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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

5.1 INTRODUCTION

The performance of the air-cooled GAX based ammonia-water

vapour absorption refrigeration system has been investigated, and the results
from the investigations have been discussed in detail in the previous chapters.
The conclusions drawn from the theoretical and experimental investigations
are given below.

5.2 CONCLUSION BASED ON THE THEORETICAL STUDIES

The conclusions drawn from the pinch point analysis and the
thermodynamic analysis of the air-cooled GAX based vapour absorption
refrigeration system are furnished below:

1. The graphical method of the pinch point analysis revealed the

importance of recovering the internal energy to the maximum
possible extent, which reduces the heating and cooling
utilities.

2. The need for a separate rectification column is eliminated in

the modified cycle, due to the incorporation of the GAX
component on the high pressure side.

3. The amount of internal heat recovered decreases with increase

in the split factors, for various operating conditions.
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4. The system performance is found to vary between 10 and 40%

when the split factor is decreased from 0.9 to 0.7, at a fixed
generator temperature.

5. The split factor has been optimized to yield the maximum

COP under different operating conditions. The optimum split
factor is found to be between 0.8 and 0.9.

6. The minimum and the maximum amount of internal heat

recovered in the modified cycle are 12.74 kW and 26.73 kW
respectively, corresponding to a split factor of 0.8.

7. The performance of the modified cycle is found to be better

even for the lowest evaporator and highest sink temperatures
of -10°C and 45°C respectively, corresponding to the split
factors of 0.8 and 0.9.

8. An improvement of upto 55% in the COP of the modified

cycle has been obtained, when compared to that of the
conventional cycle, corresponding to a split factor, generator,
sink and evaporator temperatures of 0.9, 150 °C, 25°C and
-10°C respectively.

9. The COP of the system increases from 0.74 to 1.01 as the

evaporator temperature is increased from -10°C to 10°C, for
the constant generator and sink temperatures of 150°C and
35°C respectively and a split factor of 0.8.

10. The influence of the solution heat exchanger is higher than

that of the condensate pre-cooler with regard to obtaining high
COP values, for the same operating conditions.
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5.3 CONCLUSION BASED ON THE EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

The experimental investigations on the air-cooled GAX based

ammonia-water vapour absorption refrigeration system of 10.5 kW cooling
capacity lead to the following conclusions.

1. A low evaporator temperature of -5°C has been achieved for

the generator and sink temperatures of 135°C and 35°C
respectively, under no load conditions.

2. The solution heat exchanger 1, SX1 contributes to about 60 to

70% of the total amount of heat recovered internally.

3. The amount of internal heat recovered is about 9 to 16 kW

under various operating conditions.

4. The system delivered a maximum cooling capacity of about

9.5 kW with a fuel COP of 0.61, for a generator and
evaporator temperatures of 120°C and 2°C respectively.

4. The deviation between the thermodynamic and fuel COP is

estimated to be 20 to 25% due to the heat losses and internal
irreversibility in the system.

5. The influence of the sink temperature on the performance of

the system shows that the amount of internal heat recovered
increases with an increase in the sink temperature and a fuel
COP of 0.60 was attained at 35 °C sink temperature.

The research presented here investigates the concept of an air-

cooled absorption system. It focuses on the feasibility and application of
operating the air-cooled vapour absorption refrigeration system using an
environment friendly working fluid.
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5.4 CLOSURE

The feasibility of using ammonia-water in the air-cooled GAX

based vapour absorption refrigeration system of 10.5 kW capacity has been
studied in this work.

5.5 SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

Further to this study, it is possible to carry out research in the

following broad areas in connection with the ammonia-water vapour
absorption refrigeration system.

(a) Heat transfer modeling of the air-cooled GAX based vapour

absorption refrigeration system.

(b) Combined drying and storage of agricultural products with air-

cooled ammonia-water absorption heat pump system for rural
area applications.

(c) Combined refrigeration and power cycle with the GAX

concept, which will give the highest power and refrigeration
output.