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Abstract
This paper describes a novel vapour absorption refrigeration system in which a pervaporation membrane replaces the
conventional generator for the concentration of working fluids. The use of a pervaporation membrane gives two potential
advantages to the vapour absorption system; i.e. enhanced selectivity of the components to be separated from the working fluids
and a lower space requirement. Issues related to integration of a pervaporation membrane into a vapour absorption system and
the performances of such a system have been investigated. The results indicate that the pervaporation membrane process could
be an alternative to the distillation process that is widely used in vapour absorption systems.
q 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd and IIR.
Keywords: Design; Absorbtion system; Absorber; Membrane; Mass transfer; COP; experiment
Fig. 10. The permeate rate for mixture solution on silicon membrane
(55% potassium formate þ 25% caesium formate, solution
Fig. 8. Permeate flux as a function of concentration and pressure temperature ¼ 70 8C).
(solution temperature ¼ 70 8C, solution concentration in mass
fraction). the polymer membrane module and 44% was contributed by
6.2. Effect of working fluid the silicon membrane module. In terms of the cooling
capacity per m2 of membrane surface under the working
The experimental results also show that the mixture of conditions described above, the polymer membrane module
working fluids could improve permeate rate. With 75% and the ceramic membrane module delivered 39 and
concentration of a mixture of working fluid (55% potassium 256 W m22, respectively.
formate and 25% caesium formate), the silicon membrane Under the same working conditions, the measured power
module can deliver permeate flux above 580 g h21 m22 in input to the system was 2545 W excluding the power
the same permeate pressure range, which is approximately consumption of the circulation pump which was measured
five times that of the potassium only solution (Fig. 10). approximately 10% of the input heat. This gives a COP of
0.06 to the prototype system for cooling. Compared with
6.3. Cooling capacity and COP of the prototype system conventional absorption systems, the COP of the prototype
system is very low. However, it should be noted that the low
The cooling capacity and COP of the prototype system COP is the result of the high circulation factor used in
were tested under the following conditions: 30 8C for the system, which is necessary because these pilot membrane
absorber and condenser temperatures (corresponding to modules require high feed flow rate to operate. The COP of
42 mbar of permeate pressure); 75 8C for the feed solution the system could be improved significantly, if the structure
temperature; the concentration change was within 0.1%. of the membrane modules were properly designed to suit the
The very small concentration change in this case was due to application for vapour absorption heat pump systems.
the large feed flow rate required by the pilot membrane
modules. Under these conditions, 10 8C evaporating tem- 6.4. Pore blockage
perature was achieved from the prototype system experi-
mentally and the cooling capacity of 140 W was measured It was noticed that the permeate rate of the silicon
for the prototype system, in which 56% was contributed by membrane module decreased with running time. Further
experiment showed the relationship between the falling
permeate flux and time in Fig. 11. As it can be seen from
Fig. 11, the fall in the permeate flux occurred at every operation conditions is 8.41. It is obvious that if the
permeate pressures investigated. The permeate flux could be prototype system had been operated between 73.3 and 80%
restored to the original value, if the membrane module was concentrations, the COP of the system would have been
washed with fresh water. In contrast to the silicon somewhere around 0.5. Clearly, the COP of the prototype
membrane, the dense membrane (PERVAP@2201C) did system has been severely affected by the high circulation
not show a fall in permeate flux with time. The polymer factor. It is therefore crucial to keep the solution flow rate in
membrane module (PERVAP@2201C) worked well with the membrane module as low as possible for this
aqueous potassium formate solution throughout the experi- application. The requirement for the solution velocity in
mental period. It is therefore believed that the fall in the membrane module could be met by reducing the cross-
permeate flux was due to salt gradually blocking the pores of sectional area of the flow path. Use of high permeability
the membrane. This finding suggests that the porous membrane could also effectively reduce the circulation
membrane may not be suitable for salt-based working fluids. factor. This problem could also be eliminated by separating
the circulation for the concentration process from the main
solution circulation of the system at the cost of an extra
7. Discussion pump. Nevertheless, this is not a major issue for the
pervaportion membrane to be used in vapour absorption
7.1. Low COP from the prototype system systems.
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