H2O-LiBr Single-Stage Solar Absorption Air Conditioner with an Innovative Bi-Adiabatic Configuration: Dynamic Model, Nominal Conditions and Typical Day Operation
Abstract
Absorption chillers propose an alternative to conventional compression refrigeration systems as they can run on renewable energy sources and waste heat. However, in the low capacity range, these systems are more expensive and bulkier if compared with conventional compression systems. Adiabatic exchangers are a technology with a high potential for size reduction in the most limiting components (absorber and desorber) by means of the externalization of the heat transfers in conventional and compact plate heat exchangers (PHE), allowing to perform and enhance the mass transfer in a separate component. The present study proposes a single-stage H2O-LiBr solar absorption system with an innovative bi-adiabatic configuration, which allows for a wide range of possibilities to enhance the mass transfer, leading to high performance and compactness. Moreover, only mass-produced standard components would be required. The work is divided into three parts: the first section presents the system’s geometry and functioning. The second section presents the dynamic model of the system and its hypothesis. Finally, the third section uses the dynamic model to define the system’s operating conditions and evaluates the system coupled to an evacuated tube collector and a simple model of a single-family house under a typical sunny-day operation in the Monterrey (MEX) climate conditions.