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Energy, exergy, environment and economic analyses and optimization of two-stage absorption–compression combined refrigeration system

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Abstract

In the present paper, integration of a two-stage absorption refrigeration system with a compression refrigeration system is proposed for utilizing low-temperature heat and reducing electric energy consumption. The proposed system is analyzed and compared with vapor compression system from the viewpoint of energy, exergy, environment and economics. The proposed system reduces the electricity consumption by 89.3% and CO2 emission from 112.6 to 12.1 ton/year. The size and cost of the system are determined by designing the heat exchangers. The optimization is also performed with the objective of minimizing the annual cost of plant operation which includes fuel exergy cost, initial investment and maintenance cost and environmental damage cost due to CO2 emission. The annual cost of its operation is 21.6% less than equivalent vapor compression refrigeration system which is further reduced by 18.2% through system optimization.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area (m2)

\(c_{{{\text{CO}}_{ 2} }}\) :

Cost of unit carbon dioxide emission ($/ton)

\(c_{\text{el}}\) :

Cost of unit electricity ($/kWh)

\(\dot{C}_{\text{env}}\) :

Annual environment damage cost ($/year)

\(\dot{C}_{\text{op}}\) :

Annual operational cost ($/year)

\(\dot{C}_{\text{plant}}\) :

Annual cost of plant operation ($/year)

COP:

Coefficient of performance

CRF:

Capital recovery factor

\(\dot{E}\) :

Exergy flow rate (kW)

\(\dot{\rm ED}\) :

Rate of exergy destruction (kW)

h :

Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)

HP:

High pressure

HPA:

High-pressure absorber

HPG:

High-pressure generator

HPSTV:

High-pressure solution throttle valve

\(i_{\text{r}}\) :

Rate of interest (%)

LMTD:

Log mean temperature difference

LP:

Low pressure

LPA:

Low-pressure absorber

LPG:

Low-pressure generator

LPSTV:

Low-pressure solution throttle valve

LiBr:

Lithium bromide

\(\dot{m}\) :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

\(m_{{{\text{CO}}_{2} }}\) :

Annual emission of carbon dioxide (ton)

n :

Life span of the refrigeration plant

p :

Pressure (kPa)

PR:

Pressure ratio

\(\dot{Q}\) :

Heat transfer rate (kW)

ref:

Refrigerant

RTV:

Refrigerant throttle valve

s :

Specific entropy (kJ/kg/K)

SCR:

Solution circulation ratio

STV:

Solution throttle valve

SHE:

Solution heat exchanger

T :

Temperature (°C or K)

\(T_{{{\text{cond}},{\text{VAR}}}}\) :

Absorption section condenser temperature (°C)

\(T_{{{\text{cond}},{\text{VCR}}}}\) :

Compression section condenser temperature (°C)

TSACCR:

Two-stage absorption–compression combined refrigeration

\(t_{\text{op}}\) :

Annual hours of plant operation (h)

VAR:

Vapor absorption refrigeration

VCR:

Vapor compression refrigeration

\(\dot{W}\) :

Work transfer rate (kW)

\(x\) :

Concentration of lithium bromide in solution

\(\dot{Z}_{\text{CI}}\) :

Annual levelized capital investment cost ($/year)

\(\dot{Z}_{{{\text{CI}}\,{\&}\,{\text{OM}}}}\) :

Annual levelized capital investment plus operation maintenance cost ($/year)

\(\dot{Z}_{\text{OM}}\) :

Annual levelized operation maintenance cost ($/year)

\(\epsilon\) :

Effectiveness

η :

Efficiency

η ex :

Exergetic efficiency

λ :

Carbon dioxide emission factor (kg/kWh)

ϕ :

Maintenance cost factor

0:

Represents dead state

1, 2, 3…:

State points

cond:

Condenser

cc:

Cascade condenser

comp:

Compressor

el:

Electricity

evap:

Evaporator

gen:

Generator

HPG:

High-pressure generator

HPP:

High-pressure pump

HX:

Heat exchanger

in:

Inlet

LPG:

Low-pressure generator

LPP:

Low-pressure pump

out:

Outlet

p :

Pump

ref:

Refrigerant

SHE:

Solution heat exchanger

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Manoj Dixit & S. C. Kaushik

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, 110042, India

    Akhilesh Arora

  3. Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, 282005, India

    Manoj Dixit

Authors
  1. Manoj Dixit
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  2. Akhilesh Arora
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  3. S. C. Kaushik
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Correspondence to Manoj Dixit.

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Dixit, M., Arora, A. & Kaushik, S.C. Energy, exergy, environment and economic analyses and optimization of two-stage absorption–compression combined refrigeration system. Clean Techn Environ Policy 19, 2215–2229 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-017-1404-3

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