Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610

www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Simulation studies on GAX absorption compression cooler

a,* b
A. Ramesh Kumar , M. Udayakumar
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pacheri Sri Nallathangal College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul 624 622, Tamil Nadu, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Trichy 620 015, Tamil Nadu, India

Received 10 December 2005; accepted 29 March 2007

Available online 18 May 2007

Abstract

This paper presents simulation studies conducted on a GAX absorption–compression (hybrid) cycle using ammonia–water as working
fluid for air conditioning applications. The degassing range of the cycle has been optimized for maximum COP. The effect of absorber
pressure on the heat duties of the cycle has also been studied. It is found that the maximum COP occurs at an optimum degassing range
of about 0.4 kg of ammonia per kg of strong solution. Comparison of hybrid and conventional GAX cycle was conducted, and it was
found that the hybrid GAX cycle has an average of 30% higher value of COP than the conventional GAX cycle. A reasonable agreement
is observed between the results and performance parameter trends obtained from the present study and the published results available in
the literature.
Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: GAX; Ammonia–water; Degassing range; Compression–absorption; Simulation

1. Introduction readjusted to get the desired results in the final stage.

The GAX (generator absorber exchange) absorption
cycle is an elegant way of achieving higher coefficient of
performance (COP) with a cycle configuration that essen-
tially appears to be a single stage absorption system. In
the absorber and generator, the pressures and concentra-
tions are maintained in such a way as to cause a tempera-
ture overlap between the absorber and the generator. This
provides the possibility that some of the heat of absorption
may be rejected to the generator. Several theoretical and
experimental works have been performed on the GAX
cycle and reported in the literature. Using ABSIM-OSU
software Priedeman and Christensen [1] modeled a GAX
cycle ammonia–water absorption chiller of 5 ton capacity
and calibrated the simulation model using experimental
data. In the first stage, the cycle was optimized by paramet-
ric variations. In the second stage, the model was calibrated
using the experimental data. The calibrated model was
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 451 247 1502; fax: +91 451 255 4249.
E-mail address: aramesh2003@rediffmail.com (A. Ramesh Kumar).
Experimental validation showed a 0.5 percentage difference
of COP value between the simulation and experiment. Sta-
icovici [2] introduced a new method to analyze a poly-
branched regenerative GAX cycle. NH3/H2O–LiBr was
selected as a working fluid due to its increased solubility
at elevated temperatures. The author claims that the three
stage polybranched regenerative GAX cycle gives 1.9 times
higher COP and 82% of the Carnot cooling efficiency for
the lift of 47 °C. However, economic analysis for the choice
of working fluid was not justified. Also, The Carnot COP
does not address the internal heat exchange in the GAX
cycle [3].
Velázquez and Best [4] proposed a methodology to eval-
uate the thermodynamic performance of an air cooled
GAX cycle driven by natural gas and solar energy. For
the specified design conditions, they calculated the proper-
ties at different state points and the energy transfer of the
components based on external currents. The methodology
also using an iterative procedure for the internal currents
and convergence was achieved. The model does not con-
sider the pressure losses. A COP value of 0.86 for cooling

0196-8904/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2007.03.013
 A. Ramesh Kumar, M. Udayakumar / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610
Nomenclature
Q heat flow (kW)
f circulation ratio
T temperature (C or K)
P pressure (kPa)
C specific heat (kJ/kg K)
W power (kW)
U overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)
A heat exchanger area (m2)
CW compressor work (kW)
v specific volume (m3/kg)
h specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)
m mass flow rate (kg/s)
rc refrigerant concentration
ssc strong solution concentration
wsc weak solution concentration
e effectiveness of heat exchanger
n compression index
k clearance ratio
RHX condensate pre-cooler
GAX generator absorber heat exchange
GAX A GAX absorber
GAX D GAX desorber
PGAX panel heating GAX cycle
and 1.86 for heating together with an energy integration of
16.9 kW was obtained for a 10.6 kW cooling capacity. Gar-
imella et al. [5] studied the performance of a GAX heat
pump for both cooling and heating modes using the
OSU-ABSIM simulation program. It was shown that for
a given capacity, the gas input based COP can be maxi-
mized based on the UA variation of heat exchanging com-
ponents of the cycle. Also, it was demonstrated that the
choice of desorber bypass fraction primarily depends on
the design requirements of the adiabatic analyzer, rather
than being based on the potential heat duty matching
between the GAX absorber and desorber. A performance
simulation considering both the cooling and heating modes
as functions of the operating parameters using ABSIM was
investigated on a Phillips configuration GAX heat pump
by Grossman et al. [6]. They identified the effect on COP
of the heat rejection temperature and equilibrium devia-
tions. Three control schemes were attempted to maintain
a fixed COP. With the assistance of a Lorentz type plot,
they arrived at the optimum flow rate of coolant in the
GAX heat transfer loop.
Kang et al. [7] established a theoretical model for the
rectifier in the GAX absorption heat pump. Three different
rectifier configurations were considered for study in this
work. Their investigations revealed that a minimum tem-
perature difference between the interface and bulk regions
and a high heat transfer coefficient in the vapour region
reduces the size of the rectifier. Hanna et al. [8] analyzed
the GAX cycle processes by introducing the pinch point
2605
PSE panel heating single effect cycle
Greek symbols
g efficiency
n degassing range
Subscripts
a absorber
g generator
e evaporator
p pump
c condenser
hf hot fluid
cf cold fluid
gt total generator
rq required
at total absorber
av available
r refrigerant
s strong solution
w weak solution
L liquid
V vapour
technique. They showed that by knowing the closeness of
the state points of the heat recovery processes, an economic
design trade off of cycle components could be achieved.
Scharfe et al. [9] analyzed the advantages and limitations
of the GAX cycle. An equation for the heat of desorption
was derived, and it showed that at any temperature inter-
val, the heat demand in the desorber is higher than the heat
supplied by the absorber. It was observed that the exergy
losses were high due to the high temperature range of the
heat exchange process. Kang et al. [10] developed an
advanced GAX cycle for utilization of waste heat, which
was called the waste heat GAX (WGAX) cycle. They
reported that the generator outlet could be reduced to
172 °C with a higher COP of the WGAX cycle than that
of the standard GAX (SGAX) cycle. They presented that
the corrosion problem in the standard GAX cycle at higher
Tg than 200 °C could be solved by adopting the WGAX
cycle. Sabir et al. [11] studied the GAX-resorption refriger-
ation cycle model. They showed that the COP of the
GAX-resorption cycle is higher than that of the simple
absorption and resorption cycle. Although the cost analysis
was not reported, it is understood from the discussion that
the simple GAX cycle is less expensive and gives a better
COP than the GAX-Resorption cycle. Kang and Kashiw-
agi [12] developed a GAX cycle for panel heating, which
was called the PGAX cycle. They studied the effects of
UA ratio and coolant split ratio on COP in the PGAX
and PSE cycles and concluded that there is an optimum
UA ratio that gives the highest COP in the PGAX cycle
2606 A. Ramesh Kumar, M. Udayakumar / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610
for a given split ratio. For a 17.5 TR capacity, this paper
provides the optimum UA values of the absorbers for the
split ratio of 0.87. Kang et al. [13] developed four different
advanced Hybrid GAX cycles. By controlling the pressure
of the heat exchanging components, the study showed that
a higher COP, very low evaporator temperature with rea-
sonable COP, corrosion minimization at higher generator
temperatures and an increase of hot water outlet tempera-
ture can be achieved.
The above literature review reveals that although many
works have been conducted to analyze the performance of
the basic GAX cycle, few attempts have been made to mod-
ify it. Also, the cost and economic analysis of the GAX
cycle are rarely reported. Furthermore, the degassing range
(difference between the masses of the strong and weak solu-
tions), which has the dominant role in the performance of
the GAX cycle is not well documented. This particular
issue prompted the present work in which a hybrid GAX
compression–absorption cycle is introduced, and the effect
on the COP is investigated in terms of degassing range.
2. Description of GAX absorption compression cycle
Fig. 1 illustrates the main components of the GAX com-
pression–absorption refrigeration cycle. The saturated
solution is assumed to leave the absorber (1) and the gen-
erator (3), and saturated ammonia liquid is assumed to
leave the condenser (8). Saturated vapour is assumed to
leave the evaporator (11). The condensate pre-cooler sub-
cools the refrigerant that leaves the condenser (8) by pre-
heating the vapour entering the compressor (12). The
high pressure cooled liquid refrigerant (8) from the conden-
sate pre-cooler enters the evaporator (10) through an
expansion valve that reduces the pressure of the refrigerant
to the evaporator pressure. The liquid refrigerant (10)
vaporizes in the evaporator by absorbing heat from the
room being conditioned, and the resulting low pressure sat-
Qc
7
Condenser
8 12
RHX
P 4
R 9
E 13V
S GAXA
S Expansion 11
U valve
R
E 10
Evaporator
Qe
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of GAX compression–absorption cycle.
urated vapour (11) passes to the compressor (12) through
the condensate pre-cooler. The compressor is placed
between the evaporator and the absorber. The compressor
increases the absorber pressure (15) higher than the evapo-
rator pressure. In the absorber, the refrigerant vapour is
absorbed by the weak solution coming from the generator
(3) through an expansion valve (4) and forms the strong
solution (1). The term ‘‘strong solution’’ represents a solu-
tion that is strong with refrigerant (NH3), while ‘‘weak
solution’’ represents a solution that is weak with refriger-
ant. The strong solution (1) pumped to the generator pres-
sure (2) is introduced into the high temperature part of the
absorber, where it receives heat from the absorber, and the
refrigerant in it is boiled off in the generator. The remaining
solution (3) flows back to the absorber and, thus, completes
the cycle. The generator and absorber temperature ranges
partially overlap. This overlapped heat is internally trans-
ferred from the absorber to the generator. The dotted line
(Qgax in Fig. 1) represents the heat exchange between the
absorber and generator.
3. Simulation study
Simulation was performed to evaluate the hybrid GAX
cooling cycle with the assumptions enumerated below:
1. Condenser pressure is the equilibrium pressure corre-
sponding to the refrigerant concentration and the
condenser temperature.
2. The condition of the refrigerant at the exit of the
evaporator is saturated vapour, and the evaporator
pressure is the saturated pressure at evaporator
temperature.
3. The refrigerant pressure at the outlet of the recipro-
cating compressor is the absorber pressure.
4. The approach temperature at either end of the GAX
heat exchanger is assumed to 0 K.
Qr Qg
5 14V
Rectifier GAXD Generator
6 14L
3
Qgax Expansion
17 2 valve
Pump
1
Absorber
15
13L
Qa
Compr-
essor
CW
TEMPERATURE
 A. Ramesh Kumar, M. Udayakumar / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610 2607

5. The efficiency of the solution pump is 0.5. The circulation ratio of the system can be derived as
6. The effectiveness of the heat exchanger (RHX) is 0.8. f ¼ ðrc  wscÞ=ðssc  wscÞ ð11Þ
7. The temperature of evaporator is assumed as 5 °C.
8. The condenser temperature varies between 45 °C and The degassing range is defined as
30 °C in steps of 5 °C. n ¼ ssc  wsc ð12Þ
9. The generator temperature varies between 110 °C and
170 °C in steps of 10 °C. The strong and weak solutions can be determined as
10. The flow through all the components of the cycle is ms ¼ f  mr ð13Þ
under steady state. mw ¼ ms  mr ð14Þ
11. Pressure drops within the cycle can be neglected
except through the expansion valve. The energy balance for the solution heat exchanger is as
12. The result of the analysis is ignored whenever the follows
mass flow rate of refrigerant becomes zero or an T 9 ¼ T 8  ðe  mcf  C cf  ðT 8  T 11 Þ=ðmhf  C hf ÞÞ ð15Þ
unrealistic value in any of the state points of the
cycle. T 12 ¼ T 11 þ e  ðT 8  T 11 Þ ð16Þ
The pump power is deduced as
A computer program to determine the thermodynamic
properties of the saturated ammonia–water solutions has W p ¼ ðP c  P a Þ  ðvc  mr Þ=gp ð17Þ
been developed based on the correlations of Patek and h17 ¼ h1 þ ðW p =mr Þ ð18Þ
Klomfar [14]. The relation between the saturation pressure,
Energy balances for the condenser yield
solution temperature and ammonia concentration of the
ammonia–water mixture can also be obtained [15]. The Qc ¼ m7  ðh7  h8 Þ ð19Þ
input parameters to the simulation program are the con- The compression of refrigerant vapour is assumed a poly-
centration of the refrigerant leaving the rectifier, degassing tropic process. So the compression work can then be calcu-
ratio, temperatures of condenser, evaporator and genera- lated as
tor, compressor parameters, efficiency of the pump and
the effectiveness of the heat exchanger. For a given degas- CW ¼ mr  ðP e  vr  nÞ=ðgv  ðn  1ÞÞ
sing range and absorber pressure, the simulation program ðn1Þ=n
 ½ðP a =P e Þ  1 ð20Þ
is capable of determining the rate of heat that has to be
added or rejected from each component of the cycle as well The volumetric efficiency can be expressed as
as the COP at different generator temperatures. In the fol- 1=n
gv ¼ 1 þ k  kðP a =P e Þ ð21Þ
lowing section, equations based on the mass, energy and
concentration balance of each component of the cycle is The coefficient of performance of cycle is (COP)
presented. For the desorber, the mass and energy balances COP ¼ Qe =ðQg þ W p þ CWÞ ð22Þ
yield:
m2 þ m6 ¼ m5 þ m3 ð1Þ 4. Validation of the model
m2 h2 þ m6 h6 þ Qgt ¼ m5 h5 þ m3 h3 ð2Þ
To validate the simulation model, the results and the
For the GAX desorber, the mass and energy balances yield:
parameter profiles are compared with the simulation work
m2 þ m6 þ m14V ¼ m5 þ m14L ð3Þ presented in the literature [13]. From Fig. 5, it can be seen
m2 h2 þ m6 h6 þ m14V h14V þ Qrq ¼ m5 h5 þ m14L h14L ð4Þ that at constant desorber and evaporator pressures (1790.3
and 516.87 kPa, respectively), the generator heat supply
For the absorber, the mass and energy balances yield: shows a fast decreasing trend, and the compressor work
m1 ¼ m15 þ m4 ð5Þ shows a gradually increasing trend with absorber pressure
m1 h1 þ m2 h2 þ Qat ¼ m15 h15 þ m4 h4 þ m17 h17 ð6Þ and, hence, cause an increase in the value of COP with
increasing absorber pressure. Kang et al. [13] showed that
For the GAX absorber, the mass and energy balances yield at constant desorber and evaporator pressures (1900 and
m13L ¼ m13V þ m4 ð7Þ 460 kPa, respectively), the cooling COP of the hybrid
GAX system increases with increasing absorber pressure.
m13L h13L þ Qav ¼ m13V h13V þ m4 h4 ð8Þ Thus, it is proved that the simulated COP profiles in this
The mass flow rate of refrigerant is calculated as work match well with the COP profiles obtained from the
OSU-ABSIM simulation work. Though the previous work
mr ¼ ðV p  gv Þ=vr ð9Þ claims that the COP increase that could be achieved is 24%
higher than the standard GAX cycle, the present study pre-
The evaporator heat load is calculated as
dicts it as about 30% higher than the standard GAX cycle.
Qe ¼ mr  ðh11  h10 Þ ð10Þ This difference is mainly due to the number of idealized
2608 A. Ramesh Kumar, M. Udayakumar / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610

assumptions made in the model. Further, the simulation 1.8

Tc = 40 oC Te = 5 oC Pa = 916.87 kPa
model for the conventional GAX cycle also is compared
1.7
with the simulation work presented in literature [16]. For
a given set of input parameters (Tg = 163.3 °C, Tc = Tg = 170 oC
1.6
Tg = 160 oC
40 °C, Ta = 40 °C, Te = 5 °C, Pa = 1548.0 kPa, Pe =
1.5 Tg = 150 oC
478.4 kPa and n = 0.35), the simulation of Ref. [16] pre-
Tg = 140 oC
dicts the COP value of 1.10, and the present simulation 1.4
model for the conventional GAX cycle predicts the COP

COP
value as 1.08. The heat duties of the components are also 1.3

compared and excellent agreement is obtained. 1.2

Tg = 110 oC
5. Results and discussion 1.1 Tg = 120 oC

1.0 Tg = 130 oC
The coefficient of performance is the ratio between the
cooling capacity of the refrigeration system to the heat load 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
added to the generator and power supplied to the pump DEGASING RANGE

and compressor. The mathematical expression is given by Fig. 3. Variation of COP with various generator temperatures.
Eq. (22). Fig. 2 shows the COP variation as a function of
the degasing range for various generator temperatures. 4.5 o o
Tc = 40 C Te = 5 C Pa = 916.87 kPa
The pressures of the desorber, evaporator and absorber
are kept constant as 1555.18 kPa, 516.87 kPa and 4.0
Tg = 170 oC
716.87 kPa, respectively. The degassing range at which
Tg = 160 oC
the COP attains maximum value for each generator tem- 3.5
CIRCULATION RATIO

Tg = 150 oC
perature is denoted as the optimum degassing range.
3.0
Fig. 3 represents the COP variation at higher absorber Tg = 140 oC

pressure (916.87 kPa) keeping all the other parameters con- Tg = 130 oC
2.5
stant. It can be deduced from Figs. 2 and 3 that increasing
the absorber pressure increases the COP for each degassing
2.0 Tg = 120 oC
range, and the higher COP value occurs in the lower degas-
sing range. Along the studied range of absorber pressure Tg = 110 oC
1.5
and evaporator temperature, the optimum degassing range
varies in the amount of ±0.05 about the mean value of 0.4. 1.0
This result is most significant in the context of designing 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65
and running the system. DEGASING RANGE
The circulation ratio is defined as the mass flow rate of Fig. 4. Variation of circulation ratio with various generator temperatures.
the strong solution required to be circulated in the solution
loop in order to circulate a unit mass flow rate in the refrig- Eq. (11). The degassing range affects the value of circulation
erant loop. The mathematical expression is given in ratio. As shown in Fig. 4, at the minimum value of degas-
sing range, the circulation ratio starts with a large value. At
a generator temperature of 110 °C, 0.03826 kg/s of strong
1.50
Tc = 40 oC Te = 5 oC Pa = 716.87 kPa solution is circulated in order to evolve 0.01175 kg/s of
1.45
refrigerant vapour. With rising degassing range, the con-
1.40 Tg = 170 oC
centration of the strong solution increases and the circula-
1.35 Tg = 160 oC
Tg = 150 oC
tion ratio decreases. When Tg increases, the weak solution
1.30
1.25
Tg = 140 oC concentration decreases. At constant degassing range, this
1.20
leads to a decrease in the strong solution concentration.
Further, it increases the absorber temperature. In order
COP

1.15
1.10 to maintain the refrigerant flow rate constant, the mass
1.05 flow rate of the strong solution is to be increased. However,
1.00 Tg = 110 oC the circulation ratio increases with the strong solution flow
Tg = 120 oC
0.95 rate for a constant refrigerant flow rate.
0.90 Tg = 130 oC Increasing the absorber pressure at constant degassing
0.85 range increases the absorber temperature. This increases
0.80 the temperature glide in the absorber and desorber heat
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65
exchangers, resulting in the rise of heat availability in the
DEGASING RANGE
absorber and the heat required in the desorber as shown
Fig. 2. Variation of COP with various generator temperatures. in Fig. 5.
 A. Ramesh Kumar, M. Udayakumar / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610 2609

Qrq Qrq Hybrid Pa = 916.87 kPa Qrq conventional Pa = 516.87 kPa

21
Tg = 150 oC Tc = 45 oC Te = 5 oC Qav Hybrid Pa = 916.87 kPa Qav conventional Pa = 516.87 kPa
18 20
19 Tg = 150 oC Tc = 40 oC Te= 5 oC
16
18
Qav
14 17
16
HEAT DUTY (kW)

12
15

HEAT DUTY (kW)

Qe Qc
10 14
13
8
12
Pe = 516.87 kPa
6 Qa 11
Pc = 1790.3 kPa
10
4 Qg
9
2 CW
8
7
0
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 6
ABSORBER PRESSURE (kPa) 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60
DEGASING RANGE
Fig. 5. Variation of heat duty with various absorber pressures.
Fig. 6. Variation of heat duty with various degassing ranges.

The heat availability is the rate of heat supplied to gen- 1.6

Tg = 150 oC Tc = 40 oC Te = 5 oC
erate the refrigerant vapour in the GAX desorber from the
1.5
GAX absorber. The mathematical expression is given in
Eq. (8). The heat required is the rate of heat needed to gen- 1.4

erate the refrigerant vapour in the GAX desorber. The 1.3

mathematical expression is given in Eq. (4). The increases
1.2
of mass flow rate at state point 13v results in the increases
of heat availability in the absorber, and the decreases of 1.1
COP

mass flow rate at state point 14v results in the increases 1.0
of heat required in the desorber. The rate of the incre- 0.9
ment of heat availability is higher than the rate of the incre- Hybrid GAX, Pa = 916.87 kPa
0.8
ment of heat requirement, causing the COP of the hybrid Conventional GAX, Pa = 516.87 kPa
cycle to be high. Although the compression work required 0.7

to run the compressor increases with absorber pressure, the 0.6

internal heat recovered by the GAX cycle subdues the com-
pressor effect, and the COP increases. The absorber pres-
sure increment reduces the mass flow rate of refrigerant
and, in turn, causes the reduction of evaporator capacity.
This can also be deduced from Fig. 5. Within the assumed
range of absorber pressure, the mass flow rate of refriger-
ant varies from 0.01116 kg/s to 0.01194 kg/s.
The dependence of Qav and Qrq on the degassing ranges
for the conventional and hybrid GAX cycles are shown in
Fig. 6. It can be seen that at constant refrigerant flow rate,
the Qav value in the hybrid GAX is 8.9 kW higher than that
in the conventional GAX when the degassing range is 0.2.
Despite the fact that Qrq also increases correspondingly,
the total heat requirement in the generator (Eq. (4)) is
the same for both the cycles. This results in the low COP
in the conventional GAX cycle. If the concentration of
X13L is less than the weak solution concentration, the mass
flow rate of X13L becomes zero. It decides the lower degas-
sing range in the cycle.
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60
DEGASING RANGE
Fig. 7. Variation of COP with various degassing ranges.
Fig. 7 compares the influence of the degassing range on
the COP for the conventional and hybrid GAX absorption
cycles. Approximately 30% of the average increment in
COP occurs within the degasing range of 0.2–0.55. It is also
shown in Fig. 7 that the COP of the hybrid GAX starts
decreasing when the degassing ratio crosses the value 0.4.
It may be referred to the fact that the required mass flow
rate at state point 13v in the cycle initially increases and
then decrease with the rise of degassing range, and it, in
turn, decreases the heat availability. Further, as shown in
Table 1, the rate of decrease in mass flow rate is much
higher at the higher degassing range. These two effects
decrease the COP of the hybrid cycle at higher degassing
ranges. In the conventional GAX cycle, the value of COP
of 1.1492 is attained in the degassing range of 0.45. In

Table 1
Variation of mass flow rate at state point 13v with degassing range (Tg = 150 °C, Tc = 40 °C, Te = 5 °C, Pa = 916.87 kPa)
n 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55
m13V 0.0054 0.00603 0.00605 0.00603 0.00586 0.00554 0.0052 0.00458
2610 A. Ramesh Kumar, M. Udayakumar / Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 2604–2610
21 Tg = 150 oC Tc = 40 oC Te = 5 oC
20
19
18
17
16
HEAT DUTY (kW)
15
14
13
12
11
10
9 The author thanks K.E. Herold, R. Radermacher and
8
7
6
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35
DEGASING RANGE
Fig. 8. Variation of heat duty with various degassing ranges.
the hybrid cycle, almost the same COP of 1.143 is attained
in the much lower degassing range of 0.2, which is a signif-
icant factor of the hybrid GAX absorption cycle.
Fig. 8 presents the absorber and generator heat duty on
the degassing range for the conventional and hybrid GAX
absorption cycles. The rate of heat rejection in the absorber
and the rate of heat supplied to the generator in the conven-
tional GAX cycle is high when compared with the hybrid
GAX cycle at all degassing ranges. From Fig. 8, it can also
be deduced that the higher rate of rejection in the absorber
at the higher degassing range causes the reduction in COP
in the hybrid cycle. It obviously decides the higher operating
degassing range of the hybrid GAX absorption cycle.
For the assumed conditions of n = 0.3, Tc = 40 °C,
Te = 5 °C, Tg = 110 °C, Pa = 516.87 kPa, the conventional
GAX cycle, which is unrealizable, can be accomplished by
the hybrid GAX cycle by increasing the absorber pressure.
This particular result makes the hybrid cycle suitable for
utilizing renewable and waste heat energy sources.
6. Conclusions
A hybrid GAX cycle for an aqua ammonia absorption
air conditioning system has been introduced and theoreti-
cally analyzed, and the results are validated with published
work. From the obtained theoretical results, the following
conclusions are made:
1. Within the studied range of absorber pressure and gen-
erator temperature the maximum COP occurs at the
mean value of the optimum degassing ratio of 0.4 with
the variation of 0.05.
2. The COP increases with absorber pressure and generator
temperature and initially increases then decreases with
the degassing range. At the chosen operating parameters,
a 30% increase in COP occurs in the hybrid GAX cycle.
3. The circulation ratio changes inversely with the degas-
sing range. At constant degassing range, increasing the
Qg Conventional GAX, Pa = 516.87 kPa generator temperature increases the circulation ratio,
Qa Conventional GAX, Pa = 516.87 kPa and increasing the absorber pressure has no effect on
Qg Hybrid GAX, Pa = 916.87 kPa
the circulation ratio.
Qa Hybrid GAX, Pa = 916.87 kPa
4. The required COP can be attained in lower degassing
ranges in the hybrid cycle, and it can operate success-
fully utilizing low temperature energy sources.
Acknowledgements
S.A. Klein, the authors of the book ’Absorption Chillers
and Heat Pumps’ (CRC Press) for their kindness in supply-
0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 ing published papers and program relating to GAX
absorption technology.
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