International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 8, August-2011 1

ISSN 2229-5518

Analysis of Ammonia –Water (NH3-H2O) Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System based on First Law of Thermodynamics

Satish Raghuvanshi, Govind Maheshwari

Abstract— The continuous increase in the cost and demand for energy has led to more research and development to utilize available energy resources efficiently by minimizing waste energy. Absorption refrigeration systems increasingly attract research interests. Absorption cooling offers the possibility of using heat to provide cooling. For this purpose heat from conventional boiler can be used or waste heat and solar energy. Absorption system falls into two categories depending upon the working fluid. These are the LiBr-H2O and NH3-H2O Absorption Refrigeration system. In LiBr-H2O system water is used as a refrigerant and LiBr is used as an absorbent, while in NH3-H2O system ammonia used as an refrigerant and water is used as an absorbent, which served as standard for comparison in studying and developing new cycles and new absorbent/refrigerant pairs. The objective of this paper is to present empirical relations for evaluating the characteristics and performance of a single stage Ammonia water (NH3-H2O) vapour absorption system. The necessary heat and mass transfer equations and appropriate equations describing the thermodynamic properties of the working fluid at all thermodynamic states are evaluated. An energy analysis of each component has been carried out and numerical results for the cycle are tabulated. Finally the variations of various thermodynamic parameters are simulated and examined.

Index Terms— Energy, Energy Rate, Coefficient of Performance

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1 INTRODUCTION

In view of shortage of energy production and fast increasing energy consumption, there is a need to minimize the use of energy and conserve it in all possible ways. Energy conserva- tion (i.e., energy saved is more desirable than energy pro- duced) is becoming a slogan of the present decade and new methods to save energy, otherwise being wasted, are being explored. Recovering energy from waste heat and/or utilizing it for system efficiency improvement is fast becoming a com- mon scientific temper and industrial practice now days. The present energy crisis has forced the scientists and engineers all over the world to adopt energy conservation measures in vari- ous industries. Reduction of the electric power and thermal energy consumption are not only desirable but unavoidable in view of fast and competitive industrial growth throughout the world. Refrigeration systems form a vital component for the industrial growth and affect the energy problems of the coun- try at large. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a base for energy conservation and energy recovery from Vapour Ab- sorption System. Although, the investigations undertaken in this work are of applied research nature but certainly can create a base for further R & D activities in the direction of energy conservation and heat recovery options for refrigera- tion systems and the analysis can be extended further to other Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems. In recent years, research has been devoted to improvement of Absorption Re- frigeration Systems (ARSs). Mechanical Vapour Compression

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 Satish Raghuwanshi, is currently pursuing masters degree program in Design and Thermal engineering inDevi Ahilya University, indore,India, PH-09009008253. E-mail:satishraghuwanshi.24@gmail.com

 Dr. Govind maheshwari, professor inMechanical EngineeringDepartrment in Devi Ahilya University,Indore,India. PH-09826247653.

Refrigeration requires high grade energy for their operation. Apart from this, recent studies have shown that the conven- tional working fluids of vapour compression system are caus- ing ozone layer depletion and green house effects.
However, ARS’s harmless inexpensive waste heat,
solar, biomass or geothermal energy sources for which the cost of supply is negligible in many cases. Moreover, the working fluids of these systems are envoi mentally friendly [1-3]. The overall performance of the absorption cycle in terms of refrige- rating effect per unit of energy input generally poor, however, waste heat such as that rejected from a power can be used to achieve better overall energy utilization. Ammonia/water (NH3/H20) systems are widely used where lower temperature is required. However, water/lithium bromide (H20/LiBr) sys- tem are also widely used where moderate temperatures are required (e.g. air conditioning), and the latter system is more efficient than the former [4-6].
The objective of this paper is to evaluate thermody-
namic properties and tabulated also energy transfer rate in each components are calculated and tabulated with the help of empirical relation. Mass flow rate and heat rate in each com- ponents of the system are evaluated and tabulated. The coeffi- cient of performance of the system is determining for various temperatures ranges. The result of this study can be used ei- ther for sizing a new refrigeration cycle or rating an existing system.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 shows the schematic block diagram of a simple absorption refrigeration system it consist of an absor- ber, a pump, a generator and a pressure reducing valve to re-

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place the compressor in vapour compression refrigeration sys-
tem. The other component of the system is same (condenser, evaporator and expansion valve). In this system the NH3 is used as a refrigerant and the water is used as an absorbent. In this system the low pressure ammonia vapour refrigerant leaving the evaporator enters the absorber, where it’s ab- sorbed by the cold water in the absorber. The water has an ability to absorb a very large quantity of ammonia vapour, and the solution thus formed is known as aqua ammonia solu- tion. The absorption of ammonia vapour in water lowers the pressure in the absorber which turn draw the more ammonia vapour from the evaporator and thus raise the temperature of the solution. Some form of cooling arrangement (usually water cooling) is employed in the absorber to remove the heat of solution evolved here, this is necessary in order to increase the absorption capacity of water, because of higher temperature water absorb less ammonia vapour, the strong solution thus formed in absorber is pumped to the generator by the liquid pump. The pump increases the pressure of solution up to the
10 bar. The strong solution of ammonia in the generator is heated by some external source such as gas, steam, solar ener- gy. During the heating process ammonia vapour is driven off from the solution at higher pressure and leaving behind the hot week solution in the generator. The weak ammonia solu- tion flows back to the absorber at low pressure after passing through the pressure reducing valve. The high pressure am- monia vapour from the generator is condensed in the con- denser to high pressure liquid ammonia thus liquid ammonia is passed to the expansion valve through the receiver and then to the evaporator. This is the complete working of simple va- pour absorption refrigeration cycle.

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of Simple Vapour Absorption
Refrigeration System

THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

For carrying out thermodynamic analysis of the pro- posed Vapour Absorption Refrigeration system, following assumption are made: [5]
No pressure changes except through the flow pump.
1. At point1, 4 and 8, there is only Saturated Liquid.
2. At point10, there is only Saturated Vapour.
3. Pumping is isentropic.
4. Assume weak solution contain more percentage of refrige- rant and less percentage of absorbent and strong solution con- tain more percentage of absorbent and less percentage of re- frigerant.
5. Percentage of weak solution at state 1, 2 and 3 and Percen- tage of strong solution at state 4, 5 and 6 will remain same.
6. The Temperatures at Thermodynamic state
11,12,13,14,15,16,17 and 18 are the external circuit for water which is use to input heat for the components of system. As Shown in fig 1
For Generator,
Inlet Temperature of Water = 100°C
Outlet Temperature of Water = 90°C For condenser,
Inlet Temperature of Water = 20°C Outlet Temperature of Water = 24°C
For Absorber,
Inlet Temperature of Water = 20°C Outlet Temperature of Water = 24°C
For Evaporator,
Inlet Temperature of Water = 20°C Outlet Temperature of Water = 12°C
8. We have divided our system into two pressure limits, one is high pressure limit and other is low pressure limit, in the fol- lowing system we are taking high pressure from the table cor- responds to generator temperature (T7) and low pressure cor- responds to evaporator temperature (T10)
P1 = P6 = P9 = P10 = Low pressure
P2 = P3 = P4 = P5 = P7 = P8 = High pressure
Following are the input parameters made during the analysis [5]
 Mass flow rate of Refrigerant = 0.05 kg/s
 Effectiveness of heat exchanger (  ) =0.7
 Generator Temperature =TG=T4=T7 = 50°C

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 Condenser Temperature=TC=T8= 50°C
 Absorber Temperature=TA=T1=T2= 20°C
 Evaporator Temperature=TE=T10=T9= 2.5°C
 Percentage of weak solution Xw= 55.3
 Percentage of strong solution Xs= 56

A. Energy Analysis

GENERATOR

On balancing the energy across the generator, one can say; Qg+ Q3 = Q4 + Q7 (1)
Since:
Q3=m3.h3 (2) Q4=m4.h4 (3) Q7=m7.h7 (4)
Balancing the concentration across the Generator, one can say, m3.X3 = m4.X4 (5)
Putting the value of m3, X3 and X4 in Equation 5, we will get,

m 4  X s

m1  (6)

X w

Combining Equations 5 and 6, one can say

 m

Coefficient of Equation Table (1)
Enthalpy at thermodynamic state 7, calculated with the help of table at TG=T7

m  10

6 X

1  6

(7)
Using equation 2, 3 and 4, one can calculate Q3, Q4 and Q7
putting the value of Q3 Q4 and Q7 one can calculate QG
Qg = (m7×h7) + (m4×h4) - (m3×h3) (9) We also know that heat supplied to the generator is,
Using Equation 8, [5] one can estimate the enthalpy (h3) and
Q = m
×4.2 × (T
-T ) (10)

g 11

12 11

(h4) at thermodynamic state 3 and 4,

(8)
On comparing equation (9) with (10), one can get m11
Similarly by using energy balance, one can calculate m11

(m 7  h 7 )  (m 4  h 4 ) - (m3  h 3 )

m11  (11)

4.2  (T11 - T12 )

CONDENSER

On balancing the energy across the condenser, one can say;
Since,
Qc + Q8 = Q7 (12)
Q8=m8.h8 (13) Q7=m7.h7 (14)
Enthalpy at thermodynamic state 8, calculated with the help of
table at TC = T8
With the help of equation 13, 14, one can calculate
Q7 and Q8
On putting the value of Q7 and Q8 in equation 13, one can get

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Qc = (m7×h7)-(m8×h8) (15) We also know that heat supplied to the condenser is,
Qc =m15×4.2× (T16-T15) (16)
Enthalpy at thermodynamic state 10, calculated with the help
of table at T10
We have already found out m1 and m6 by using equation 5 and
6 for calculating T5, one can use the relation of effectiveness of
Heat Exchanger

On comparing equation (15) with (16), one can get m15

T5  -  -

T4 - T2

 (T4 - T2 ).

(28)
Similarly by using energy balance, one can calculate m15

(m 7  h 7 ) - (m8  h 8 )

With the help of equation 25, 26 and 27, one can calculate Q1,
Q6, and Q10

m15 

EVA PORATOR

4.2  (T16 - T15 )

(17)

On putting the value of Q1, Q6, and Q10 in equation 24, one can get,
Qa= (m6×h6) + (m10×h10) - (m1×h1) (29)
On balancing the energy across the Evaporator, one can
say;
Qe+Q9 =Q10 (18) Since,
Q9 = m9.h9 (19) Q10 = m10.h10 (20)
Enthalpy at thermodynamic state 9, calculated with the help of table at T9
Enthalpy at thermodynamic state 10, calculated with the help
We also know that heat Transfer from the absorber is,
Qa = m13 × 4.2 × (T14-T13) (30) On comparing equation (29) with (30), one can get m13
Similarly by using energy balance, one can calculate m13

( m6  h6 )  (m10  h10 )  ( m1  h1 )

m13 

of table at T10
With the help of equation 19, 20, one can calculate
Q9 and Q10

4.2  (T14  T13 )

RESULTS AND DISCCUSSION

(31)
On putting the value of Q9 and Q10 in equation 18, one can get, Qe = (m10×h10)-(m9×h9) (21)
We also know that heat Extracted from the evaporator is,
Qe= m17 × 4.2 × (T18-T17) (22) On comparing equation (21) with (22), one can get m17
Similarly by using energy balance, one can calculate m17

(m10  h10 ) - (m9  h 9 )

m17 

Thermodynamic properties at the various states, ener-
gy flow rate at the various components of the system, Coeffi- cient of performance of the system by using input parameters being calculated through the mathematical model on MAT- LAB. Summary of the same has been given in tables

Effect of Generator Temperature on Coefficient of Perfor- mance:-

It can be seen from the Figure 2, as the Generator tem- perature increases, Coefficient of Performance of the system decreases. This is due to the increase in the enthalpy of refrige-

4.2  (T18 - T17 )

ABSORBER

(23)
rant which thereby increases in the generator load. This sys-
tem can be operated with a relative low generator temperature
to reach low evaporator temperature with an acceptable sys- tem COP, which is main advantage of this refrigeration sys-
On balancing the energy across the Absorber, one can say,
Qa+Q1 =Q6+Q10 (24)
tem, as it could then utilize industry or civil waste heat and
solar energy since fluid temperatures of this kind of heat source are generally low.
Since,
Q1=m1.h1 (25) Q6=m6.h6 (26) Q10= m10.h10 (27)
Using Equation 8, one can estimate the enthalpy (h1) and (h6)
at thermodynamic state 1 and 6

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0.60

0.55

0.50

0.45

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.25

COP

25 30 35 40 45

Generator Temperature in °C

0.2298

0.2296

0.2294

0.2292

0.2290

0.2288

0.2286

0.2284

0.2282

0.2280

0.2278

COP

0 20 40 60 80

Absorber Temperature °C

Figure 2: Variations of COP with Generator Temperature

Effect of Inlet water Temperature to Generator on

Coefficient of Performance:-

It can be seen from the Figure 3, as the Temperature of in- let water to Generator increases, Coefficient of Performance of the system decreases. This is due to the increase in the tem- perature difference of inlet and outlet water which thereby increases the generator load.

Figure 4: Variations of COP with Absorber Temperature

Effect of Evaporator Temperature on Coefficient of Perfor- mance:-

It can be seen from the Figure 5, as Evaporator Tempera- ture decreases, Coefficient of Performance of the system in- creases. This is due to increase in the Evaporator load.

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

COP

100 120 140 160 180 200

Temperatutre of inlet water to Generator in °C

Figure 3: Variations of COP with inlet water temperature to Gene-

rator (T11)

Effect of Absorber Temperature on Coefficient of Perfor- mance:-

It can be seen from the Figure 4, as Absorber Temper- ature decreases, Coefficient of Performance of the system in- creases. This is due to decrease in the generator load.

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0.240

0.238

0.236

0.234

0.232

0.230

0.228

0.226

0.224

0.222

0.220

COP

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Evaporator Temperature °C

Tabulation of the calculated Energy flows at the various com-
ponents for the Ammonia -Water Vapour Absorption Refrige- ration System:-

Table 3 Energy flows at the various components

Figure 5: Variations of COP with Evaporator Temperature

Effect of Effectiveness of Heat exchanger on Coefficient of

Performance:-

It can be seen from the Figure 6, as Effectiveness of Heat Exchanger increases, Coefficient of Performance increas- es. Heat exchanger used to increase the performance of Refri- geration system, it exchange the heat from hot fluid to cold fluid, which thereby the temperature of cold fluid increases before entering to the generator, so as in the generator there is less heat input require and hence COP of system is increases.

0.32

0.30

0.28

CONCLUSIONS

In this Paper, the first Law of Thermodynamics is ap- plied to a single stage Ammonia-Water Vapour Absorption Refrigeration system, the performance analysis of each com- ponent is calculated through mathematical model on MAT- LAB 7.0.1. Followings are the conclusion made:
1. Coefficient of Performance of the system decreases with increasing inlet water Temperature to generator (T11) keeping the outlet water temperature to genera- tor (T12) is constant.
2. As the generator Temperature increases, the COP of the system decreases.

0.26

0.24

0.22

COP

3. As we increase Condenser Temperatures, the Coeffi- cient of Performance of the system decreases.

0.20

0.18

0.16

0.14

Effectiveness of Heat Exchanger

Figure 6: Variations of COP with Effectiveness of Heat Exchanger

Tabulation of the calculated Thermodynamic properties at the various, Thermodynamic States for the NH3-H2O Vapour Ab- sorption System:-
Finally, the results of the Energy Analysis presented in our project can be applied as a useful tool for evaluation and im- provement of the absorption systems; it provides a simple and effective method to identify how losses at different devices are interdependent and where a given design should be modified for the best performance.

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[3] D.Butz and K.Stephan. 1989. Dynamic behavior of an absorp- tion heat pump. Int.J.Refrig.Vol.12:204-212.
[4] M.A.R. Eisa and F.A.Holland. 1986. A study of the performance parameter in a water-lithium bromide absorption cooler. Energy Res. Vol.10: 137-144.
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1996, Vol.17 No.3.pp 211, 1997

[6] Xu GP, Dai YQ. Theoretical analysis and optimization of a double-effect parallel flow type absorption chiller. Applied Thermal Engineering 1997; 17(2):157–170.
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