanical or electrical

energy), and can not be operated directly with heat energy (low grade energy), if
available in ample amount. Running cost is also high due to high power
consumption.

VARS can be operated using heat source directly (i.e., solar energy, waste heat
from industry, exhaust gas etc.)
In this system, compressor is replaced with the combination of a pump and a
heater. It consists of following major components:
a pump, a heater, a condenser, two expansion valves, an evaporator, and an
absorber.
Working fluid: Refrigerant + Absorbent
There are two widely used VARS systems:
i) Water + Lithium bromide based system, in which water is refrigerant and
Lithium bromide is an absorbent.
ii) Ammonia + Water based system, in which ammonia is refrigerant and water
is an absorbent.
 10-11

Ammonia Absorption Refrigeration Cycle

(Fig. 10-21)
 VARS…
Schematic comparison between VCRS and VARS

Ref.: M. Ramgopal, NPTEL Lecture on Refrigeration and Air-conditioning, IIT Kharagpur, India
Working principle of VARS:
Evaporator: As shown in the figure in a VAR System, low temperature and low pressure
refrigerant with low quality enters the evaporator and vaporizes by producing useful
refrigeration effect Qe.
Absorber : From the evaporator, the low temperature, low pressure refrigerant vapour enters the
absorber where it comes in contact with a solution that is weak in refrigerant. The weak solution
absorbs the refrigerant and becomes strong in refrigerant. The heat of absorption is rejected to
the external heat sink at Te . The solution that is now rich in refrigerant is pumped to high
pressure using a solution pump and fed to the generator.
Generator: In the generator heat at high temperature Tg is supplied, as a result refrigerant
vapour is generated at high pressure.
Condenser: The high pressure vapour is then condensed in the condenser by rejecting heat of
condensation to the external heat sink at T0 .
Throttle valve: The condensed refrigerant liquid is then throttled in the expansion device and is
then fed to the evaporator to complete the refrigerant cycle.

On the solution side, the hot, high-pressure solution that is weak in refrigerant is throttled to the
absorber pressure in the solution expansion valve and fed to the absorber where it comes in
contact with the refrigerant vapour from evaporator. Thus continuous refrigeration is produced at
evaporator, while heat at high temperature is continuously supplied to the generator. Heat
rejection to the external heat sink takes place at absorber and condenser. A small amount of
mechanical energy is required to
run the solution pump.
If we neglect pressure drops; Pressure in absorber is same as the pressure in evaporator and 6
pressure in generator is same as the pressure in condenser.
VARS…
COP calculation:

Pump power (Wp) is neglected as the

specific volume of liquid is small.

Maximum COP of Ideal VARS:

VARS…
From first law of thermodynamics,
Qe + Qg – (Qc + Qa)+Wp = 0
where Qe is the heat transferred to the absorption system at evaporator temperature Te, Qg
is the heat transferred to the generator of the system at temperature Tg, Qc and Qa is the heat
transferred from the condenser and absorber at temperature T0 and Wp is the work input to
the solution pump.
Qc + Qa = Qa+c

From second law of thermodynamics,

∆Suniv = ∆Ssys + ∆Ssurr ≥ 0

∆Ssys = 0 (closed system)

Neglecting solution pump work, Wp; the COP of VARS and COPideal or COPmax is given by:
VARS…
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Steady flow analysis of Water-Lithium Bromide Systems
Steady flow analysis of Water-Lithium Bromide Systems

Practical problems in water-lithium bromide systems

• Crystallization
• Air leakage, and
• Pressure drops
Steady flow analysis of Water-Lithium Bromide Systems

Pressure-Temperature-Concentration diagram for H2O-LiBr solution

 Commercial systems
Commercial water-lithium bromide systems can be:

• Single stage or single-effect systems, and

• Multi stage or multi-effect systems

Single stage systems operate under two pressures – one corresponding to the
condenser-generator (high pressure side) and the other corresponding to
evaporator- absorber. Single stage systems can be either:

➢ Twin drum type,

➢ Single drum type
 Commercial systems

Single stage systems

➢ Twin drum type,
➢ Single drum type
 Commercial systems

Single stage systems

➢ Twin drum type,
➢ Single drum type
References:
1. M. Ramgopal, NPTEL Lecture on Refrigeration and Air-conditioning, IIT Kharagpur, India.
2. Thermodynamics- An Engineering Approach in SI units by Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A.
Boles, TATA McGraw Hill.
3. Engineering Thermodynamics by P.K. Nag, TATA McGraw Hill.
4. Fundamentals of Thermodynamics by Sonntag, Borgnakke and Van Wylen.
5. Refrigeration and airconditioning by CP Arora, TATA McGraw Hill.
6. Internet resources.

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