Performance analysis of the single-stage absorption heat transformer using a new

working pair composed of ionic liquid and water

Xiaodong Zhang
*
, Dapeng Hu
Department of Chemical Machinery, Dalian University of Technology, 2 Linggong Road, Dalian 116024, PR China
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 13 September 2011
Accepted 3 November 2011
Available online 12 November 2011
Keywords:
Single-stage absorption heat transformer
Working pair
Ionic liquid
Coefcient of performance
Exergy efciency
a b s t r a c t
The performance simulation of a single-stage absorption heat transformer using a new working pair
composed of ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphate, and water (H
2
O [EMIM]
[DMP]), was performed based on the thermodynamic properties of the new working pair and on the
mass and energy balance for each component of the system. In order to evaluate the new working pair,
the simulation results were compared with those of aqueous solution of lithium bromide (H
2
O LiBr),
Triuoroethanol (TFE) tetraethylenglycol dimethylether (E181).
The results indicate that when generation, evaporation, condensing and absorption temperatures are
90

C, 90

C, 35

C and 130

C, the coefcients of performance of the single-stage absorption heat
transformer using H
2
O LiBr, H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] and TFE E181 as working pairs will reach 0.494,
0.481 and 0.458 respectively. And the corresponding exergy efciency will reach 0.64, 0.62 and 0.59,
respectively. Meanwhile the available heat outputs for per unit mass of refrigerant are 2466 kJ/kg,
2344 kJ/kg and 311 kJ/kg, respectively.
The above excellent cycle performance together with the advantages of negligible vapor pressure, no
crystallization and more weak corrosion tendency to iron-steel materials may make the new working
pair better suited for the industrial absorption heat transformer.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In order to reduce the CO
2
discharge and reuse large amounts of
industrial waste heat, absorption heat transformers (AHT) which
can upgrade waste heat fromlowtemperature level to a higher one
have been used in some industrial processes [1]. The available
temperature lift for single-stage absorption heat transformers
(STAHT) is usually in the range of 30

Ce40

C, while a higher
available temperature lift must be obtained by adopting two-stage
absorption heat transformer (TSAHT) or double absorption heat
transformer (DAHT).
The cycle performance of an AHT not only depends on its
conguration (for example, STAHT or DAHT) but also on thermo-
dynamic properties of workingpairs usuallycomposedof refrigerant
andabsorbent. The commonly-usedworkingpairs inAHTis aqueous
solution of lithium bromide (H
2
O LiBr). However, corrosion and
crystallization are its major disadvantages in industrial applications.
Therefore, seeking more advantageous working pairs with good
thermal stabilityminimum corrosion and without crystallization
has become the research focus in the past two decades.
The organic working pairs such as Triuoroethanol
(TFE) tetraethylenglycol dimethylether (E181), TFE N-methyl1-
2-pyrrolidone (NMP), etc are usually non-corrosive, completely
miscible and thermally stable. These excellent physical properties
have attracted many researchers to study the cycle performance of
absorption refrigerator, absorption heat pump (AHP) and AHT
adopting these organic working pairs [2e12].
Ionic liquids (ILs) are new types of environmental-friendly
solvent and remain liquid state at near or below room tempera-
ture. ILs are composed of the organic cation and inorganic anion.
They constitute a huge family of chemicals because there are many
types of organic cation and inorganic anion which can be converted
into ionic liquids. In the past decades, ILs have attracted consider-
able attention because of their unique properties, e.g. negligible
vapor pressure, non-ammability, good thermal stability, low
melting points, wide range of liquid state from room temperature
up to 200 or 300

C, and good solubility to many organic or inor-
ganic chemicals.
Because of their excellent properties, it is very possible that ILs
can be used as a new type of absorbent of refrigerants. With this
goal in mind, some researchers began to look for the suitable ILs
which can match common refrigerants and have excellent physical
and chemical properties. Kima and Shin et al. researched the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 86 411 84986171; fax: 86 411 84986001.
E-mail address: zhangxd56@163.com (X. Zhang).
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Applied Thermal Engineering
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ apt hermeng
1359-4311/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2011.11.006
Applied Thermal Engineering 37 (2012) 129e135
pressure and heat capacity of binary solution of TFE 1-butyl-3-
methylimidazolium bromide ([bmim][Br]) and TFE 1-butyl-3-
methylimidazolium tetrauoroborate ([bmim][BF
4
]). They found
that these solutions were the negative deviation from Raoults Law
[13]. Shiett and Yokozeki conducted extensive researches on the
solubility and diffusivity of carbon dioxide in ionic liquids [14]. They
also stuided the solubility of NH
3
in some ionic liquids [15]. Wang
and Zheng et al. measured and correlated vapor pressure of binary
solutions, water 1,3-Dimethylimidazolium Chloride and TFE 1-
Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Tetrauoroborate, which were taken
as working uids of absorption refrigeration [16].
The authors measured and correlated the thermodynamic
properties of some binary solutions composed of water, ethanol,
methanol, and ILs such as 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl-
sulfate, 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([MMIM]
[DMP]), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumdimethylphosphate ([EMIM]
[DMP]), and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate
([EMIM][DEP]).They found that these binary solutions showed
strong negative deviation from Raoults Law and had signicant
mixing heat. It is also shown that these ILs are thermo-stable until
220

C with the exception of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl-
sulfate and are entirely miscible with water, methanol and ethanol
[17e19].
Upto now the reports about the thermodynamic cycle perfor-
mance using these new working pairs containing ionic liquids are,
however, very limited. Yokozeki and Shiett researched water
solubility in some ionic liquids and calculated the coefcients of
performance of absorption refrigeration under a given operation
condition [20]. Martn and Bermejo simulated the performance of
absorption refrigeration cycle using working pair of ionic
liquid supercritical CO
2
[21]. Liang and Zhao et al. simulated the
performance of absorption refrigeration cycle using
methanol [MMIM][DMP] as working pair [22]. The authors also
simulated the performance of absorption refrigeration cycle using
H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] [23].
However, the cycle performance analysis on the AHT using
working pairs containing ILs has not been found in these
references.
The aim of this research is to further prove if the new working
pair, H
2
O [EMIM][DMP], has other excellent cycle performances
in AHT cycle besides its excellent physical and chemical properties.
So it is necessary to simulate and analyze the thermodynamic cycle
performance of a STAHT based on the thermodynamic properties of
binary solutions, H
2
O [EMIM][DMP], obtained in our laboratory
[19]. In order to evaluate the present working pair containing ILs,
the simulation results have also been compared with those using
H
2
O LiBr and TFE E181.
2. The thermodynamic properties of H
2
O D [EMIM][DMP]
The thermodynamic properties of binary solution H
2
O[EMIM]
[DMP] have been reported in our previous studies [19,23], here
some thermodynamic properties related to the performance
simulation are briey given as follows:
2.1. The pressure of solution
Because of non-volatilization of ionic liquid, [EMIM][DMP], the
vapor phase is only consisted of water, the pressure of this systemis
p g
1
x
1
p
s
1
(1)
Where, g
1
is the activity coefcient of water, x
1
is the mole fraction
of water in solution, p
s
1
is the saturation vapor pressure of pure
water.
The activity coefcients of water in the solution H
2
O [EMIM]
[DMP] is given in the form of non-random two liquid model (NRTL)
as follows.
lng
1
x
2
2
"
s
21

G
21
x
1
x
2
G
21

s
12
G
12
x
2
x
1
G
12

2
#
(2)
G
12
expas
12
; G
21
expas
21
(3)
s
12

Dg
1
RT
; s
21

Dg
2
RT
(4)
Where, a 0.6004 is the non-random parameter of the NRTL
model. Dg
1
and Dg
2
are both binary interaction parameters and
expressed as follows:
Dg
i
a
i
b
i
T c
i
T
2
i 1; 2 (5)
Nomenclature
AHT absorption heat transformers
[bmim][Br] 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide
[bmim][BF
4
] 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrauoroborate
COP coefcient of performance
ECOP exergy efciency
E181 tetraethylenglycol dimethylether
[EMIM][DMP] 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium
dimethylphosphate
[EMIM][DEP] 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate
F ow rate ratio
h specic enthalpy (kJ/kg)
m mass ow rate (kg /s)
[MMIM][DMP] 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate
NMP N-methyl1-2-pyrrolidone
p pressure ( MPa)
P1 solution pump
P2 refrigerant pump
qQ
A
/m
1
available heat output per unit mass of refrigerant (kJ/
kg)
Q heat load (kW)
SHE solution heat exchanger
STAHT single-stage absorption heat transformers
t temperature,

C
T temperature, K
TFE Triuoroethanol
v value
x mass fraction of absorbent in solution
Dx x
s
x
w
concentration difference between strong and weak
solutions
Subscripts
A absorber
C condenser
E evaporator
G generator
s strong solution
w weak solution
1,2,3.10 the series number of streams
X. Zhang, D. Hu / Applied Thermal Engineering 37 (2012) 129e135 130
Where a
i
, b
i
, and c
i
are all regression parameters and given in
Table 1.
The saturated vapor pressure of pure waterp
s
1
, can be calculated
by Antoine Equation (6).
lnp
s
=kPa 16:28837 3816:4=46:13 T=K (6)
2.2. Enthalpy of solution
Enthalpy of the solution H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] at T and at IL mole
fraction x
2
can be calculated by the Equation (7).
H H
298

Z
T
298
C
P
dT (7)
Where, H
298
(kJ/kmol) is the specic enthalpy of solution with IL
mole fraction x
2
at 298 K, and is shown in Equation (8).
H
298
H
E
298
x
2
Z
298
273
C
P;EMIMDMP
dT x
1
Z
298
273
C
P;H2O
dT (8)
Where, H
E
298
is the excess enthalpy of solution, in kJ/kmol and
calculated by Equation (9), C
P,[EMIM][DMP]
and C
P,H2O
are the specic
heat capacities of [EMIM][DMP] and H
2
O, in kJ/kmol K, respectively.
H
E
298
=x
1
x
2

X
4
1
A
i
1 2x
2

i1
(9)
Where, A
i
(i 1, 2, 3, 4) are the regression parameters and given in
Table 2, x
1
and x
2
are the molar fraction of water and IL respectively.
2.3. Specic heat capacity of solution
Specic heat capacity of solution, C
P
, is given as follows,
C
p
C
p0
a T (10)
Where,
C
p0

X
5
i 1
A
i
x
i1
2
(11)
a
X
5
i 1
B
i
x
i1
2
(12)
Where, C
p
is the heat capacity in kJ/kg K, A
i
and B
i
are both the
regressive parameters and given in Table 3, T is the absolute
temperature in K, and x
2
is the molar fraction of [EMIM][DMP] in
solution.
The thermodynamic properties of working pairs TFE E181 and
H
2
O LiBr were given in references [4,5,24e26].
3. The performance simulation
The conguration of a STAHT and its corresponding absorption
cycle are schematically shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. It is mainly
composed of a generator, a condenser, an evaporator, an absorber
and a solution heat exchange or the so called economizer.
In order to simulate the thermodynamic cycle performance of
STAHT using H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] as working pairs, the following
assumptions are made.
(1) The analysis is carried out under steady state conditions;
(2) The solutions are saturated while leaving the generator and the
absorber;
(3) The condensate is saturated and not subcooled while leaving
the condenser;
(4) The thermal and pressure losses during the whole process can
be neglected;
(5) The expanding process in the throttling valves is isenthalpic;
(6) The minimum temperature difference between the cold and
hot streams in solution heat exchange is 5

C;
(7) The mechanical energy consumed by the pumps can be
neglected;
It is necessary to get the mass and energy balance equations for
each component and get parameters for main state points in the
cycle in order to simulate the thermodynamic cycle performance of
STAHT with this new working pair containing ILs. Generator
m
7
m
1
m
8
0 (13)
m
7
x
7
m
8
x
8
(14)
Q
G
m
7
h
7
m
8
h
8
m
1
h
1
0 (15)
For state point 8.
Table 1
Parameters in the Equation (5).
a
1
b
1
c
1
a
2
b
2
c
2
4.0495 10
5
2.1839 10
3
2.810 7.5891 10
3
10.215 0.0356
Table 2
Parameters in Equation (9).
A
1
A
2
A
3
A
4
2.3379 10
4
1.1000 10
4
7.9100 10
3
9.0166 10
3
Table 3
Parameters in Equations (11) and (12).
A
1
8.4310 10
2
A
2
2.0572 10
4
A
3
1.3885 10
4
A
4
3.1382 10
4
A
5
2.6643 10
4
B
1
14.7825
B
2
26.3706
B
3
53.2389
B
4
207.8705
B
5
127.5218
E
C
Q
E
Q
A
Q
G
Q
C
1
7 8
2
3
4
5
A
10
SHE
6 9
G
P1
P2
v
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of absorption heat transformer A-absorber, C-condenser, E-
evaporator, G-generator, SHE-heat exchanger, P1,P2-pump, v-valve.
X. Zhang, D. Hu / Applied Thermal Engineering 37 (2012) 129e135 131
p
8
pt
8
; x
8
(16)
where t
8
t
G
and p
8
p
c
.
Condenser
m
1
m
2
m
3
1 kg=s (17)
(Mass reference for calculation)
m
1
h
1
m
2
h
2
Q
C
0 (18)
For state point 2
p
2
p
c
p
s
t
C
(19)
Evaporator
m
3
m
4
(20)
m
4
h
4
m
3
h
3
Q
E
0 (21)
For state point 4.
p
4
p
E
p
s
t
E
(22)
Absorber
m
4
m
10
m
5
0 (23)
m
5
x
5
m
10
x
10
(24)
m
4
h
4
m
10
h
10
m
5
h
5
Q
A
0 (25)
For state point 5
p
5
pt
5
; x
5
(26)
where t
5
t
A
and p
5
p
E
.
Heat exchanger
m
5
h
5
m
9
h
9
m
6
h
6
m
10
h
10
0 (27)
t
5
t
10
5 (28)
Here the minimum temperature difference between the cold
and hot streams in solution heat exchange is located in the hot end
of the solution heat exchange.Where m
i
, h
i
, x
i
(i 1,2,3,.10) are the
mass ow rate, specic enthalpy and mass fraction of absorbent,
[EMIM][DMP], of each stream respectively. p
s
(t) is saturated pres-
sure of refrigerant H
2
O, the p(t,x) are saturated pressure of working
solution H
2
O[EMIM][DMP], which are given by Formulas (1)e(6).
Usually the temperatures of waste heat for driving an absorption
heat transformer, the cooling water temperature and the output
temperature of an absorption heat transformer are known in
applications, so the generation, evaporation condensation and
absorption temperatures t
G
, t
E,
t
C
and t
A
are known and taken as
independent variables in present research. Based on the above
assumptions and the mass, energy balance equations and phase
equilibrium Equations (13)e(28) for each component or for main
state points in the cycle, the parameters for each stream such as t
i
,
p
i
, x
i
and m
i
can be obtained. The heat loads of generator, absorber,
evaporator and condenser, the concentration of solution, concen-
tration deference between strong and weak solutions and ow rate
ratio are also obtained.
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e


t
C
t
G
=t
E
t
A
Temperature
p
C
p
E
x
S
x
w H
2
O
4
10 5
8 7 2
Fig. 2. The thermodynamic cycle in absorption heat transformer.
Input t
E
, t
G
, t
C,
t
A
t
2
= t
C
, t
4
= t
E
, t
8
= t
G
t
5
= t
A
p
2
= p
s
(t
2
); p
4
=p
s
(t
4
), Eqs.(6), (19) ,(22)
p
2
=p
7
=p
8 ,
p
4
= p
5
=p
10
assumptions (4)
p
8
=p (t
8
,x
8
) Eqs. (16) and (1-6),
x
8
=x
s
can be obtained from above eqs by
Newtonian iteration approach, similarly x
5
=x
w
can also be obtained from Eqs. (26) and (1-6).
h
i
=h(t
i
) (i=1-10) Eqs. (7-12)
Q
i
(i=G, C, E, A) Eqs. (15, 18, 21, 25)
Calculating COP , ECOP, x, F and q
start
Outputting COP, ECOP, x ,F and q
end
based on Eqs. (29-34)
Fig. 3. Flow-chart for simulation.
X. Zhang, D. Hu / Applied Thermal Engineering 37 (2012) 129e135 132
The coefcient of performance, COP, is dened as the ratio of
available heat output of the absorber to the total heat inputs of the
system. Similarly the exergetic efciency, ECOP, based onthe second
law of thermodynamics is dened as the ratio of the available
energy output of the absorber to the total available energy input of
the system. The above two coefcients are dened as follows as well
as the owrate ratio F, concentration difference between strong and
weak solutions, Dx, and gross temperature lift, Dt.
COP
Q
A
Q
G
Q
E
(29)
ECOP
Q
A
1T
0
=T
A

Q
E
1T
0
=T
E
Q
G
1T
0
=T
G

COP
1T
0
=T
A

1T
0
=T
G

(30)
Where the T
E
and T
G
are assumed to be equal in present study.
Dx x
8
x
5
x
s
x
w
(31)
D
t
t
A
t
E
(32)
F
m
7
m
1

x
s
Dx
(33)
q
Q
A
m
1
(34)
Where T
0
, T
E
, and T
G
are environmental, evaporation and genera-
tion temperature, respectively.
Fig. 3 showed the ow-chart for simulation, in which the main
steps for simulation process and corresponding equations were
given.
4. Results and discussion
The simulating results for STAHT using the new working pair,
H
2
O [EMIM][DMP],are shown in Figs. 4e9.
From Fig. 4 it can be seen that the coefcients of performance of
aSTAHTfor threeworkingpairs will decreaseat different ratewiththe
increaseof t
A
. Amongthreeworkingpairs whengross temperaturelift
is not beyond 50

C, the COP is basically unchanged for H
2
O LiBr.
However, it decreases very rapidly for TFE E181, compared to
a moderate drop for H
2
O [EMIM][DMP]. As for the magnitude of
COP, they followed the order of H
2
O LiBr > H
2
O [EMIM]
[DMP] >TFEE181. For example, whencondensingtemperature and
gross temperature lift are 35

C and 40

C, the coefcients of perfor-
manceare 0.494, 0.481and0.458for H
2
OLiBr, H
2
O[EMIM][DMP]
and TFE E181, respectively. It is also found that the lower the
condensing temperature is, the higher the COP or available temper-
ature lift will be. This is why the AHT is more efcient in winter.
Fig. 5 shows the variation of COP with the absorption temper-
ature t
A
under different generation or evaporation temperature
conditions. As shown in Fig. 5 the higher the generation or evap-
oration temperature is, the higher the absorption temperature and
corresponding gross temperature lift got. It is still consistent here
that the COP follows the order of H
2
O LiBr > H
2
O [EMIM]
[DMP] > TFE E181 under different generation or evaporation
temperature conditions.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170
t
A
/
C
O
P
H2O+[EMIM][DMP]
H2O+LiBr
TFE/E181
t G=t E=90
tc=30
35 40
Fig. 4. Effects of t
A
on COP for three working pairs.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180
t
A
C
O
P
H2O+[EMIM][DEP]
H2O+LiBr
TFE+E181
t C=35
t G=t E=70 80
90
Fig. 5. Effect of t
G
t
E
on COP for three working pairs.
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
100 120 140 160 180
t A/
E
C
O
P
H2O+[EMIM][DMP]
H2O+LiBr
TFE+E181
t G=t E=90
40
t c=30
35
Fig. 6. Effects of t
A
on ECOP for three working pairs.
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180
t A/
x
/
(
w
t
,
a
b
s
o
r
b
e
n
t
)
H2O+[EMIM][DEP]
H2O+LiBr
TFE+E181
xs
xw
t G=t E=90
t C=35
Fig. 7. Effects of t
A
on x
s
and x
w
for three working pairs.
X. Zhang, D. Hu / Applied Thermal Engineering 37 (2012) 129e135 133
Fig. 6 shows the variation of ECOP with the absorption tempera-
ture t
A
. It is revealed that the effects of t
E
on COP and ECOP differ
signicantly. The COP decreases with the increase of t
A,
while ECOP
rstly increases to a maximum and then decreases rapidly. This can
beexplainedby thedenitionFormula (30) listedabove, inwhichthe
ECOP equals tothe COPmultipliedby the factor of (1 T
0
/T
A
)/(1 T
0
/
T
G
). When COP decreases, the factor will however increase with the
increase of t
A
. In fact ECOP based on the second law of thermody-
namics not only takes account of the amount of available heat output
but also its temperature level, namely quality of the output heat. The
COP only represents heat output, while the ECOP represents not only
thequantitybut alsothequalityof heat output. Becauseof (1T
0
/T
A
)/
(1 T
0
/T
G
) > 1 for AHT cycle, the ECOP is larger than COP.
Fig. 7 shows the concentration variation of strong and weak
solutions with absorbing temperature t
A
. The strong solution
leaving the generator has a concentration x
s,
which enriches
absorbent more than the weak solution, so it can absorbs refrig-
erant vapor easier. When generating and condensing temperature
maintain unchanged, the x
s
does not vary with the t
A
, but the x
w
does increase with the t
A
. The higher the absorbing temperature t
A
or gross temperature lift Dt is, the denser the weak solution is. This
leads to the decrease of concentration difference Dx x
s
x
w
or to
the increase of ow rate ratio F and mechanical power losses. As
shown in Fig. 6 the concentrations of strong solution x
s
are over 0.9
(mass fraction,[EMIM][DEP] or E181) for H
2
O [EMIM][DEP] and
TFE E181, while it is 0.645 (mass fraction, LiBr) for the common
working pair, H
2
O LiBr, under the given operation conditions.
Fig. 8 shows the variation of solution concentration difference
Dx x
s
x
w
, and owrate ratio F with absorbing temperature t
A
. As
shown in Fig. 8, the solution concentration differences of three
working pairs decrease with the increase of t
A
, but the ow rate
ratios vary in an opposite way. When generation, evaporation and
condensing temperature are maintained to be constant, the solu-
tion concentration difference and the available output temperature
of absorber will only vary with the ow rate ratio, so the ow rate
ratio is an important and easily controllable operation parameter.
Larger ow rate ratio also results in higher output temperature of
the absorber and more mechanical power loss. Under the same
operation conditions the ow rate ratio is in the order of
H
2
O [EMIM][DEP] > H
2
O LiBr > TFE E181.
Usually the owrate ratio is about 12 for working pair H
2
OLiBr.
According to the Formula (20) above, the concentration difference,
Dx x
s
/F, is about 0.05 (wt, LiBr).However, for working pair
H
2
O [EMIM][DEP] the concentration of strong solution is over 0.9
(wt., [EMIM][DEP]), so the corresponding concentration difference is
up to 0.08 (wt., [EMIM][DEP]) under the same ow rate ratio condi-
tion. For working pair TFE E181 a similar concentration difference
of 0.08 is found. The larger the concentration difference is, the larger
the driving force for mass transfer in generator or absorber is. This
will be especially benecial for the absorbing process inthe absorber.
Fig. 9 shows the variation of available heat output from the
absorber for per unit mass of refrigerant (as dened as Formula (21)
above) with absorbing temperature t
A
. It should be noted that the
available heat output of per unit mass of refrigerant are similar for
working pair H
2
O[EMIM][DEP] andH
2
OLiBr, whichare 2466 kJ/
kg and 2344 kJ/kg respectively. However, for the working pair
TFE E181 the number is 311 kJ/kg under the same conditions of
t
G
t
E
90

Ctc 35

Candt
A
130

C. Themainreasonis that the

evaporation heat of TFE is very lowcompared with water. Under the
same operation conditions, the amount of refrigerant, TFE, cycled in
theSTAHTwill be 7times of that of water, whichleads tothe increase
of mechanical power losses and larger size of pipes and pumps.
5. Conclusion
The conclusions of this research are summarized as follows:
1. This new working pair containing ILs has a similar cycle
performance as that of H
2
O LiBr. The coefcient of perfor-
mance and exergy efciency of H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] is slightly
less than those of H
2
O LiBr but they are still larger than those
of TFE E181. When condensing temperature and gross
temperature lift Dt are 35

C and 40

C, the coefcients of
performance reaches 0.494, 0.481 and 0.458 for H
2
O LiBr,
H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] and TFE E181, respectively, while the
corresponding exergy efciency is 0.64, 0.62 and 0.59 under
the same operating conditions.
2. The concentration of strong solution is over 0.9 for
H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] and TFE E181, while it is only 0.64 for
H
2
O LiBr. Under the same ow rate ratio condition the
concentration difference for H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] and
TFE E181 is larger than that of H
2
OLiBr, which will improve
absorbing process in the absorber
3. The available heat output of per unit mass of refrigerant for
H
2
O [EMIM][DMP] is 2344 kJ/kg and slightly less than
2466 kJ/kg for H
2
O LiBr, but it is much larger than 311 kJ/kg
for TFE E181. So under the same available heat output
conditions, the amount of water cycled in the STAHT will be
much less than that of TFE. This will reduce the mechanical
power losses and the size of pipes and pumps.
Finallybecauseof the excellent cycle performances together with
the advantages of negligible vapor pressure, no crystallization and
more weak corrosion tendency to iron-steel materials than aqueous
solutionof lithiumbromide, the newworking pair researchedinthis
paper has a great potential tobesuccessfullyappliedtotheindustrial
AHT with a signicantly better performance.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170
t
A
/

x
/
(
w
t
,
a
b
s
o
r
b
e
n
t
)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
F
H2O+[EMIM][DEP]
H2O+LiBr
TFE+E181
t G=t E=90
tc=35
Fig. 8. Effects of t
A
on Dx and F for three working pairs.
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
100 110 120 130 140 150 160
t
A
/
q
/
(
k
J
/
k
g
)
H2O+[EMIM][DEP]
H2O+LiBr
TFE+E181
t G=t E=90
t c=35
Fig. 9. Effects of t
A
on q for three working pairs.
X. Zhang, D. Hu / Applied Thermal Engineering 37 (2012) 129e135 134
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful for the nancial support from National
Nature Science Foundation Committee of China (No: 51076021, No:
50876014) to this research project.
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