Title: Experimental energy and exergy analysis of a novel water-LiBr absorption system

Authors: G. Gutiérrez Urueta; A. Huicochea; W. Rivera; P. Rodríguez-Aumente; Francisco Oviedo-Tolentino

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, 78290, México ' Research Center for Applied Science and Engineering, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62209, México ' Institute for Renewable Energy, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Temixco, Morelos, 62588, México ' Thermal and Fluid Engineering Department, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganés, Madrid, 28911, Spain ' Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, 78290, México

Abstract: A novel single effect water-LiBr absorption system equipped with an adiabatic absorber was built and evaluated. The influence of operating conditions on the system performance is investigated in terms of cooling capacity, coefficient of performance (COP), subcooling of solution, and exergy efficiency η_ex. The results show maximum values of these parameters against the generation temperature (80-100ºC). The same behaviour was observed when the weak solution mass flow rate varied from 170 kg/h to 360 kg/h for the case of COP and exergetic efficiency. The results show that the recirculation ratio RR is a fundamental parameter that influences the performance of the adiabatic absorption system since the experimental COP can be improved by more than 100% when the RR is increased from 1.7 to 2.5. The results also show that the use of adiabatic absorbers may improve the performance of absorption systems.

Keywords: adiabatic absorption; water-lithium bromide; exergy analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2017.084533

International Journal of Exergy, 2017 Vol.23 No.1, pp.31 - 46

Received: 08 Jun 2016
Accepted: 14 Jan 2017
Published online: 12 Jun 2017 *

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