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Absorption cooling systems – Review of various techniques for energy

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Alexandria Engineering Journal (2020) 59, 707–738

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

[Link]/locate/aej
[Link]

REVIEW

Absorption cooling systems – Review of various

techniques for energy performance enhancement
Rasoul Nikbakhti a,*, Xiaolin Wang a, Ahmed Kadhim Hussein b, Aghil Iranmanesh c

a
School of Engineering, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Babylon, Babylon City, Hilla, Iraq
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Jiroft, Jiroft, Iran

Received 31 December 2018; revised 23 September 2019; accepted 19 January 2020

KEYWORDS Abstract Absorption refrigeration technology was introduced to address some serious issues such
Absorption cooling system; as the energy crisis, increased fuel prices, and environmental problems associated with the conven-
Energy performance; tional compression refrigeration systems. It has attracted an increasing deal of interest thanks to
Low-grade heat sources; such advantages as utilization of low-grade heat sources and environment-friendly working fluid
Different cycles; pairs. Nevertheless, this technology suffers from two major obstacles including the usually too large
Heat recovery; size of the cooling unit and the low coefficient of performance (COP), preventing the absorption
Working fluid pair systems from being commercially successful. Numerous research works have been done to develop
strategies in order to improve the COP of the absorption systems, so as to make the absorption
refrigeration technology more competitive with the conventional compression refrigeration systems.
In this paper, it is intended to conduct a literature review on various technologies implemented to
improve the COP of absorption refrigeration systems. Among effective and promising workarounds
for increasing the COP of absorption refrigeration systems, this work refers to cycle design improve-
ment, heat recovery method, development of new working pairs, adding sub-components, and
improvement of operating conditions.
Ó 2020 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ([Link]

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
2. Absorption technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
3. Improvement of absorption systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
3.1. Development of cycle design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
3.1.1. Single-effect and Single-effect double-lift cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
* Corresponding author at: School of Engineering and ICT, Univer-
sity of Tasmania Private Bag 65, Hobart Tasmania 7001, Australia.
E-mail address: [Link]@[Link] (R. Nikbakhti).
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University.
[Link]
1110-0168 Ó 2020 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ([Link]
708 R. Nikbakhti et al.

3.1.2. Double-effect cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

3.1.3. Multi-effect and multi-stage cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712
3.2. Absorption heat recovery cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716
3.2.1. Basic GAX cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
3.2.2. Branched GAX cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
3.2.3. Absorber heat recovery cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
3.2.4. Other advanced heat recovery cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
4. Improvement of absorption structures and mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
4.1. Operating fluid pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
4.2. Combined systems (Added components and sub-components). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
4.2.1. Refrigerant and solution heat exchangers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
4.2.2. Flash tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726
4.2.3. Distillation column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726
4.2.4. Ejector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727
4.2.5. Compressor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728
5. Improvement of operating conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
6. Current and future aspects of developments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
7. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
Declaration of Competing Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734

1. Introduction the European Commission (EC) adopted a resolution to pro-

hibit all HCFCs by 2015 [7,8]. Average global temperature
Over the past decades, there has been substantial growth in the has increased by 0.6 K since the beginning of the present cen-
demand for cooling, refrigeration, and air conditioning devices tury, based on a report by an institute on climate change, and
to fulfill various engineering and comfort requirements. it is expected to rise by 1.4–4.5 K by 2100 if the current trend
According to the International Institute of Refrigeration continues [9].
(IIR), conventional vapor compression refrigeration systems Considering the environmental problems caused by conven-
(VCRS) consume some one-fifth of all the electricity generated tional VCRSs, an alternative green technology to replace the
worldwide. The consumption rate is anticipated to rise to half conventional refrigeration systems is highly demanded. The
of the rate consumed by domestic buildings and commercial emergence of novel refrigeration technologies has been realized
centers over the few coming years. [1]. The dramatic rise in upon the research on the use of waste heat and renewable ener-
energy consumption for such applications has exerted intense gies. These technologies not only attenuate the greenhouse
pressure on conventional energy sources so that the end of fos- effect but also preserve other sources of energy. Among others,
sil fuels will come soon unless appropriate actions are taken these technologies suggest alternative working fluids that
immediately. Furthermore, the increasing demand for energy impose neither any damage to the ozone layer nor any contri-
has risen the prices, emphasizing the need for increasing the bution to global warming.
supply of energy by either exploring new sources of energy
or saving the existing sources of energy through reducing the 2. Absorption technology
energy consumption rate. The exploitation of renewable ener-
gies (e.g. the waste heat produced through industrial processes Among similar technologies, the absorption refrigeration sys-
and wind and solar energies) to operate refrigeration systems tem offers a highly promising alternative to conventional
has become an increasingly interesting field of research in VCRSs and has hence attracted many researchers during the
recent years thanks to their sustainable yet abundant availabil- recent past. The absorption refrigeration system is defined as
ity [2–5]. a thermally driven refrigeration technology for exploiting the
The enormous amount of energy consumed to power the heat from low-grade energy sources for cooling purposes.
compressors in the conventional VCRSs produces large vol- As shown in Fig. 1, an absorption system consists of four
umes of greenhouse gases, contributing to many environmen- main components, namely the generator, the condenser, the
tal issues. In addition, conventional refrigerants (e.g. evaporator, and the absorber. Instead of using a compressor,
hydrocarbons (HCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)) the system uses an absorber to rise and carry the weak coolant
for conventional VCRSs are known to contribute to ozone through a pump when the heat is supplied to the generator. In
depletion and global warming. The international community the evaporator, the refrigerant is vaporized upon absorbing the
has made significant efforts to protect the ozone layer and heat for the sake of cooling. The vapor is then absorbed by the
the ecological environment, including the restriction of the weak solution that is actively cooled in the absorber. Next, the
use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and HCFCs under the diluted solution is pumped to the generator where the refriger-
two important protocols adopted in 1987 (Montreal) and ant vapor is thermally desorbed from the solution and dis-
1997 (Kyoto). Despite these efforts, the hole in the ozone layer patched to the condenser where it is condensed. Thereafter,
has expanded from about 24,000,000 km2 in 1994 to some the liquid refrigerant phase expands to a lower pressure
28,300,000 km2, according to NASA [6]. In October 2000, through an expansion valve and flows back to the evaporator
Absorption cooling systems 709

Fig. 1 (a) Absorption refrigeration machine (b) General schematic of absorption system.

to make up the evaporator refrigerant. At the same time, the Despite their benefits, the absorption refrigeration systems
strong solution is throttled back to the absorber through a heat still suffer from a relatively low energy performance in com-
exchanger to absorb the refrigerant vapor coming from the parison with the conventional VCRSs. Fig. 2 presents the main
evaporator; this cycle is repeated during the process. advantages and disadvantages of the absorption refrigeration
According to Henning, absorption refrigeration systems are technology. In order to overcome the serious challenges and
responsible for almost 60% of all installed thermally driven promote the application of the absorption technology, many
refrigeration systems in Europe [10]. works with different focuses have been represented to enhance
The following list presents several advantages of absorption the coefficient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity
refrigeration systems: (CC).
Coefficient of performance which is adopted to evaluate the
i. Absorption refrigeration systems can be thermally dri- efficiency of absorption cooling system is defined as follow:
ven by low-grade heat sources (e.g., engine exhaust)
quantity of cooling power produced in the system
and renewable sources of energy (e.g., solar energy). COP ¼
This makes the system very effective in the reduction quantity of heat applied to operate the system
of CO2 emission and very promising in saving energy; A number of review papers on the absorption cooling tech-
ii. Absorption refrigeration systems work based on nologies can be found in the literature, with each review paper
environment-friendly refrigerants such as water, mini- focusing on one or more specific aspects of the absorption
mizing their impact on the ozone layer and global technology, keeping the literature lacking a comprehensive
warming; review presenting all developments related to this technology.
iii. Absorption refrigeration systems operate quietly as The present work is an attempt to present such a comprehen-
those have almost no high-speed moving parts. This also sive review. We present nearly all effective techniques and
makes their maintenance cheap and easy; strategies applied to improve the COP and CC for absorption
iv. Absorption refrigeration systems offer heat recovery cooling systems (Fig. 3). The improvements in absorption tech-
from virtually any system; nology are herein classified into three main parts, with each
v. With an absorption refrigeration system, there is no part discussed in some sub-sections. In the first part, all
cycling loss during on-off operation during which the advanced absorption cycles proposed for improving the system
conventional VCRSs are known to produce lots of waste performance are described in detail. This part is divided into
heat; and two sub-sections to cover the effective cycles in terms of
vi. Absorption refrigeration systems are very durable with advanced cycle design and heat recovery cycles. The second
expected lifetimes of 20–30 years. part focuses on the improvement of absorption structures

Fig. 2 Main advantages and disadvantages of absorption refrigeration technology.

710 R. Nikbakhti et al.

Fig. 3 Main approaches for improving the energy performance for absorption system.

Fig. 4 Schematic of single-effect absorption refrigeration Fig. 5 Schematic of single-effect double-lift absorption refriger-
system. ation system.

single-effect double-lift absorption cycle was proposed

and mechanism. The effects of different working fluid pairs
(Fig. 5) to run the system with lower heat energy than that
and addition of sub-components on the system performance
needed for driving a single-effect absorption system at perfor-
are studied in this part. Finally, effects of various design and
mance levels comparable to that of the single-effect cycle.
operating parameters on the efficiency in absorption technol-
The single-effect double-lift absorption cycle was, indeed,
ogy are investigated in the third part (see Fig. 4).
an integration of a basic single-effect system with a double-
lift mechanism that could work with low-grade heat sources
3. Improvement of absorption systems
at down to 55 °C [14,15]. As a result, a single-effect double-
lift system can serve as a single-effect system for working with
3.1. Development of cycle design low-grade heat sources (e.g., solar and geothermal energies).
As another advantage of a single-effect double-lift system, lar-
3.1.1. Single-effect and Single-effect double-lift cycles ger cooling capacities can be obtained from a given heat source
The simplest configuration of an absorption refrigeration sys- using such systems, as compared to a single-effect absorption
tem is a single-effect cycle. Numerous analytical, numerical system. Schweigler et al. [16] disclosed a single-effect double-
and experimental investigations have been performed to ana- lift absorption cooling system with an energy performance
lyze the efficiency of single-effect absorption systems with dif- changing between 0.35 and 0.7. The obtained performance
ferent working fluid pairs under a variety of operating was slightly higher than the basic single-effect absorption
conditions [11–13]. Different effective strategies have been cycle. Moreover, the cycle was able to be operated by low-
adopted to increase the energy performance of single-effect grade thermal energy like the geothermal and solar energy.
absorption systems; these include optimizing the operating A single-effect double-lift absorption cycle driven by solar
conditions and selecting novel working fluid pairs with better energy was then analysed by Yattara et al. [17]. Upon incorpo-
thermodynamic properties than the conventional working rating a double-lift mechanism into the single-effect process,
pairs. Nevertheless, COP of the single-effect absorption refrig- smaller heat exchanger area could be used to produce 2.5–
eration systems is still less than enough. 18% higher performance. Recently, an air-cooled double-lift
The energy efficiency of a single-effect absorption cycle cycle using NH3-H2O solution was investigated numerically
drops significantly when less than enough heat energy is avail- [18] and experimentally [19]. The system achieved a perfor-
able to operate the machine. In order to address this issue, mance improvement of 0.34 with hot water at 85 °C, cooling
Absorption cooling systems 711

air at 35 °C, and evaporation temperature of 10 °C. Yan et al. condenser and absorber temperatures or increasing the effi-
[20] presented an advanced single-effect double-lift absorption ciency of the evaporator and solution heat exchanger.
cycle. The proposed system provided a performance level Domı́nguez-Inzunza and his colleagues performed a perfor-
higher than that of a single-effect cycle but still lower than that mance comparison of various layouts of absorption cooling
of a double-lift cycle. It was also observed that the amount of systems employing NH3-LiNO3 [27] and H2O-liBr [28] solu-
heat consumed to run this cycle was considerably smaller than tions. The results further showed that the half-effect cycle
that was necessary for operating the single-effect cycle. Alejan- could operate at the lowest generator temperature, leading to
dro et al. [21] investigated a single-stage LiBr absorption chil- the lowest evaporation temperature. Furthermore, the double
ler driven by low-grade heat source temperatures. The authors effect cycle was the most effective configuration based on the
established an optimal control technique in their work and energy efficiency. Ventas et al. [29] analysed a two-stage
managed to improve the system COP considerably. In addi- NH3-Li3N double-effect absorption cycle. The results revealed
tion, the energy consumption and the operational cost of the higher performance of the cycle compared to a typical parallel
absorption refrigeration system were also reduced. Lopez flow double-effect cycle with the same working fluid pair under
Zavala et al. [22] developed a novel LiBr/H2O absorption cool- the same operating conditions. The maximum COP was
ing and desalination system operated by solar thermal energy achieved 1.25 when a heat source of 100 °C temperature was
and using seawater as a cooling medium with three different applied in the generator. In another investigation, Lubis
pressure levels. The proposed cycle designed in such a way that et al. [30] combined the single-effect and the double-effect con-
led to an increase in the cooling and desalination performance. figurations in one united single-double-effect absorption chiller
The results revealed that the efficiency enhanced by 19.4% in to compensate the unpredictable availability of solar radiation
comparison with a conventional single-effect absorption and cooling load fluctuations. It was found that the perfor-
system. mance of the double-effect configuration enhanced signifi-
cantly by designing the integrated single-double-effect system.
3.1.2. Double-effect cycle Other than the low energy performance, crystallization and
Many efforts have been made to make absorption systems corrosion are the other critical problems encountered in the
more competitive with conventional VCRSs. Due to the rela- designing and analysis of a double-effect absorption refrigera-
tively low performance of the single-effect absorption systems, tion system. Two significant factors such as the heat transfer
the double-effect systems were proposed for higher perfor- area and crystallization affecting the design process of a
mance [23,24]. In such systems, the generator temperature is double-effect absorption chiller were examined by Xu and
higher than that required for operating a single-effect system. his colleagues [31,32]. The results indicated, with decreasing
A comparative investigation between a single-effect system the solution circulation ratio and/or increasing the heat-
and a double-effect refrigeration system was conducted by recovery ratio, the overall performance and crystallization of
Gomri [25]. The results indicated that the performance of the the system improve while the total heat-transfer area decreases.
double-effect cycle was double that of the single-effect cycle. Garousi Farshi et al. [33] performed a numerical investigation
Arora and Kaushik [26] developed a computational model to to examine the influences of working parameters on crystalliza-
evaluate the efficiency of a single-effect system and a double- tion problem in three different configurations of double effect
effect system in series flow scheme using H2O-liBr solution. H2O-LiBr absorption refrigeration systems. It was concluded
The effects of operating conditions including the absorption, that the parallel and the reverse parallel figures could operate
generation, condensation, and evaporation temperatures were with a wider range of working conditions without crystalliza-
analysed on the systems efficiency. The results showed that the tion risks compared to the series flow scheme. Han et al. [34]
efficiency of the double-effect system improved by relatively performed a theoretical investigation of dual-heat mode work
60–70% as compared to the single-effect system. In addition, of double-effect absorption refrigeration system employing
the highest COP was obtained at minimal generator tempera- LiBr-H2O solution in parallel flow configuration. They anal-
ture; this could be achieved through either cutting down the ysed various operating conditions to prevent the crystallization

Fig. 6 Schematic of double-effect absorption refrigeration system in (a) series flow scheme and (b) parallel flow scheme.
712 R. Nikbakhti et al.

Fig. 7 COP changes for parallel and series cycles versus heat source temperature (Reprinted from Chahartaghi et al. [41], with
permission from publisher).

in the system. More recently, Li and Liu [35] carried out a sim- of various parameters like component temperatures and circu-
ulation study to analyse the right heat load ratio for the gener- lation ratio on the performance of a double-effect absorption
ator in the double–effect absorption refrigeration system with cooling system in two flow types, named series and parallel
a solution of LiBr-H2O as an important factor that affected flow. The system demonstrated a greater performance for the
considerably the improvement of the system performance parallel flow cycle as compared to the series flow. Chahartaghi
and the reduction of crystallization risk. et al. [41] proposed a novel double-effect absorption chiller
For double-effect absorption refrigeration cycles, two main with an additional heat recovery heat exchanger using LiBr-
circulation methods for strong and weak solutions can be H2O working pair. Two flow arrangements including the series
defined as: the series flow mode and the parallel flow mode along with the parallel flow schemes were studied. The results
demonstrated in Fig. 6. Grossman et al. [36] drew a compara- revealed that the series configuration provided the greater COP
tive investigation between different kinds of flow scheme, par- rather than the parallel cycle at inlet vapor temperature to the
allel and series, in a double-effect absorption cycle applying a high temperature generator below 150 °C. In contrast, the par-
mixture of LiBr-H2O to examine the influence of the two allel scheme was accounted for producing higher performance
schemes of flow on system performance. The results revealed than the series scheme for heat source temperature higher than
that the system showed greater performance in parallel flow 150 °C. In another study, Konwar et al. [42] investigated a
mode as compared to the two types of series flow modes. double-effect absorption system employing two different
Moreover, the operating conditions occurred far removed working fluids including H2O-LiBr and H2O-LiCl with two
from the crystallization line of LiBr-H2O solution in the paral- flow arrangements of series and parallel. They used genetic
lel type of flow (see Fig. 7). algorithm to find the optimal combinations of high-pressure
A novel high-efficiency water/lithium bromide double effect generator (HPG) and low-pressure generator (LPG) tempera-
absorption system exploiting some heat sources including hot tures for the series scheme along with the optimal distribution
water and high temperature steam for tri-generation applica- ratio (DR) for the parallel mode. The results indicated that the
tion was developed by Yang et al. [37]. Five different flow pat- optimal combinations of HPG and LPG for the H2O-LiCl was
terns including series, reverse, parallel, revised series and lower than that for the H2O-LiBr. However, the optimal DR
revised reverse were simulated. The efficiencies of the systems was found greater for water-LiCl than that for water-LiBr.
were compared based on the order of the generators and the In addition, the mixture of H2O-LiBr showed higher optimum
number and place of the additional heat exchangers. Gener- COPs for both flow configurations comparing to the H2O-
ally, the results indicated that the COPs of revised serial and LiCl.
revised reverse configurations were higher than those of serial
and reverse cycles. Furthermore, it was found that the parallel
3.1.3. Multi-effect and multi-stage cycles
cycle was still superior to other systems from a COP point of
view. In addition, the authors reported that the heat source Multi-effect absorption refrigeration cycles, especially the
ratio played a significant role in the selection of the best cycle triple-effect absorption cycle, were developed to recover more
in terms of the efficiency. In this aspect, the revised reverse was energy and hence enhance the system efficiency, although those
the most suitable cycle when the heat source ratio was<0.7 needed higher heat source temperature compared to a double-
while the highest COP was obtained for the parallel cycle when effect absorption system. A schematic of a triple-effect absorp-
heat source ratio was more than 0.7. Garousi Farshi et al. [38] tion cycle has been illustrated in Fig. 8 (see Fig. 9).
carried out a comparative investigation to analyse the effi- In comparison to the double effect cycle, there are an addi-
ciency of double-effect absorption refrigeration system tional high-temperature generator as well as a condenser in the
employing a solution of lithium bromide and water. Three con- triple effect cycle so that the cycle consists of three generators
figurations including parallel, reverse parallel and series were and three condensers. Therefore, this cycle design provides a
examined. It was found that the system in the parallel flow lay- better energy recovery leading to an improvement in the sys-
out had the highest performance among the other flow types. tem efficiency. DeVault and Marsala [43] executed an investi-
Arun [39,40] conducted an investigation to examine the impact gation of a triple-effect ammonia–water absorption
Absorption cooling systems 713

Fig. 8 Schematic of triple-effect absorption refrigeration system.

Fig. 9 Variation of COP for single effect, double effect and triple effect cooling absorption systems (Reprinted from Gomri [50], with
permission from publisher).

refrigeration system and they found that the efficiency of the as compared to the double effect cycle. However, the triple-
system increased by 1.41, 18% greater than that of double effect cycle needs to be driven by higher heat source
effect cycle. In another investigation, Erickson and Tang [44] temperature.
studied the triple effect absorption cycle and it was observed The initial simplest LiBr-H2O triple-effect cycle comprising
that the performance of the triple effect cycle enhanced by half three generators and three condensers studied by Oouchi et al.
714 R. Nikbakhti et al.

[45]. Double condenser coupled was another sort of triple tion refrigeration systems including half, single, double, and
effect cycle which had an additional heat exchanger as com- triple-effect to examine the impact of various working condi-
pared to the first one [46]. This layout enhanced the system effi- tions on the systems performance. The results demonstrated
ciency compared to 3-condenser 3-desorber system. In their that COP experienced an increase from the half effect to the
system, pre-cooled condensate caused producing further cool- triple-effect absorption refrigeration systems. Furthermore,
ing effect and supplying more heat to the lowest desorber led increment in the generator temperature resulted in rising the
to a higher production of refrigerant vapour in the system. A COP of all cycles.
triple-effect absorption chiller comprising a double-condenser Recently, Alvarez et al. [52] simulated a novel triple-effect
coupled cycle with a COP of 1.4 was developed by Devault absorption refrigeration system named ‘‘Alkitrate topping
and Biermann [47]. Grossman et al. [48] executed a numerical cycle” using aqueous solution of (Li, K, Na) with NO3. It
work to analyse the performance of a triple-effect absorption was revealed from the results that the performance of Alkitrate
system with LiBr-water solution for different configurations triple-effect cycle was slightly higher than that of the conven-
including serial and parallel configurations as well as these flow tional triple-effect cycle with H2O-LiBr solution when the gen-
types with condensed heat recovery. The results revealed that erators temperatures exceeded 180 °C. In addition, the
the COP increased from 1.35 to 1.62 for the parallel scheme proposed cycle did not suffer from some serious problems such
and it experienced an increase from 1.27 to 1.48 for the series as high corrosiveness that occurred at high temperatures
scheme when the heat recovery method was adopted in the sys- associated with the conventional triple-effect cycles using
tem. Kaita [49] examined the effect of different flow configura- LiBr-H2O working pair. Li et al. [53] presented a triple-effect
tions including parallel flow, series flow, and reserve flow on absorption cooling system employing three kinds of reactive
the efficiency of a triple stage Li-Br-H2O absorption refrigera- salts and ammonia solutions as working pairs with internal
tion system. He concluded that the triple effect in parallel type heat recover to enhance the energy efficiency. The results dis-
had the highest COP. However, it should be noted that the use closed that it was possible for the proposed cycle to generate
of LiBr-H2O in the triple-effect absorption cooling system three cooling-effects per cycle with the same cost of a high-
might cause corrosion issues when higher heat temperature is grade heat source temperature. Consequently, higher cooling
applied in the generator. Many researchers performed compar- capacity obtained in contrast to the conventional sorption
ative investigations between the triple-effect absorption cycles refrigeration cycle. Wang et al. [54] designed a novel system
and other kinds of absorption cycles. Gomri [50] executed a where a heat recovery generator integrated with a triple-
simulation investigation of single-effect, double-effect and tri- effect LiBr-H2O absorption to enhance the system energy
ple effect absorption refrigeration cycles. He found that the effectiveness. The results revealed that the cycle COP enhanced
effectiveness of a double-effect cycle was roughly two times from 1.78 to 1.83 when the released exhaust temperature expe-
as large as that of a single-effect system, while a triple-effect rienced a decline from 246.9 °C to 126.4 °C. Lizarte and Mar-
cycle offered less than twice performance as that of a compa- cos [55] carried out a COP optimisation of a triple-effect
rable single-effect system. absorption chiller in parallel configuration using H2O-LiBr
Maryami and Dehghan [51] conducted a comparative when the heat source temperature was changeable. The results
investigation between five different types of H2O-LiBr absorp- obtained from this research was practical for optimising a

Fig. 10 COP comparison for different cycle design configurations.

 Absorption cooling systems
Table 1 Summary of some investigations on different types of absorption cycles.
Cycle type Working fluid Operating temps. (°C) COP Remarks Ref.
Single effect H2O-LiBr+ 26 < Ta < 60 0.6–0.96 Recommend working situations suitable for air cooled applications [11]
LiI+ 70 < Tg < 120 without crystallization problem
Li-NO3+ 26 < Tc < 60
LiCl 2 < Te < 5
Single effect H2O-LiBr 30 < Ta < 45 0.57–0.82 SHE had more influence on COP than RHE [12]
80 < Tg < 105
30 < Tc < 45
4 < Te < 10
Single effect H2O-LiBr 17 < Ta < 48 0.15–0.75 All assumptions and working parameters were declared and justified [13]
58.5 < Tg < 110
17 < Tc < 48
0 < Te < 30
Single effect Licl-H2O+ 31 < Ta < 37 0.12–0.38 The COP was greater in the proposed system compared to the [112]
LiBr-H2O 55 < Tg < 90 conventional LiBr-H2O system. The series mode was preferable sine the
31 < Tc < 37 system could be operated by low-grade heat source.
1 < Te < 11
Single effect double lift TFE-TEGDME+ 35 < Ta < 45 0.2–0.45 The system can be worked by low-grade thermal energy. The COP was [14]
MeOH-TEGDME+ 65 < Tg < 105 larger for both TFE-TEGDME and MeOH-TEGDME than for the
NH3 H2O Tc = 35 ammonia-water
-5 < Te < -10
Single effect H2O-LiBr 25 < Ta < 50 0.65–0.92 The greatest COP was obtained for the double effect and the half effect [28]
Half effect 55 < Tg < 165 0.32–0.45 required the lowest hot temperatures in generator (between 60 °C and
Double effect 25 < Tc < 50 1.1.-1.75 80 °C)
(Series mode) 2 < Te < 19
Single effect LiBr-H2O 25 < Ta < 45 0.65–0.75 The COP of the double effect raised by 60–70% compared to the single [26]
Double effect 120 < Tg < 150 1.15–1.3 effect
28 < Tc < 36
5 < Te < 10
Single-double-effect LiBr-H2O 27 < Ta < 32 1.8–2.1 The COP of the double-effect improved significantly by integrating [30]
70 < Tg < 95 single-double-effect cycle
27 < Tc < 32
7 < Te < 15
Double effect H2O-LiBr 30 < Ta < 45 1.17–1.42 The cop for the parallel mode was larger than that for the series mode [39]
(Series mode) 30 < Tc < 45 1.32–1.5
(Parallel mode) 2 < Te < 11
Double effect H2O-LiBr 33 < Ta < 42 0.9–1.3 Useful information was provided for the selection, design, and control [38]
107 < Tg < 207 of the double effect system in different modes
32 < Tc < 42
4 < Te < 10
Double effect LiBr-H2O 25 < Ta < 40 0.9–1.4 Design working situations were recommended for obtaining the [40]
(series mode) 85 < Tg < 170 maximum performance
30 < Tc < 45
2.5 < Te < 10
Double effect LiBr-H2O 20 < Ta < 35 0.3–1.2 The series mode provided the higher COP when Thw < 150°C but the [41]
(continued on next page)

715
716 R. Nikbakhti et al.

triple-effect absorption chiller thermally operated by solar

Ref.

[50]

[52]

[56]
energy.
Satager et al. [56,57] examined a triple effect cycle that com-
prised of a single absorption cycle and a double effect cycle.
Mixtures of NH3-NiCl2 and H2O-LiBr were adopted in the

The higher Te and the lower Tc are, the more effective the system will be
optimum generator temperature, in which the system COP reached the
single absorption cycle at high level of pressure and in the dou-

The proposed cycle was able to work efficiently at high temperature

greater COP was obtained in the parallel mode for Thw > 150°C.

For every evaporator and condenser temperatures, there was an ble effect cycle at low level of that, respectively. The results
indicated that the system COP was obtained 3.0 which was a
very high performance for a triple effect absorption cycle.
The quadruple-effect cycle was then proposed in order to pro-
vide higher performance than the triple effect cycle although
higher driving temperature was also needed. Various arrange-
ments of multi-effect absorption cycles such as the triple-effect
and the quadruple-effect were examined by DeVault et al. [43].
Grossman et al. [58] performed a simulation work to analyse
the performance of quadruple effect cycle. The results demon-
strated that the system COP varied between 2.0 and 2.2 when a
high heat source temperature at around 315 °C was exploited.
Ratlamwala et al. [59] proposed a novel integrated geothermal
quadruple-effect absorption system for co-generation of cool-
ing, power and liquefied hydrogen. The results indicated that
the system efficiency decreased as the temperature of heat
maximum value.

source increased. Moreover, a rise in the mass flow rate of

heat sources

working fluid caused a decrease in the COP, amounts of

Remarks

hydrogen gas pre-cooled and liquefied. A quintuple effect cycle

consisted of two sub-cycles [60] was then disclosed to provide
greater performance rather than other studied systems. How-
ever, like other multi-effect cycles, a high driving temperature
was needed for operating the system. DeVault and Biermann
0.73–0.79
1.22–1.42
1.62–1.90

1.05–2.13

[61] disclosed the seven-effect absorption cycle consisted of

0.6–1.19

three sub-cycles; the low-temperature sub-cycle with

COP

1.73

H2O-LiBr solution and the high-temperature and

intermediate-temperature sub-cycles using H2O-NaOH mix-
ture. The seven-effect system was the highest number effect
among different types of absorption cycles with a high COP
Operating temps. (°C)

ranged from 2.19 to 3.12.

Fig. 10 compares the COP between different absorption
130 < Tg < 200

142 < Tg < 227

60 < Tg < 225

Tc = 30, 35, 40
2.5 < Te < 10
33 < Ta < 39
20 < Tc < 35

33 < Tc < 39
10 < Te < 15

cycle designs to highlight the advantages and disadvantages

Te = 5, 8, 10
Tcooling = 30
Thot = 250

of various configurations. According to this figure, the COP

improves considerably with increasing the number of genera-
tors, with the highest COP achieved with the seven-effect cycle.
However, multi-effect cycles require very high heat source tem-
peratures (above 200 °C) to operate. In contrast, a single-effect
double-lift cycle is designed to operate at low-grade heat
source temperatures (6080 °C) but produces the lowest
COP at the same time. Among all of the studied arrangements,
the single-effect cycle is the simplest and the least expensive
Working fluid

Potassium+

system as it requires the minimum number of components to

Lithium+
H2O-LiBr

H2O-LiBr

operate. In addition, the system can operate even at moderate

sodium

generator temperatures (80100°C). In the double-effect and

triple-effect cycles, higher COPs can be achieved in parallel
mode rather than the series mode. Table 1 also provides a sum-
mary of some studies performed on various configurations of
absorption cycles designed to develop the system performance
‘‘Alkitrate topping cycle”

Triple effect parallel flow

(continued)

(see Fig 11).

3.2. Absorption heat recovery cycles

Double effect
Single effect

Triple effect

Triple effect
Cycle type

Absorption heat recovery provides a promising and effective

Table 1

approach to improving energy performance in the basic

absorption cycles. The recovered heat can then be used to heat
Absorption cooling systems 717

Fig. 11 A schematic diagram of simple GAX cycle.

Fig. 13 Variation of COP for GAX cycle and branched GAX
cycle (Reprinted from Herold et al. [76], with permission from
publisher).

temperature between absorber and generator. Vela ´zquez and

Best [67] carried out a thermodynamic examination of an
air-cooled GAX cycle operated by hybrid natural gas and solar
energy. It was observed that the COP for cooling application
was 1.96 when the recovery of heat was 16.9 Kw. Park et al.
[68] developed a novel multi-modes ammonia GAX absorption
cycle with simultaneous supply of hot and cooling water. The
influence of some major parameters including the outlet hot
water and the solution heat exchanger on the system perfor-
mance was investigated for three different modes where the
Fig. 12 Schematic diagram of branched GAX cycle (Reprinted first case illustrated the best energy performance in the system.
from Herold et al. [75], with permission from publisher). Saravanan et al. [69] conducted a performance study of a GAX
absorption refrigeration cycle where the cooling capacity was
chosen to be 40 TR. It was observed that the GAX system
the weak solution leaving the absorber. This, in turn, lowers experienced a noticeable rise of 30% in the efficiency in com-
the needed thermal load of the generator, enhancing the sys- parison to the single effect absorption system. Kang et al.
tem performance (see Fig 12). [70] executed an investigation of a GAX hybrid cycle in which,
a compressor located between the desorber and the condenser.
3.2.1. Basic GAX cycle In contrast to the standard absorption cycle, there was a signif-
Although a generator absorber heat exchanger (GAX) cycle icant reduction of 30 °C in desorption temperature as well as
represents a single-stage cycle, it provides for higher perfor- no change in the condensation pressure. Ramesh kumar and
mances than a standard single-effect cycle (see Fig 13). Udayakumar [71] performed a simulation investigation of
Hanna et al. [62] conducted a study to provide a description pressure ratio on low-pressure section of the generator–absor
of operating of a GAX cycle by a pinch-point analysis which is ber–exchange absorption compression cycle with NH3–H2O
a unique technique whereby the internal heat recovery is a sig- solution. In comparison with the conventional GAX cycle,
nificant feature of cycle design. The GAX has been analyzed the results revealed that there was a moderate enhancement
by many researchers owing to its merit of providing a higher of 26% in the COP of the proposed system under identical
performance compared to the basic absorption mechanism operating conditions. Mehr et al. [72] carried out a perfor-
under the same operating conditions. Priedeman and Chris- mance comparison between a conventional GAX absorption
tensen [63] conducted a simulation to examine and design a cycle and a hybrid GAX absorption cycle in which a compres-
basic GAX absorption cycle using NH3-H2O working fluid sor was applied to increase the pressure of absorber. They
pair. Zhang et al. [64] investigated a single-effect cycle and a found that the hybrid GAX cycle enjoyed from a higher per-
GAX cycle applying NH3-H2O solution. The results indicated formance tough its product cost was more expensive than
that the effectiveness of the GAX cycle improved by 32%. the basic GAX cycle. Dixit et al. [73] performed a comprehen-
Priedeman et al. [65] executed an experimental investigation sive analysis to study the COP of the aqua-ammonia GAX and
to analyse the impact of a GAX on the efficiency of an absorp- hybrid GAX absorption refrigeration cycles under different
tion cooling machine with 17.6 kW cooling capacity. The sys- working conditions. Observations indicated the maximum per-
tem performance obtained 0.68 under working conditions in formance of 0.7–1.1 and 1–1.88 for the GAX and hybrid GAX
which the evaporator, generator, condenser and temperatures cycles, respectively, at generator temperatures ranging from
were chosen 11.5 °C, 196 °C and 47.2 °C, respectively. Sub- 160 °C to 175 °C. In recent years, Du and Wang [74] studied
ambient absorber GAX cycle was disclosed by Anand [66] to a single stage NH3-H2O absorption system for different cool-
enhance the system efficiency through increasing the overlap ing applications. The authors combined the split cycle and
718 R. Nikbakhti et al.

GAX heat recovery cycle in one united system and managed to from the absorber toward the generator, the concentrated
improve the energy performance of the system. In comparison solution can be preheated in a solution heat exchanger before
with a conventional single stage absorption system, the ther- reaching the generator by the heat absorbed from the diluted
mal efficiency of the integrated system enhanced by 25%, refrigerant solution flowing back from the generator toward
34%, and 20% for three different applications including the the absorber. This increases the temperature of the condensed
freezing, air-conditioning, and space heating, respectively. refrigerant solution, lowering the heat applied to the generator
and hence increasing the COP. Kandlikar [82] and Kaushik
3.2.2. Branched GAX cycle and Kumar [83] conducted theoretical investigations on cycles
A novel GAX cycle known as ‘‘branched GAX cycle” was utilizing the absorber heat recovery scheme and it was found
designed to further improve the performance of the basic that the performance improved by 10% in the cycles as com-
GAX cycle, in which the concentrated solution flowing from pared to the conventional absorption cycles. Siddiqui [84] car-
the absorber toward the generator went through two branches. ried out an economic investigation of three different
When the flow rate of solution in the high-temperature branch absorption systems with the absorber heat recovery. Three dif-
generator increased, the quantity of the heat applied to the ferent solution of ammonia with water, sodium thiocyanate
low-temperature branch of the generator was improved. That (NaSCN) and lithium nitrate (LiNO3) were chosen. The results
is the generator could operate by lower heat energy provided revealed that the system performance improved by 20–30%
an external heat source is available, i.e. enhancing the system with the use of the water/ammonia solution in the system. In
performance. Therefore, the branched GAX can provide greater addition, the COP experienced an increase of 33–36% by
performance in comparison with the standard GAX cycle. employing the sodium thiocyanate/ammonia and lithium
Moreover, lower heat source temperature was required to drive nitrate/ammonia solutions. On the other hand, the cost of
a branched GAX cycle, as compared to a standard GAX cycle. energy decreased to one-third and to one-fourth by applying
Herold [75] disclosed a branched GAX cycle and he observed the mixtures of ammonia with H2O, NaSCN, and LiNO3,
that the cycle performance experienced an improvement of respectively. An absorber heat recovery GAX cycle employing
approximately one-fifth compared to the simple GAX cycle. H2O-LiBr solution was investigated by Kaushik and Kumar
After some years, Herold et al. [76] conducted a simulation to [85]. The authors revealed that the system operated with a
study the branched GAX cycle and compared the system effi- higher performance in comparison with the standard absorp-
ciency of the system with the standard GAX cycle at the same tion cooling system for higher heat source temperatures. How-
working parameters. The results revealed that the system COP ever, the cycle was just able to operate in a certain range of
improved by 5.7%, rising from 1.11 for the standard GAX cycle operating parameters owing to the crystallization issue related
to 1.174 obtained in the branched GAX cycle. to the selected working pair.
An absorption prototype based on the branched GAX
scheme was then designed by Erickson et al. [77]. The results 3.2.4. Other advanced heat recovery cycles
indicated that the COP of the machine improved from 0.87 In addition to the three main heat recovery methods explained
to 0.95 when there was an increase in the ambient temperature above, other advanced cycles have also been proposed to
from 30.6 to 35 °C. Staicovici [78] showed that a three-stage increase the COP of the single-effect absorption system
branched GAX cycle provided 1.25–1.9 times higher COP val- through improving the heat recovery through the cycle. Regen-
ues in comparison with a three-stage standard GAX cycle. A eration absorption (RA) cycle proposed by Dao [86] was an
branched GAX cycle with a ternary mixture of NH3-H2O- advanced cycle in which a rise in temperature overlap between
LiBr was numerically analysed by Zaltash and Grossman the desorber and the absorber caused a further improvement in
[79]. The system performance was compared with a basic the cycle performance. The results illustrated that the efficiency
GAX cycle using the same working pair. The authors found of the regeneration absorption cycle raised by relatively 30%
that the branched GAX cycle efficiency improved considerably as compared to the basic GAX cycle. Other absorption heat
as compared to the standard GAX cycle when a high-grade recovery cycles such as the double-effect cycle operating with
heat source temperature, around 200 °C, was available. the intermediate pressure [87], and the triple effect cycle along
Engler et al. [80] conducted a comprehensive study to com- with low-pressure using a resorption process [88] were also dis-
pare the energy performance of some advanced configurations. closed to improve the flexibility of the cycle and the internal
The results disclosed that the highest COP, around 1.08, was heat recovery. Erikson [89] disclosed a number of layouts of
obtained for the branched GAX configuration. In recent years, vapour exchange duplex GAX cycle aimed at improving the
Kholghi and Mahmoudi [81] carried out a study to analyse the system performance by extending the GAX overlap. Erickson
branched GAX cooling cycle based on the first and second law and Tang [90] computationally modelled a double-lift GAX
of thermodynamics. The authors compared the performances cycles in which the interior heat incorporated between an
of the branched GAX system and the standard GAX cycle. absorber with a middle pressure and a generator with high
They found that the branched GAX cycle provided a greater pressure. In comparison to the standard double-lift cycle, the
performance from the energy and exergy points of view. Their results revealed that the COP of the double-lift GAX cycle
results indicated that the COP and exergy efficiency of the improved by 20%. More recently, Toppi et al. [91] simulated
branched GAX system increased by 14.6% as compared to numerically two types of the semi-GAX cycles, including
the basic GAX cycle for the condenser temperature of 30 °C. semi-GAX1 and semi-GAX2. The first type was proposed
for establishing the GAX effect at high to moderate pressures,
3.2.3. Absorber heat recovery cycle whereas the second one was focused on the moderate to low
The absorber heat recovery provides another efficient pressures. The authors studied the influence of the split ratio
approach to improving the system performance. While flowing on the cycle efficiency under different air temperatures. They
Absorption cooling systems 719

Fig. 14 Schematic of GAX cycle proposed (Reprinted from Shi et al. [98], with permission from publisher).

Fig. 15 Variation of COP for simple GAX (SGAX) and proposed GAX (PAGX) cycle (Reprinted from Shi et al. [98], with permission
from publisher).

found that the semi-GAX 2 was the most effective cycle for the proposed a novel GAX that comprised of two stages of evap-
ambient temperature under 27 °C whereas the semi-GAX 1 orating and absorbing processes for low temperature applica-
showed a better performance working above this temperature. tions. In another study, Kang et al. [93] disclosed a novel
Some advanced GAX cycles such as WGAX were also pro- WGAX cycle for exploitation of the waste heat sources. The
posed to exploit low-grade thermal heat sources such as renew- results revealed that the waste heat source temperature had
able sources of energy or geothermal energy. Kang et al. [92] negligible impact on the performance for an inputted generator
720 R. Nikbakhti et al.

Fig. 16 COP comparison for different absorption heat recovery cycles.

outlet temperature and a greater performance was obtained temperatures and its COP enhanced by 20%, Fig. 15. Du
when the outlet temperature declined to 172 °C. In conse- et al. [99] conducted an examination on maximum internal
quence, the corrosion problem could be addressed by follow- heat recovery of a mass-coupled two-stage H2O-NH3 absorp-
ing this novel cycle when a heat source temperature, greater tion cooling system by pinch technology for improving the
than 200 °C, was applied to the generator. Anan and Erickson effectiveness in order to widen its practicals. The result demon-
[94] designed a heat pump with a cooling capacity of eight ton strated that the performance of the machine enhanced by
based on the vapour exchange GAX cycle. The authors con- 14.5% and 34.1% under the investigated freezing conditions
cluded that there was a 20% improvement in COP when an as compared to the basic two-stage absorption cooling cycle.
air-cooled source of 35 °C was employed to the system. Sabir Fig. 16 presents various heat recovery cycles developed to
et al. [95] analytically investigated a new GAX resorption increase the energy performance of absorption refrigeration
(GAX-R) refrigeration cycle employing a solution of lithium systems. GAX cycle is an effective heat recovery cycle that
bromide and water. The authors illustrated that the efficiency enhances the performance of basic absorption cycle signifi-
of the new cycle improved by 1.0, greater than the standard cantly. In comparison to the basic GAX cycle, greater energy
single-effect system but not as high as the GAX cycle due to performance is obtained with the branched GAX cycle.
the limited range of operating conditions. Therefore, it was Another advantage of the branched GAX cycle is its lower
estimated that wider ranges of water temperatures, mass and generator temperature requirement to operate the cycle, as
heat efficiency could lead to a performance improvement as compared to a standard GAX cycle. In addition, WGAX cycle
compared to the simple GAX cycles. The variable effect is particularly designed to exploit low-temperature thermal
absorber-generator heat exchanger cycle was proposed by Xu heat sources (e.g., solar energy) and the results reveal the
et al. [96] and experimentally investigated by Xu and Wang higher performance of the new system over a basic GAX cycle.
[97]. This cycle was designed to exploit efficiently the heat As a promising alternative to basic GAX cycle, the absorber
source temperature which was not enough for operating a heat recovery cycle offers improved COP but rather could
double-effect absorption cooling cycle. However, this source operate under a limited range of working conditions due to
of energy was too high for operating a single-effect cooling the crystallization problem. Tables 2 also summarises some
cycle. It was observed from the results that the system enjoyed studies on various forms of absorption heat recovery cycles
a better performance compared to other cycles working under discussed in the sub-section 3–2 (see Fig. 17).
similar operating conditions. The numerical and experimental
results demonstrated that the system performance experienced 4. Improvement of absorption structures and mechanism
an increase from 0.7 to 1.08 when the thermal source temper-
ature in the desorber varied from 95 °C to 120 °C. Shi et al. [98] 4.1. Operating fluid pairs
proposed an advanced GAX absorption refrigeration cycle
demonstrated in Fig. 14.
An appropriate pair of absorbent (sorbent) and absorbate (re-
The proposed novel GAX cycle was able to exploit low-
frigerant) is of great importance in the absorption cooling
grade absorption heat, which was impossible for a standard
machine as the efficiency is considerably influenced by the ther-
GAX cycle to be operated with and consequently make addi-
modynamic properties of the solution. The followings shall be
tional refrigeration. In contrast to the standard GAX cycle,
considered when choosing an appropriate working fluid pair in
the simulated results illustrated that the proposed cycle could
an absorption cooling system [100]:
operate suitably at much lower generation and evaporation
Absorption cooling systems 721

Table 2 Summary of some studies on different types of absorption heat recovery cycles.
Cycle type Working fluid COP Remarks Ref.
GAX NH3-H2O – Appropriate for residential and light commercial [63]
GAX NH3-H2O 0.776 There was a relatively 32% increase in the COP in comparison with the single [64]
effect
GAX NH3-H2O 0.68 The designed chiller was more suitable for a large home or small commercial [65]
application
GAX NH3-H2O 0.74– Multi-modes GAX cycles analysed, case 1 produced the largest performance, from [68]
0.82 the hot water supply viewpoint
HGAX NH3-H2O 1.506 Hybrid GAX cycle produced greater performance compared to the traditional [72]
GAX cycle
HGAX NH3-H2O 1.24 The COP of HGAX cycle enhanced by 24% compared to the simple GAX cycle [70]
Branched GAX NH3-H2O – The cycle COP improved by 20% in comparison with the simple GAX cycle [75]
Branched GAX NH3-H2O 1.174 The COP enhanced considerably from 1.11 for the basic GAX cycle to 1.174 [76]
Poly-branched NH3-H2O-LiBr 0.85 The cycle produced 1.25–1.9 times higher COP values compared to a basic GAX [78]
GAX cycle
Branched GAX NH3-H2O – There was almost 20% increase in the cycle COP compare to the standard GAX [79]
cycle
Branched GAX NH3-H2O 0.8– The COP improved by 14.6% by designing the branched GAX cycle. The COP of [81]
1.4 branched cycle heavily depended on the condenser temperature.
Absorber heat NH3-H2O – The cycle performance enhanced by 10% comparing the standard GAX [82]
recovery
Absorber heat H2O–NH3, NaSCN– 0.2– COP improved further while using NaSCN and LiNO3–NH3 compared to [84]
recovery NH3, LiNO3–NH3 0.8 H2O–NH3
Advanced GAX NH3-H2O – Recommended to decrease the generator exit temperature and possible using waste [93]
(WGAX cycle) heat sources
GAX-R H2O-LiBr – The cycle performance was superior to standard absorption and resorption cycles [95]
but inferior to a double effect or standard GAX
Novel GAX NH3-H2O – The proposed cycle COP improved by 20% compared to the standard GAX cycle [98]

temperatures are needed, while the LiBr-H2O system is widely

employed for large commercial cooling applications where
intermediate temperatures are required.
Researchers in [101,102] reported that the limited properties
of LiBr-H2O are the most significant reasons that prevents
applying the lithium bromide-water solution for the refrigera-
tion conditions below 0°C. Kim and Ferreira [103][Kim, 2008
#203] and Gomri [50] discussed that the system efficiency
improved further by using LiBr-H2O as compared to the use
of H2O-NH3 under the same evaporation temperature. Kara-
mangil et al. [104] executed a numerical investigation to anal-
yse the influence of three different working fluids on the energy
proficiency of a single-stage absorption refrigeration machine.
The system using the H2O–LiBr working fluid demonstrated
Fig. 17 Variation of COP with the generator temperature for the highest performance. However, the system was just able
three different working pairs (Reprinted from Karamangil et al. to work in a limited range of the generator temperature due
[104], with permission from publisher). to the crystallization problem. Among the working pairs,
NH3–LiNO3 was the most appropriate solution when the sys-
tem had a tendency to operate at low generator temperatures,
i. Large latent heats of concentration and vaporization for less than 75 °C.
the refrigerant inside the absorbent; Researches also carried out further investigations to anal-
ii. Favorable thermodynamic properties such as viscosity, yse the influence of other working fluid pairs and their thermo-
diffusive coefficient, and conductivity; and dynamic properties on the system efficiency. The performance
iii. Chemical stability, environment-friendliness, and cost- of absorption cycles employing three various solutions includ-
effectiveness. ing NH3-H2O, NH3-LiNO3 and NH3-NaSCN was analysed in
[105,106]. The results revealed that the highest performance
Among various working fluid pairs used in absorption sys- was obtained by employing NH3-NaSCN cycle while the
tems, H2O-NH3 and LiBr-H2O mixtures represent the most NH3-H2O cycle had the lowest COP for the generator temper-
common pair due to their significant thermodynamic proper- atures more than 80 °C. The influence of H2O-NH3 and NH3-
ties. The NH3-H2O system is frequently used for residential LiNO3 on the system COP was analysed by Kaushik and
and light commercial refrigeration applications where lower Kumar [107] in a two-stage absorption cooling cycle. The
722 R. Nikbakhti et al.

results revealed that the cycle with NH3-LiNO3 led to produce compared to that with NH3-NaSCN in low evaporating tem-
higher COP in comparison to that with H2O-NH3. perature conditions, Teva  15°C.
Iyoki and Uemura [108] used a ternary mixture of H2O- Iyoki and Uemura [117] conducted a theoretical analysis to
LiBr-LiNO3 as a second option of working fluid pair to the investigate the influence of a quaternary mixture of (H2O-
conventional binary mixture of H2O-LiBr with greater perfor- LiBr-ZnCl2-CaBr2) on the system performance. The results
mance and less corrosivity. Cai et al. [109] performed an exper- revealed that the quaternary mixture provided a greater per-
imental study to examine the efficiency of a single-effect formance as compared to the binary mixture of water-
absorption machine cooled with air. Two different kinds of lithium bromide. Sun [118] executed a numerical investigation
working pairs including NH3–LiNO3 and NH3–NaSCN were to analyse the influence of using three different working fluid
used. The system using NH3–NaSCN provided the COP values pairs including NH3 as the refrigerant with H2O, LiNO3 and
between 0.20 and 0.35 which were greater than the system effi- NaSCN as the absorbents on the efficiency of a single-effect
ciency obtained with NH3–LiNO3 at the similar working con- absorption refrigeration system. He observed that the mixture
ditions. The experimental outcomes obtained in this of ammonia with LiNO3 and NaSCN were appropriate alter-
investigation were very useful to develop a better absorption natives to replace the conventional solution NH3-H2O in the
refrigeration system employing NH3–salt. Patel et al. [110] single effect absorption system. Moreover, NH3-NaSCN cycle
conducted a work to study the performance of a single-effect operated relatively greater than the NH3-LiNO3 cycle, from
absorption refrigeration system when two working pairs were the performance point of view. Bourouis et al. [119] proposed
employed under similar operating conditions. The results illus- a quintuple fluid mixture of H2O + LiBr + LiI + LiNO3 +
trated that the system performance improved more consider- LiCI for air-cooled absorption air-conditioning systems. The
ably while applying LiCl-H2O working pair rather than proposed mixture demonstrated a significantly greater solubil-
using the mixture of LiBr-H2O. Zhu, and Gu [111] analysed ity and less corrosive than the conventional working fluid
thermodynamically a NH3-NaSCN single-effect absorption H2O-LiBr. Thus, the new mixture was more appropriate than
cooling machine. Their simulated results revealed that the the water-lithium bromide solution especially for available
use of NH3-NaSCN mixture yielded a COP development by high and low temperatures in the absorber/condenser and in
10% as compared to the system COP using ammonia/H2O the generator, respectively. In consequence, air-cooled absorp-
as a conventional mixture. Recently, She et al. [112] presented tion systems using the proposed quintuple mixture could be
a new absorption refrigeration system operated by low-grade operated by low-grade heat sources. NaOH was an important
thermal heat sources. The cycle consisted of a low-pressure chemical compound added to the solution of H2O-NH3 in
sub-cycle employing a solution of LiBr-water with lower absorption cycles to separate efficiently ammonia in the desor-
vapour pressure and a high-pressure sub-cycle using LiCl- ber and to lessen operating temperature and rectification was-
water with higher vapour pressure. Three different modes tages. In this respect, Steiu et al. [120] simulated the cycle using
relating to the utilization of heat source including two parallel some experimental data to obtain thermodynamic properties.
mode heat sources and a serial mode heat source were studied. It was indicated that the COP increased by a factor of one-
Performance comparisons were made among the three modes fifth with a conventional solution of ammonia and water under
and the conventional double-stage absorption cooling cycle similar operating conditions and employing a HO separation
using the mixture of LiBr-H2O. The results showed that the proficiency for NaOH.
proposed system was able to provide a better performance. Conventional absorption refrigeration cycles using working
Won and Lee [113] studied a double-effect absorption cool- pairs such as H2O-NH3 are operated by heat resources of
ing cycle employing a new working pair of H2O-LiCl and com- around 70–120 °C for cooling and refrigeration to less than
pared it with the cycle using the H2O-LiBr conventional 0 °C. In recent years, absorption refrigeration systems oper-
solution. It was concluded that the employment of H2O-LiCl ated with low-grade thermal sources like solar energy have
produced higher performance for the system than the been considerably developed. In this respect, some new work-
H2O-LiBr mixture. In another study, Won et al. [114] executed ing pairs such as TFE-TEGDME were then proposed as the
a simulation investigation on a double-effect absorption cool- potential alternative using in the absorption systems powered
ing cycle employing a ternary mixture of H2O-LiBr-LiSCN by low temperature heat sources [14,121,122]. Arivazhagan
and compared the system COP when two other pairs including et al. [123] performed simulation investigations on a half-
H2O-LiBr and H2O-LiCl were employed. The authors effect R134a-DMAC absorption cooling system driven by
reported that the system applied the H2O-LiBr-LiScN solution solar energy. It was observed that the system provided a higher
showed a higher performance than that used H2O-LiBr and performance as compared to a half-effect cycle using
H2O-LiCl separately. The results revealed that the system NH3-H2O for low-grade thermal sources. Karno and Ajib
COP improved by 3% as compared to the system using [124] performed a theoretical examination of an absorption
H2O-LiBr. Lee et al. [115] proposed a quintuple mixture of refrigeration system employing a novel mixture of C3H6O-
H2O-LiBr-LiNO3-LiI-LiCl (mole ratio of LiBr:LiNO3:LiI:Li ZnBr2 with low generator temperatures ranged from 47 and
Cl = [Link]) as the solution in a double-effect absorption sys- 60 °C. The result revealed that C3H6O-ZnBr2 was a very suit-
tem in serious flow scheme. Interestingly, no crystallization able working fluid mixture for low-temperature applications
issue was observed in the air-cooled absorption machine by such as solar systems due to its imprssive thermodynamic
using this proposed solution. Cai et al. [116] examined the properties. In another study, an absorption refrigeration sys-
efficiency of a double effect absorption system using tem driven thermally with solar energy was analysed by
NH3-NaSCN. The system COP increased by 10–15% as com- Moreno-Quintanar et al. [125]. A binary mixture of NH3-
pared to the system using NH3-LiNO3 when the evaporator LiNO3 as well as a ternary mixture of NH3-LiNO3-H2O were
temperature changing between 10 °C < Teva < 5 °C. Never- employed. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of the
theless, the system using NH3-LiNO3 was more competitive as system improved by 24% with the use of the ternary mixture
Absorption cooling systems 723

when the system operated by low-level heat energy sources.

Donate et al. [126] employed a solution of LiBr with CHO2
and CH3CO2 as alternative absorbents. The results indicated
that the application of new absorbent mixture of organic salt
in lithium bromide led to an improvement in the system perfor-
mance due to a reduction in some properties like the vapour
pressures, latent heat of absorption and crystallization temper-
ature. More recently, a detailed thermodynamic analysis was
carried out by Arshi and Sudharsan [11] on a single-effect
absorption cooling machine applying a quaternary fluid mix-
ture of H2OLiBr-LiI-LiNO3-LiCl. It was concluded that the
cycle with the proposed combination was able to work under
wider range of operating temperature and to enjoy a greater
performance as compared to the conventional combination
of H2O-LiBr employing in the system. Therefore, the system
was more suitable for air-cooled application without crystal- Fig. 18 The COP of absorption system with different mass
lization. Gao et al. [127] investigated an air-cooled absorption frictions of TiO2 nanoparticles under different generation temper-
R290/oil refrigeration cycle driven by waste heat. Their results atures (Reprinted from Jiang et al. [132], with permission from
demonstrated that using R290/oil working pair resulted in a publisher).
significant improvement in the system performance. Oibricht
et al. [128] investigated numerically a single-stage absorption
chiller using lithium bromide by means of alcoholic additives SDBS had the most considerable influence on the COP
with a cooling capacity of 5 kW. The results revealed that add- enhancement compared to other nanofluid.
ing a small amount of additive into the aqueous LiBr solution Fig. 19 illustrates the effect of various working pairs on the
caused a considerable increase in the CC and COP as they COP improvement in different works. As it is observed,
improved by 83% and 31%, respectively. It was observed from LiBr-H2O and NH3-H2O are the most common pairs used in
the results that the same cooling capacity was produced with a the absorption cooling systems. It is important to note that
smaller size of the solar collectors while there was an enhance- application of LiBr-H2O in the system provides a higher per-
ment in the COP. The obtained results led to a significant formance although the system could just work in a limited
reduction in costs along with an increase in diffusion of range of generator temperature due to the crystallization prob-
domestic-scale solar powered absorption chillers. lem. As a result, as a working fluid pair, the LiBr-H2O is
Over the last few years, several researchers investigated the mainly used for large commercial cooling applications where
influences of nanoparticles application into the working solu- moderate generator temperatures are required. On the other
tions and particularly in NH3-H2O to make an increment in hand, the NH3-H2O solution is widely applied for residential
the system performance. In fact, addition of nanoparticles into and light commercial refrigeration applications where lower
the working pair leads to an easier and faster separation of generator temperatures are needed. The chart reveal that the
water vapour from the NH3 vapour. Yang et al. [129] executed
an experimental work of a selection of 20 different kinds of
nanoparticles mixed pair with 10 types of dispersants applied
to the NH3-H2O absorption system to investigate the diffusion
stability of interruption. In another work, Yang et al. [130]
experimentally analysed the influence of adding three different
nanoparticles in the mixture of NH3-H2O on the heat and mass
transfer rate in the system. The results indicated that three
main factors including the content of surfactant and nanopar-
ticles, the interaction between surfactant and nanoparticles,
and the diffusion type affected considerably the viscidity of
nanofluid. Sözen et al. [131] examined the impact of heat
recovery approach in a single-effect cycle using NH3-H2O
solution with nanoparticles of alumina (Al2O3) on the propa-
gation absorption system. The results demonstrated that the
mixture of nanoparticles into the fluid led to a considerable
enhancement in the heat transfer, the segregation of NH3 in
the vapour from NH3-H2O, and consequently improvement
of the cooling effect. Jiang et al. [132] performed an experimen-
tal work to investigate the effect of different quantity of TiO2
nanoparticles on the COP of an absorption system using NH3-
H2O working fluid. Experimental results revealed that the
TiO2 nanoparticles exerted a significant influence on the per-
formance as the COP increased by 27%. It is observed from Fig. 19 COP comparison for single-effect absorption systems
Fig. 18 that the mixture of 0.5 wt% TiO2 and the 0.02 wt% using various kinds of working pairs.
724 R. Nikbakhti et al.

Table 3 Summary of the characteristics of various working fluid pairs.

Cycle type Working pair Remarks Ref.
(refrigerant + absorbent)
Two stage NH3–LiNO3 System with NH3 + LiNO3 operated by lower generation temperature and provided [107]
higher COP than NH3– H2O
Single effect NH3–LiNO3 and NH3– Cycle employing NH3–NaSCN produced better performance [109]
NaSCN
Single effect LiCl-H2O Greater performance than LiBr- H2O [110]
Single effect NH3-NaSCN Cycle COP raised by 10% compared to the NH3– H2O [111]
Double effect H2O-LiCl Better performance obtained than the cycle with H2O-LiBr [113]
Double effect H2O-LiBr-LiScN The system illustrated higher performance with a ternary mixture [114]
Double effect H2O–LiBr–LiNO3–LiI– No crystallization problem, better performance and lower generation temperature [115]
(Series mode) LiCl
Double effect NH3-NaSCN–NH3-LiNO3 Larger performance with NH3-NaSCN than NH3-LiNO3 [116]
(Series mode)
Single effect H2O-LiBr–ZnCl2–CaBr2 Quaternary mixture produced greater performance than the binary of H2O-LiBr [117]
Single effect NH3– H2O–NH3-LiNO3– System performance with NH3– NaSCN was better than that with NH3-LiNO3 [118]
NH3– NaSCN
Single effect H2O–LiBr–LiI–LiNO3– Less corrosivity, lower temperature in generator was required, recommended for [119]
LiCl systems operated by low-temperature heat sources
Single effect NH3-H2O-NaOH Improving the ammonia separation in the generator, lower generation temperature, [120]
COP enhanced by 20% compared to NH3-H2O
Half effect R134a-DMAC Performance increased significantly with the R134a-DMAC for the half effect cycle [123]
compared to NH3– H2O
Single effect C3H6O –ZnBr2 The system was appropriate for working at low generator temperatures (47–60 °C) [124]
Single effect LiBr-NaK The efficiency improved marginally; lower generation temperature required [126]
Single effect H2O-LiBr –LiI–LiNO3– Provided system to work under wider range of operating temperatures, enjoyed a [11]
LiCl better performance compared to H2O-LiBr
Single effect NH3–H2O–TiO2 The cycle COP improved by 27% with adding TiO2 particles to the working pair [132]

NH3-H2O. In contrast to LiBr-H2O, a greater COP was

achieved by applying the ternary mixture of H2O-LiBr-
LiNO3 in the system with less corrosivity. In addition, the
system COP improved significantly by using the NH3-LiBr-
LiNO3 as a ternary mixture, as compared to the binary
mixture of NH3-H2O. In order to enhance the COP of the
NH3-H2O absorption system, NaOH particles were added to
the mixture, leading to 20% increase in the system perfor-
mance. Particular nanoparticles have also been used to
improve the system performance with conventional working
fluid pairs. In this regard, the TiO2 nanoparticles were success-
fully used to enhance the system COP with a mixture of
NH3-H2O-TiO2 as the working fluid.
In order to have a better comparison between various
working fluids used in absorption systems, a summary of stud-
ied working pairs are presented in Table 3. It is concluded
from the table that the water is the main refrigerant in most
working fluid pairs due to its excellent advantages such as zero
Fig. 20 Variation of COP with effectiveness of solution, environmental problems. It is also witnessed from the table
refrigerant, and solution-refrigerant heat exchangers (Reprinted that the influence of different working fluids on the energy per-
from Karamangil et al. [104], with permission from publisher). formance are analysed mostly in single-effect cycles compared
to other absorption cycles.

highest COP was obtained by using NH3-LiNO3 as the

working fluid pair when the available heat source was of low 4.2. Combined systems (Added components and sub-
temperature (greater than75 °C). In comparison, the NH3- components)
NaSCN was the most effective solution when a high-
temperature heat source was available for vapor generation Investigations on absorption refrigeration systems have
in the desorber. As a ternary mixture, LiNO3 was found to demonstrated that the system design, material properties,
serve as a very effective additive with both H2O-LiBr and and the sub-components are the main factors affecting the
Absorption cooling systems 725

Fig. 21 Combined flash tank-absorption-ejector refrigeration cycle proposed by Sirwan (Reprinted from Sirwan [138], with permission
from publisher).

Fig. 22 Variation of COP versus the generator temperature for

basic absorption cycle, combined absorber-ejector cycle and
combined flash tank-absorber-ejector cycle (Reprinted from Sir-
wan [138], with permission from publisher).
Fig. 23 Schematic diagram of the absorption system and
distillation column (Reprinted from Fernández-Seara and Sieres
system performance. The subcomponents and supported com-
[142], with permission from publisher).
ponents have effectively influenced the standard single-effect
absorption cycles to achieve enhanced system performance.
Effects of important subcomponents (e.g., solution and refrig- heat requirement of the generator, leading to improved COP.
erant heat exchangers, flash tank, distillation column, and ejec- Aphornratana [133] conducted an experimental work and he
tor) on the absorption system efficiency are discussed in the indicated that the COP experienced a significant rise by
following. three-fifth by adding a SHE into the system. Sozen [134] per-
formed an investigation to observe the influence of heat
4.2.1. Refrigerant and solution heat exchangers exchangers on the efficiency in a standard absorption refriger-
Solution heat exchanger (SHE), placed into the solution circuit ation system using H2O-NH3. He reported that the system per-
between the absorber and the generator, is an essential sub- formance was considerably influenced by adding a SHE
component of an absorption cycle that contributes to efficient whereas using both refrigerant heat exchanger (RHE) and
recovery of the thermal energy of the concentrated solution SHE had no significant effect on the efficiency. In another
returning from the generator toward the absorber. The recov- study, Koehler et al. [135] found that the SHE played a promi-
ered energy is then applied to preheat the diluted solution leav- nent role in enhancing the system performance while the RHE
ing the absorber before entering the desorber. This reduces the was of lesser importance for a H2O-LiBr cycle. The influence
726 R. Nikbakhti et al.

It was observed from the results that the combined system

as comprised of both the ejector and flash tank had the greatest
COP while the lowest performance was obtained by the basic
absorption cycle. When it comes to the combination of an ejec-
tor with the absorption cooling cycle, performance improve-
ments can be obtained by integrating a flash tank into the
ejector-equipped cycle. In recent years, Abed et al. [139] exam-
ined an integrated ejector-flash tank NH3–H2O absorption
refrigeration system in order to provide a higher performance
for the system. In another work, Sirwan et al. [140] demon-
strated that combining a flash tank to an integrated absorp-
tion–ejector cooling cycle led to an enhancement in the
efficiency of the system.

4.2.3. Distillation column

As an important element of any absorption refrigeration cycle,
Fig. 24 Variation of COP versus the evaporation temperature in
the distillation column simultaneously provides for heat and
the presence of distillation column (Reprinted from Fernández-
mass transfer phenomena through the two-phase, two-
Seara and Sieres [142], with permission from publisher).
component mixture of NH3–H2O. The primary role of this
component is to provide high-purity ammonia vapor, without
of the solution and refrigeration heat exchangers, as well as which the water content would be gradually collected in the
operating conditions on the COP of a single effect H2O-LiBr evaporator, lowering the system COP. Anand and Erickson
was numerically investigated by Kaynakli, et al. [12]. It was [141] investigated the effect of distillation column of a single
concluded from the results that the influence of solution heat effect NH3–H2O absorption machine on the system perfor-
exchanger on the parameters was more significant than that mance. Fernández-Seara and Sieres [142] carried out an inves-
of refrigerant heat exchanger. While the former caused an tigation to analyse the effect of the ammonia purification
increase of 44% in the COP, there was just almost 3% rise process on the effectiveness of the NH3-H2O absorption refrig-
in the system COP by the latter application. Karamangil eration system in terms of the column efficiencies and reflux
et al. [104] performed a work to analyse the influence of ratio. The authors conducted their analysis for a wide range
impressiveness of SHE, RHE and solution-refrigerant heat of operating conditions including both air and water-cooled
exchanger on the system COP. As it is observed from systems for different applications by changing the evaporation
Fig. 20, the SHE had the most considerable effect on the per- temperature.
formance as the COP improved 66% by using the SHE. How- Fig. 24 illustrated that the presence of a distillation column
ever, there was a minimal increase in the system performance was necessary in the application of low evaporation tempera-
by employing the both RHE and SRHE (see Fig. 21). ture; otherwise, the system efficiency would be degraded. On
the other hand, a distillation column was not necessarily
4.2.2. Flash tank required in the application of high evaporation temperature.
As another sub-component of an absorption refrigeration sys- The authors also emphasized the significance of purification
tem, the flash tank is usually combined with multi-pressure sys- process in applications with high absorption and condensation
tems to improve the cooling capacity (CC) and COP. In fact, temperatures as observed in air-cooled systems. In another
one can obtain enhanced system energy efficiency and CC work, Sieres and Fernández-Seara [143] performed an experi-
when a flash tank is combined with a two-stage cycle through mental investigation to analyse the effect of ammonia rectifica-
supplying the evaporator with liquid [136,137]. Sirwan et al. tion on the performance of the absorption refrigeration
[138] proposed a new design of a single-effect refrigeration sys- system. The results revealed that the system efficiency
tem in which a flash tank was set up between the evaporator enhanced by using the stripping and rectifying sections.
and condenser to increase CC within the evaporator, shown Darwish et al. [144] performed a work to analyse the
in Fig. 22 (see Fig. 23). efficiency of a Robur absorption refrigeration system with a

Fig. 25 Schematic of combined ejector-absorption cycle; (a) first configuration, (b) second configuration.
Absorption cooling systems 727

mixture of ammonia and water. It was observed that the effec-

tiveness of the separator as a mass transfer unit exerted a sub-
stantial influence on the system performance as it experienced
an increase of 15% by raising the quantity of stripping stages
of the separator. Moreover, the system efficiency was obtained
to be at optimum when the six steps of mass transfer were
adopted. Aguilar and Simoes-Moreira [145] presented a work
to examine the influence of a distillation column with seg-
mented weir sieve-tray for a NH3–water absorption refrigera-
tion system with 17.58 kW capacity. The result revealed that
the vapour concentration enhanced by 51% through installing
the stripping section inside the generator. However, other parts
such as the enrichment and rectifier provided a minimal
increase in the vapour concentration by 1.5% and 2.2%,
respectively.

4.2.4. Ejector
Ejector refers to a sub-component integrated into the absorp-
tion refrigeration systems to increase their energy effectiveness.
In a single-effect cycle, the two-pressure configuration can be
converted to a triple-pressure combined ejector-absorption
cycle by setting up an ejector in the cycle. This makes the sys-
tem operate at higher absorber and condenser temperatures
and lower generator temperature and circulation ratio. A com-
bined ejector-absorption cycles represents a multiple-effect
absorption system but with less components. Considering the
position of the ejector in the absorption cycle, two types of
triple-pressure combined system can be considered: (1) with
the ejector situated at the entrance of the absorber at the solu-
tion expansion valve to make pressure recovery from the
absorber and increasing the mixing of the weak solution with Fig. 26 Schematic of single effect compression-absorption cas-
the refrigerant vapor leaving the evaporator (Fig. 25a) [146– cade refrigeration cycle (Reprinted from Wang et al. [165], with
151], (2) with the ejector located between the condenser and permission from publisher).
generator (Fig. 25b) [152–154]. In this type, the ejector is dri-
ven by the high-pressure refrigerant vapour coming from the
generator leading to an increase in the vaporization of refrig-
erant and consequently producing higher cooling capacity in
the system.
Chen et al. [146] was among the first proposed a novel com-
bined absorber-ejector cycle to analyse the influence of appli-
cation of an ejector in a single-effect absorption system on
the cycle performance. In the cycle, the ejector was replaced
by the solution heat exchanger. It was revealed from the results
that the performance of the new cycle improved substantially
as compared to that of the basic single effect absorption cycle.
Sozen and Ozalp [147] investigated an energy and exergy
analysis of a combined ejector-absorber cycle employing
NH3–H2O working pair. The results illustrated that there
was a noticeable improvement in the energy and exergy effi-
ciency, particularly at lower generator temperatures. In addi-
tion, the system design dimension could be reduced due to a Fig. 27 A schematic diagram of the hybrid single-effect absorp-
reduction in circulation ratio causing a decline in the overall tion/vapour recompression cycle (Reprinted from Razmi et al.
cost of the system. Jelinek et al. [149,155] performed similar [170], with permission from publisher).
works in order to study the influence of using an ejector in
combined ejector–absorption refrigeration cycles using differ-
ent working pairs. Vereda et al. [150] numerically performed reduced nearly 9 °C as compared to the standard single-
an investigation of an integrated NH3–LiNO3 ejector-single effect absorption cycle. In addition, the system was able to
effect refrigeration system to examine the effect of the ejector work efficiently at moderate temperatures. Garousi Farshi
geometry on the cycle efficiency. They situated the ejector at and his colleagues carried out investigations to examine the
the entrance of the absorber in place of the solution expansion effect of combining an ejector with a single effect absorption
valve. In the combined system, the activation temperature cycle [151] along with a double effect absorption cycle in series
flow type [156] on the systems performance at various
728 R. Nikbakhti et al.

operating conditions. The ejector was integrated with a single- sor, Fig. 26. The results revealed that there was a substantial
effect absorption cycle regarding the first combination and it reduction (70–80%) in the generation heat temperature. In
was applied in the double effect absorption cycle based on consequence, the cycle performance almost doubled as com-
the second configuration. In both works, it was observed that pare to the standard absorption refrigeration system (see
the system performance increased significantly in respect to the Figs. 28 and 29).
conventional single-effect and double-effect absorption sys- A cascade absorption-compression refrigeration system
tems. Sun et al. [152] disclosed a combined LiBr-H2O ejector- could also be effective to improve the system efficiency when
absorber refrigeration cycle in which the ejector was located a high-grade thermal source of energy is not available to oper-
between the condenser and the generator. The combined cycle ate a standard absorption cooling system. Moreover, the cas-
was an appropriate design for exploiting waste thermal energy. cade system is also able to work efficiently when sufficient
It was observed that the effectiveness of the new combined sys- evaporating temperature is not available to be achieved
tem improved by 50% in comparison with a conventional appropriately [166–169]. Chen et al. [166–168] carried out
single-effect cycle. Bellos and Tzivanidis [157] conducted an some studies to investigate the possibility of cascade
examination to optimize a lithium-bromide water ejector- absorption-compression refrigeration systems working for
absorption cooling system driven by parabolic trough solar col- low-temperature applications. They [167] disclosed a novel
lectors. They found that the performance of the combined cycle absorption/absorption-compression refrigeration system to
enhanced by 60.9% as compared to the conventional absorption improve the energy performance of the absorption refrigera-
system under the same operating conditions. Moreover, it was tion cycle. The results demonstrated that the cooling capacity
found from the optimization that the maximization of the enhanced by 28% as compared to the single-effect absorption
COP achieved when the exergy efficiency of the system was also system. The authors in [168] disclosed a modern thermal
maximum while demanded collecting area was minimum. absorption–compression refrigeration cycle to provide the
cooling power which is needed to attain a low temperature
4.2.5. Compressor of 60 °C. The authors compared their proposed system
All types of the absorption refrigeration systems reviewed in performance with a two-stage refrigeration system employing
previous sections were variants of the basic absorption cycle NH3-H2O solution. They found that the COP of their new
with particular subcomponents. A cascade absorption- cycle was almost two times greater than that of a basic two-
compression refrigeration system is shown in Fig. 27. It is, stage absorption refrigeration cycle using the same working
indeed, a combination of an absorption cooling subsystem pair. Razmi et al. [170] performed a research work to analysis
with a mechanical compression subsystem, to which a mechan- an integrated environmentally-friendly hybrid absorption-
ical compressor is added. A mechanical compressor, like ejec- recompression refrigeration system in which a booster com-
tor, can be located in different places between main pressor was placed between the generator and condenser of
components of a single-effect cycle and a double-effect cycle absorption system. The system efficiency improved consider-
[158–160], multi-effect cycle [161] and GAX cycle [70,162]. ably by adjusting the pressure ratio to optimize the absolute
Kairouani and Nehdi [160] studied an absorption- heat transfer between the generator and the condenser coils.
compression refrigeration cycle to make an enhancement in Their results indicated that the integrated system performance
the system efficiency. The results illustrated that the perfor-
mance of the combined cycle improved by 37–54% as com-
pared to the single-effect absorption refrigeration cycle under
the same working conditions. Cimsit and Ozturk [163] numer-
ically simulated a compression-absorption cascade system
using water as a refrigerant with the lithium bromide and the
ammonia as two conventional absorbents in the high-
temperature cycle. They also used some refrigerants such as
NH3, R134a and R410a in the low-temperature cycle. It was
observed that the consumption of electrical energy in the cas-
cade cooling cycle reduced by half as compared to the conven-
tional vapour compression refrigeration cycle. Furthermore,
the system using LiBr-H2O illustrated a higher performance
as compared to NH3-H2O. A vapour compression absorption
system with CO2 as a refrigerant of compression subsystem
along with NH3-H2O as a refrigerant of absorption subsystem
was thermodynamically examined by Jain et al. [164]. Modified
Gouy-Stodola equation was applied to determine the optimal
condensation temperature of cascade condenser. This led to
an improvement in the overall COP and a reduction in the
whole irreversibility rate of the system. Wang et al. [165] inves-
tigated a NH3-H2O absorption-compression hybrid cooling
system to enhance the efficiency of the conventional absorp-
tion cooling cycle. The proposed cycle enabled to recover the Fig. 28 COP alteration of different systems by changing
whole condensing heat in order to produce absorbate by rais- evaporator temperature (Reprinted from Razmi et al. [170], with
ing the quantity of condensation heat with a vapour compres- permission from publisher).
Absorption cooling systems 729

Fig. 29 Variation of COP versus the high generator temperature for optimal cycle and conventional cycle (Reprinted from Du et al.
[177], with permission from publisher).

was relatively four times higher than the basic absorption tion of the absorber had greater influence on the COP as com-
system. pared to the condenser. Mostafavi and Agnew [175] performed
A summary of a number of works studied the influence of a simulation analysis to investigate the influence of ambient
various added subcomponents on the system efficiency are temperature on the H2O-LiBr absorption refrigeration system.
given in Table 4. Sencan et al. [176] executed a study to analyse a single-effect
absorption system employing lithium bromide/water mixture
5. Improvement of operating conditions for heating and cooling applications under various working
conditions. The results revealed that increasing the tempera-
The efficiency of an absorption system is also affected by oper- ture of the heat source caused an improvement in the cooling
ating parameters including the temperatures of different com- and heating performance of the system. Moreover, the effi-
ponents, heat source, and chilled and cooling working fluids, ciency experienced a considerable rise by increasing the chilled
the flow rate of the working fluids passing through the compo- water inlet temperature, which led to produce further cooling
nents, solution circulation ratio, etc. Extensive research has capacity from the evaporator. Kaynakli and Kilic [12] per-
been performed to study the influence of the operating param- formed an investigation to examine the influence of working
eters on the system performance through developing different temperatures and heat exchanger effectiveness on the system
simulation programs and experimental investigations. performance for a single-effect LiBr-H2O absorption system.
Eisa [171,172], Sun [173], and Chua [174] carried out differ- It was concluded that the system efficiency enhanced with
ent investigations to provide thermodynamic analyses of a increment in the evaporator and generator temperatures. How-
H2O-LiBr single-effect absorption refrigeration system. The ever, it experienced a decline with rising the absorber and con-
influence of various operating conditions on the system effi- denser temperatures. Gomri [50] investigated the influence of
ciency was examined. The results showed that the COP different working variables on the performances of three
improved by increasing the generator and evaporator temper- absorption refrigeration systems. For every evaporator and
atures while an increase in the absorber and condenser temper- condenser temperature, there was an optimum generator tem-
atures led to a decrease in the COP. Eisa and Holland [172] perature in which the maximum value of performance was
experimentally analyzed the influence of variations of the oper- obtained. Du et al [177] performed a simulation investigation
ating conditions on the cycle performance of an absorption Li- of an optimal NH3-H2O absorption refrigeration system with
Br-H2O cooler. It was found that the generator temperature maximum internal heat recovery by employing method of
was the most prominent parameter affecting the performance pinch technology. The optimal cycle operated exactly like the
of the system. In another work, Eisa et al. [171] performed GAX cycle when there was a temperature overlap between
more experiments on Eisa and Holland’ system [172] to exam- the generator and absorber. Some 20% increase in the effi-
ine the influence of the temperature variations of other compo- ciency of the optimal cycle was observed compared to the con-
nents such as the absorber and condenser temperatures on the ventional absorption cycle under the same operating
system performance. They found that the temperature varia- conditions. Furthermore, the effect on the COP of the optimal
730 R. Nikbakhti et al.

Table 4 Summary of different sub-components integrated with absorption systems.

Added Component Cycle type Operating temps. (°C) Working pair Remarks Ref.
Solution heat exchanger Single effect – – There was 60% increment in the [133]
system performance by adding a SHE
Mixture heat Single effect Te = 20, 10, 0, 10 H2O-NH3 The system performance was mainly [134]
exchanger + 50 < Tg < 130 affected by the MHE more than by
Refrigerant heat Tc = Ta = 22, 24, 25, 27, 28 both the MHE and RHE
exchanger
Solution heat Single effect Te = 2, 6 H2O-LiBr The COP enhanced by 44% with the [12]
exchanger + 60 < Tg < 90 application of SHE and RHE had an
Refrigerant heat Tc = Ta = 30 increase of only 3% on the COP
exchanger
Flash tank + ejector Single effect NH3–H2O The COP enhanced considerably by [138]
60 < Tg < 120 adding a flash tank in the single effect
20 < Tc ; Ta < 50 absorption system; Enabled system to
14 < Te < 14 operate at higher condenser
temperature
Flash tank Single effect 15 < Tambient < 5 – The system performance improved by [137]
10%
Distillation column Single effect Te = 10 NH3–H2O The importance of a distillation [145]
Tg = 125 column for low evaporation
Tc = Ta = 30 temperature applications;
The stripping section had greater
influence on the COP than the
rectifier part
Ejector Single effect Te = 10, 0, 10 NH3–H2O The COP enhanced by half; [147]
(First combination) 50 < Tg < 130 Reduction in the circulation ratio by
Tc = 25, 30, 35, 40 three-fifth leading the decrease in
Ta = 30, 35, 40, 45 overall cost
Ejector Single effect – NH3–LiNO3 Reducing the operating temperature [150]
(First combination) relatively 9C compared to the
traditional single-effect cycle;
Increasing the performance for
intermediate temperature
Ejector Single effect Te = 0 NH3– LiNO3 + Producing larger performance in [151]
(First combination) 60 < Tg < 120 NH3–NaSCN respect to the single-effect cycle at low
Tc = Ta = 30, 35, 40 generator temperatures
Ejector Single effect 5 < Te < 15 LiBr-H2O The COP of combined system can be [152]
(Second combination) 190 < Tg < 220 improved by 50% compared to a
22 < Tc,Ta < 40 standard single-effect absorption
system;
Ejector Double Te = 4, 7, 10 LiBr-H2O Reduction in the overall cost of the [156]
(Second combination) effect 102 < Tg <192 whole system in comparison to the
(Series Tc = Ta = 32, 37, 42 double effect cycle in series mode
mode)
Compressor Single effect Te = 10 LiBr-H2O + Reduction of 45% in mechanical [158]
Double 30 < Tc ; Ta < 38 CO2-R134a energy consumption compared to the
effect 107 < Tg < 147 classical compression cycle;
50% increase in the COP
Compressor Single effect 70 < Tg < 76 NH3–H2O+ The COP enhanced by 37–54% in [160]
Te = 10 R717, R22, R134a respect to the conventional cycle
Tc = Ta = 35
Compressor Single effect Te = 10 LiBr-H2O+ Considerable reduction in electrical [163]
Tc = Ta = 40 NH3–H2O+ energy consumption compared to
R134a, R-410A, conventional compression cycle;
NH3 Combined system employing LiBr-
H2O produced greater performance
than that using NH3–H2O
Compressor Single effect 80 < Tg < 120 NH3–H2O The thermal performance of the [166]
Tc = Ta = 30 absorption-compression refrigeration
Te = 15 system improved 17% compared to
that of conventional absorption
system for the generation
temperature of 100C.
Absorption cooling systems 731

Fig. 30 Effect of (a) condenser temperature and (b) evaporator temperature on COP and exergy efficiency in a branched GAX cycle
(Reprinted from Kholghi and Mahmoudi [81], with permission from publisher).

cycle was larger at higher generation temperatures and lower the evaporation temperature exerted an opposite effect on
evaporation temperatures, with the maximum COP achieved the COP and the exergy efficiency. It is observable from
at the highest coolant temperature. Fig. 30b that the COP increased by 73.68% and the exergy effi-
Xu and Dai [31] investigated a double-effect H2O-LiBr ciency decreased by 1.46% when the evaporator temperature
absorption cooling system in the parallel flow scheme to anal- increased from 4 °C to 10 °C.
yse the effect of various design parameters like the ratio of Garosi Farshi et al. [154] presented an exergy-economic
heat-recovery, solution circulation and ratio of solution distri- examination of a double-effect LiBr-H2O absorption refriger-
bution on the system efficiency. The results illustrated that the ation system for three different configurations. The authors
COP improved with an enhancement in the distribution ratio analysed the cost of system construction under different work-
of the solution and/or a decrease in the solution circulation ing conditions. It was observed that the highest and lowest
ratio. Moreover, increased heat recovery ratio of the low- costs were associated with the series and revers flow types,
temperature and high-temperature heat exchangers led to respectively. Xu et al. [32] conducted a theoretical study to
enhanced system COP. The efficiency of a double-effect cycle analyse a double-effect LiBr-H2O absorption refrigeration sys-
with the mixture of ammonia and water was analysed by Ade- tem in the series flow layout. They indicated that the coefficient
wusi and Zubair [178]. It was observed that the cycle COP was of performance experienced a minimal decrease as the solution
equal to 0.734 when the operating temperatures of 198 °C, concentration increased. The thermal balance between the low-
10 °C and 40 °C were selected for the generator, evaporator pressure desorber (LPD) and the high-pressure condenser
and absorber/condenser, respectively. The COP experienced a (HPC) impose significant effects on the efficiency of the
considerable increase and it reached 0.9 when the temperatures absorption system. Indeed, the LPG can use the heat released
of the absorber and condenser dropped to 30 °C. There was from the HPC as a source of energy. In this regard, Yılmaz
also a further rise in the system performance as reaching 1.1 et al. [181] performed a thermodynamic investigation for the
when the evaporation temperature reached 5 °C. Ventas HPC of a double-effect H2O/LiBr absorption refrigeration sys-
et al. [179] proposed a novel two-stage double-effect absorp- tem in the series flow mode. They reported that the system
tion system with NH3-LiNO3 solution for combined cold COP can be improved by the appropriate selection of the
and power generation. It was found that an increment in the HPC temperature.
generation pressure and a reduction in the absorption temper- Karamangil et al. [104] analysed the influence of working
ature improved the energy performance of the system. More- factors such as the condensation, generation, absorption, and
over, the efficiency of the proposed cycle was 32% larger evaporation temperatures on the COP in a single-stage absorp-
than that of the double-effect cycle in parallel-flow mode. tion refrigeration system. The results revealed that the energy
Recently, Azhar and Siddiqui [180] performed an energetic efficiency of the system increased by increasing the generation
investigation of a LiBr-H2O double-effect vapour absorption and evaporation temperatures. On the other hand, the COP
cycle to optimize the working temperatures in the major gener- experienced a decline with increasing the condensation and
ator, the subsidiary generator and the condenser for achieving absorption temperatures. The results agreed with numerical
the highest performance in the system. Kholghi and Mah- results of Sun [118] and experimental results of Aphornratana
moudi [81] performed a parametric study to analyse the influ- and Sriveerakul [182]. Atmaca et al. [183] investigated the
ence of some design variables. The condensation temperature influences of inlet working fluid temperatures including the
and the evaporation temperature on the COP and the exergy chilled water, hot water, and cooling water passing through
efficiency in a branched GAX cycle were examined. The results the evaporator, generator, and absorber, respectively. They
revealed that the COP and the exergy efficiency heavily demonstrated that the absorber surface area reduced with
depended on the condenser temperature as the system effi- increasing of the chilled water and hot water while it enlarged
ciency dropped considerably as the condenser temperature as the cooling water increased. In addition, the COP showed
increased reaching 50 °C, Fig. 30a. In addition, increasing different behaviours toward an increase in the chilled water
732 R. Nikbakhti et al.

and cooling water as it increased with the former but experi-

enced a decline with the latter. Patel et al. [184] performed a
comprehensive thermodynamic study of a LiBr-H2O absorp-
tion refrigeration system with a cooling capacity of 140 kW.
The influence of exit temperature of the major components
on the system performance was analysed in their work. The
results displayed that the COP benefited from a higher value
for lower temperatures in the exit of the condenser and gener-
ator. However, there was a gradual decrease in the system per-
formance as the temperatures increased. This was mainly
because of an increment in the circulation ratio and heat load
at the absorber and generator as well as a reduction in the con-
centration of strong solution. Shiue et al. [185] conducted a
numerical study to analyse the influence of different operating
conditions on the energy performance of a LiBr-H2O absorp-
tion chiller driven by waste heat from municipal solid inciner-
ation. The authors found that increasing the heat exchanger
effectiveness and the high-pressure generator temperature Fig. 31 Effect of generator temperature on COP for four
can lead to an increase in the performance of the system. In absorber temperatures (Reprinted from Modi et al. [186], with
addition, the results revealed that the COP can be also permission from publisher).
increased by decreasing the absorber and condenser tempera-
tures, and/or improving the loading factor of the system. Won-
chala et al. [13] executed a parametric investigation of a single-
effect absorption cooling system applying LiBr/H2O working the generator varied between 6 and 37 °C. On the other hand,
pair. The influence of various key parameters such as the heat the tripe-effect cycle showed a high exergy performance when
source temperature, the main components temperatures and the temperature difference was above 37 °C. Gao et al. [127]
the effectiveness of solution heat exchanger on the system per- analysed the effect of different operating parameters on the
formance was investigated. The results disclosed that the cycle system performance based on the first and second thermody-
performance was significantly affected by the all studied namics law. They found that both the COP and exergetic effi-
parameters. Modi et al. [186] numerically modelled a single- ciency of the system improved by the application of the air-
effect LiBr/H2O absorption refrigeration system. Fig. 31 exhi- cooled non-adiabatic absorber. Moreover, the results revealed
bits that the COP raised with the increase of the generator tem- that the total exergy destruction of the system was significantly
perature (75 °C to 110 °C) but it remained relatively constant affected by the solution heat exchanger and the generator.
with further increase in the generator temperature. Further- Iranmanesh and Mehrabian [190] perfoemed a dynamic simu-
more, it was found that the COP improved with a decrease lation of a single-effect LiBr-H2O absorption refrigeration
in the absorber and condenser temperatures from 45 °C to cycle. The infleunces of thermal masses of main components
30 °C. Horuz and Callander [187] conducted an experimental on both cycle performance and the exergetic efficiency was
study of the efficiency of a commercially available vapour analysed. They concluded that the high-pressure components
absorption refrigeration system of 10 kW cooling capacity. It were highly affected by thermal masses, while the effect of
was found that the system operated with higher performance thermal masses on the low-pressure components were minor.
if the cooling source temperature of the absorber was larger Furthermore, it was disclosed that the thermal mass of the
than that of the condenser. It was also observed that the cool- condenser had the most significant effect on the COP and
ing capacity increased when there was an increment in the the exergetic efficiency as compared to that of other compo-
cooling water flow rate for the condenser. Marcos et al. [188] nents. Myat et al. [191] conducted a work to study the perfor-
demonstrated a novel approach to optimize the performance mance of a single-effect absorption refrigeration system using
in water- and air-cooled single and double-effect absorption an entropy generation analysis. They managed to demonstrate
chilleres applying LiBr/H2O solution. They managed to a second law analysis with specific entropy minimization by
demosntrate properly the influence of various working param- applying the genetic algorithm tool. The results showed that
eters such as the solution concentration and the condensation a decrease in the entropy generation resulted in the maximiza-
temperature on the system efficiency by applying their new tion of the chiller COP. Ochoa et al. [192] analysed the effect of
method. In this way, one could clearly define the limitations the variations of the overall heat transfer coefficient as a func-
of the crystallization in various conditions; this was especially tion of the thermophysical properties on the dynamic efficiency
the case in the design of air-cooled chillers. of a single-effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller. The authors
Azhar and Siddiqui [189] carried out an exergy analysis of managed to demonstrate why increasing the hot water temper-
single to triple effect direct and indirect fired absorption sys- ature cannot lead, necessarily, to an improvement in the COP
tems using H2O-LiBr working pair. They focused on optimiza- of the system. In another investigation, Ramesh kumar et al.
tion of the single to triple effect cycles for various operating [162] provided a detailed model of heat transfer of the GAX
conditions. Optimum parameters in different components for absorption compression system using solution of H2O-NH3.
maximum exergy coefficient of performance and minimum The authors studied the influence of heat transfer conductance,
exergy destruction rate were determined. The results indicated UA, of each component on the performance and cooling
that the double-effect cycle had a greater exergy performance capacity of the system. It was observed that the UA of the gen-
when the temperature difference between the heat source and erator and absorber exerted a considerable effect on the system
Absorption cooling systems 733

Fig. 32 COP variation with main components temperature for absorption system.

efficiency. The highest performance of the system was obtained 7. Conclusion

for the minimum value of the UA in the all heat exchanger
components. The most significant efforts to develop strategies for enhancing
As observed throughout the manuscript, the COP of an the performance of absorption refrigeration systems were
absorption cooling system is affected by different operating reviewed. These included developments in the cycle design,
conditions, especially the temperature of the four main system heat recovery cycles, working fluids, combination of the
components. Fig. 32 shows the changes in the COP with the absorption cycle with particular subcomponents, and optimiz-
variations of the temperatures of generator, condenser, evapo- ing the operating conditions. A summary of the findings is pre-
rator and the absorber. According to this figure, the COP sented in the following:
increases with the generator and evaporator temperatures.
On the other hand, any increase in the condenser and absorber - Different types of absorption cycles have been designed
temperatures causes a decrease in the system COP. Compared with different the numbers of effects and stages. According
to the temperature of the other system components, the gener- to the literature, the single-effect absorption cycle repre-
ator temperature variations have the most significant influence sents the standard absorption cycle to which the efficiencies
on the COP. of almost all other absorption cycles are compared.
- Double-effect absorption systems have been proposed to
6. Current and future aspects of developments improve the system performance when high-temperature
thermal sources of energy are available.
The present review of various investigations performed on dif- - The best energy performance has been achieved by the
ferent aspects of the absorption refrigeration technology triple-effect absorption cycle followed by double-effect
demonstrated that many attempts have been made to promote and single-effect cycles.
such systems in terms of performance and reliability and - In general, multi-effect absorption systems, and in particu-
develop innovative applications of this technology. In spite lar, triple-effect cycles have registered higher performance
of the considerable improvements in the system efficiency, fur- compared to the single- and double-effect absorption
ther research is required to enhance the absorption systems in cycles, although an increase in the number of effects cannot
the following areas: necessarily favor the system performance due to the resul-
tant increase in the complexity and average total cost of
i) improving new working fluid pairs and preventing cor- the system. Moreover, higher-temperature thermal sources
rosion to bring down the cost of the system; are required to drive multi-effect cycles.
ii) introducing advanced heat recovery strategies to - Single-effect double-lift absorption cycle has been proposed
enhance the heat recovery across the system while avoid- when the heat source temperature is very low. This cycle,
ing design complexities by integrating subcomponents however, may not produce comparable performance to that
into the system; of single-effect cycles.
iii) designing new absorption cycles and higher- - Heat recovery cycles, and particularly GAX cycles, are sim-
performance absorbers and generators; and ple to understand and contribute to the energy performance
iv) extending the utilization of low-grade thermal sources of the absorption refrigeration system significantly.
(e.g., solar and geothermal energies) for application of - Branched GAX cycle has been more efficient than GAX
absorption technology. cycle, as far as the heat recovery was concerned, as it pro-
duces higher performance at lower heat input temperature.
734 R. Nikbakhti et al.

- Other advanced cycles have been also proposed to further cooling system for solar based applications, J Chem Pharm
improve the system performance. Regeneration absorption Sci 12 (2017) 1–7.
cycle, for example, is an advanced heat recovery cycle in [12] O. Kaynakli, M. Kilic, Theoretical study on the effect of
which the COP is enhanced by 30% over the simple operating conditions on performance of absorption
refrigeration system, Energy Convers. Manage. 48 (2007)
GAX cycle.
599–607.
- Although different working fluid pairs, such as ternary and
[13] J. Wonchala, M. Hazledine, K.G. Boulama, Solution
quaternary solutions, have been developed to provide a bet- procedure and performance evaluation for a water–LiBr
ter energy performance for especial applications, two main absorption refrigeration machine, Energy 65 (2014) 272–284.
working fluid pairs including LiBr-H2O and H2O-NH3 [14] M. Medrano, M. Bourouis, A. Coronas, Double-lift
have been the most prominent cases in the absorption absorption refrigeration cycles driven by low–temperature
cycles for general usage. heat sources using organic fluid mixtures as working pairs,
- Sub-components (e.g., SHE, flash tank and distillation col- Appl. Energy 68 (2001) 173–185.
umn) can be added to an absorption cycle to rise its COP [15] C. Ying, Z. Yuqun, G. Wei, Z. Jun, SE/DL absorption
and CC and appropriate it for low-grade thermal sources. refrigeration cycle driven by low temperature heat resources,
Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica 23 (2002) 102–107.
- The absorption cycles with integrated ejector or compressor
[16] C.J. Schweigler, P. Riesch, S. Demmel, G. Alefeld, A new
could produce enhanced energy efficiency, as compared to
absorption chiller to establish combined cold, heat, and power
simple cycles. generation utilizing low-temperature heat, American Society of
- Single-effect absorption systems have been extensively stud- Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.,
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- The system performance can be enhanced by optimizing the single-effect and single-effect double-lift absorption machines
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tributions to the energy efficiency. stage air-cooled absorption refrigeration system for solar
cooling: cycle analysis and absorption cooling performances,
Renew. Energy 36 (2011) 1401–1412.
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Declaration of Competing Interest studies on an air-cooled two-stage NH3-H2O solar absorption
air-conditioning prototype, Energy 45 (2012) 581–587.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest [20] X. Yan, G. Chen, D. Hong, S. Lin, L. Tang, A novel
regarding the publication of this article. absorption refrigeration cycle for heat sources with large
temperature change, Appl. Therm. Eng. 52 (2013) 179–186.
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