Nowadays absorption refrigeration cycles (ARC) technology is growing rapidly and has became a real alternative to compression refrigeration cycles, due to the advantages of ARC as far as primary energy savings and respect for the environment are concerned.
The application of absorption refrigeration cycles to reduce energy costs requires the consumption of the industrial plant to be assessed. The plants which are most suitable for ARC integration are those that need chilled water and have a low temperature waste heat source.
This means:
In each industrial plant, a study must be carried out to evaluate the viability of ARC integration. This study should also evaluate economic savings taking into account operation and capital costs. This task requires an appropriate type of ARC to be selected for the plant considered, and also a good knowledge of how energy is generated, distributed and finally used. The group of elements: boilers, headers, heat exchangers, turbines, and so on, which produce, distribute and use the energy in the form of steam, make up what is called the steam network of an industrial facility. The steam network plus the electric network make up the energy system of an industrial plant.
The aim of this area of research is to determine the viability of integrating different types of ARC in steam networks, in order to take advantage of waste heat coming from the process plant or to generate additional steam to drive the ARC and produce chilled water.
Types of ARC systems simulated:
| Refrigerant/Absorbent | Type of cicle |
|---|---|
| water/lithium bromide | Single effect Double effect (Isoflow) Double effect (Paraflow) |
| ammonia/water | Single effect, Single stage Single effect, Double stage |