Energy and exergy investigation of a novel double effect hybrid absorption refrigeration system for solar cooling

The objective of this work is to present an energy and exergy analysis of a novel configuration of absorption cooling system operating at low enthalpy sources. The double stage cycle developed in the present work is operating with water-ammonia. In this investigation, modeling and simulation of the proposed configuration is attempted. Also, a thermodynamic model based on the energy and exergy balances is developed. The obtained numerical results obtained have been compared with those corresponding to the conventional machine. Great emphasis is given to the estimation of the refrigeration systems' performance, the exergy efficiency, the global exergy destruction in the system and the exergy destruction in each of the main components. The analyzed parameters are the coefficient of performance (COP), the irreversibility and the exergetic efficiency. The results of the study reveal that the performance of the novel configuration is better than that of the two stage conventional configuration. Besides, it allows a lower operating temperature, about 60-120 degrees C instead of 100-160 degrees C for the conventional cycle. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.