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Heat Recovery Systems & ClIP Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 391-396, 1992 0890-4332/92 $5.00 + .

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Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press Ltd

AN OPEN CYCLE ABSORPTION HEAT PUMP

R. M. LAZZARIN,* G. A. LONGOI" and F. PICC~ah-NI:~


*Istituto di Ingegneria Gestionale deil'Universit~i di Padova; i'Istituto di Fisica Teeniea delrUniversit~ di
Padova; and :~Istituto di Fisica Teenica del Politecnico di Bari

(Received 30 January 1992)

Abstract--The absorption cycle can be also of the open type. This concept has been utilized in developing
solar cooling absorption systems. Another possibility not yet investigated is an open cycle absorption
heat pump. The system rests upon the utilization of a packed tower operating with liquid desiccants.
The tower dehumidifies both the exhausted air of heating plant and the exhaust of a natural gas boiler.
A conventional heater heats up the regenerator of the sorbent and the inlet air. Simulations give a PER
of the system (the open cycle heat pump) higher than 1.3 with respect to the Gross Calorific Value of
natural gas. This value is difficult to obtain with the more complex closed cycle absorption or vapour
compression cycle motor driven heat pump.

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N
An open cycle system is intended as one where the working fluid is continuously changed. In power
cycles it is a very common system, for example in i.c. engines. In inverse cycles it is however seldom
utilized: the most common plant is the inverse gas cycle utilized for airplane air conditioning. The
main disadvantage of the open cycle is the continuous replacement of the working fluid which is
often exhausted with an appreciable enthalpy. The advantage is the relative simplicity of the system
which works with less devices (e.g. in the vapour cycles there is no condenser); moreover, it is
often possible to treat directly a fluid (for example air) without heat exchangers and with very low
temperature drops.
Particularly in solar cooling applications some open cycle systems were proposed [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
above all to lower the requested temperature levels, realizing at the same time a less expensive
machine.
By absorption dehumidification it is possible to obtain an open cycle absorption heat pump fed
by a natural gas burner. The machine couples great simplicity with very good thermodynamic
performance. The main feature is the recovery of the latent heat of the air flow.

2. SYSTEM D E S C R I P T I O N
The open cycle heat pump is applied here to building heating, internal temperature 20C, relative
humidity 50%, with forced ventilation. The system has essentially a packed tower bed for
dehumidification, a regenerator fed by a natural gas burner, connected to a condenser, and some
heat exchangers.
A schematic view can be seen in Fig. 1 where the different devices appear dispersed for clarity.
The air, exhausted from the heated room, is mixed with the exhaust of the regenerator burner. The
exhaust is at a temperature of about 150C with a high vapour content (around 100g/kg). The
resulting gas mixture will be the heat pump cold source. It is treated in the packed bed with a
sorption solution, such as lithium bromide/water. At the outlet of the packed bed the gas mixture
is at a temperature little different from the inlet, but with a low water content.
The sorption solution, after the packed bed, has a first heat exchange in the heat exchanger
EXCH. 2. Then it enters the regenerator heated by a gas burner. The solution is regenerated and
water vapour is separated towards a condenser at a small vacuum condition. The solution at the
outlet of the regenerator is at a temperature of 75C, so that it is suitable for a heat exchange in
EXCH. 2 with the solution coming from the packed bed at a temperature of about 30C. A further
cooling of the sorption solution is obtained in a liquid-gas heat exchanger EXCH. 1 with fresh air.
Then the solution returns to the packed bed and the solution cycle is closed.
~Rs n/5-e 391
392 R.M. LAZZ~IN et al.

EXHAUSTED
AiR

FRESH
AIR

VAPOUR

SMOKES

~ ~ L BUILDING
ATENTHEAT
m

~*,,,- L.SEN$IIILEHEAT RECIRCULATED


AIR
Fig. 1. Block diagram of the open cycle absorption heat pump.

The fresh air is preheated twice: first in the heat exchanger EXCH. 4 by the air treated in the
packed bed, then in the exchanger EXCH. 1 by the solution. The air is then preheated in a typical
winter condition from 0 to 33C and then it is mixed with recirculated air.
The resulting air is heated in the condenser, whereas the condensate is discharged. The required
temperature of 40C is reached in the exchanger EXCH. 3 with the exhaust of the regenerative
burner.
The energy analysis of the system outlines that the natural gas calorific value is almost wholly
utilized: the exhaust leaves at a temperature of only 11C with a water content of 4 g/kg. Moreover,
the latent heat of the exhausted air is recovered: it is the heat added by the heat pump effect. Given
the simplicity of the system, the performances are highly interesting.

3. P R E D I C T E D P E R F O R M A N C E S
The system was simulated to satisfy a heating load of 12 kW plus a fresh air load for a flow rate
of 1080 kg/h (0.3 kg/s). This load also depends on the outside conditons: for usual winter outside
conditions in Italy it could be about 6 kW. Therefore the whole heating load to be satisfied is
18 kW. The proposed system meets the load, heating fresh and recirculated air at an inlet
temperature of 40C. The internal latent load is assumed to be 3 kW. In the scheme an adiabatic
saturator should be inserted before or after the condenser in case of lower latent loads.
The performances are given by the ratio between the whole satisfied load and the chemical energy
of the natural gas which feeds the regenerative burner: it is the only energy input to the plant. This
ratio is the PER (Primary Energy Ratio) which is supplied on two scales, one referred correctly
to the Gross Calorific Value (GVC) and one to the usual reference at the Net Calorific Value
(NCV). To appreciate the results, let us remember that the PER for a natural gas boiler is 0.85,
1.2-1.3 for an absorption heat pump, and approaching 1.4-1.5 for a motor driven heat pump. Two
parameters control system working once the packed bed is sized: the solution concentration and
the ratio between solution and air flow rates (L/G) in the packed bed.
An open cycle absorption heat pump 393

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394 R.M. LAZZARIN et al.

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..~

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An open cycle absorption heat pump 395

As regards the concentration let us consider in Fig. 2. the PER as a function of concentration.
The PER increases with the concentration. However, it is not advisable to overcome 58% to limit
crystallization risks. The PER obtainable is higher than 1.4 which is a very high value, so much
the more that the supposed efficiencies of the heat exchangers can be easily reached. Figure 3
illustrates the influence of L/G ratio: lowering the solution flow rate increases the PER for a given
air flow rate. Higher solution flow rates are cooled less effectively by the fresh air in the EXCH. 1
so that there is less sorption ability.
Moreover, the losses due to the solution heat exchanger (EXCH. 2) increase: a higher solution
flow rate must be heated from EXCH. 2 outlet temperature to the regenerator temperature. Below
a 0.5 L/G the program does not give stable results. It is interesting to consider the influence of the
efficiencies of the heat exchangers EXCH. 1 and EXCH. 2. The heat exchanger EXCH. 1 is a
liquid-gas one: it easily reaches an efficiency of 0.70. The heat exchanger EXCH. 2 is a liquid-liquid
one with a normal efficiency of 0.85.
In Fig. 4 the PER is represented as a function of the EXCH. 1 efficiency for three different
EXCH. 2 efficiencies: 0.80-0.85-0.90. The efficiency strongly influences the PER, particularly for
the heat exchanger EXCH. 1. The PER varies from a minimum of 1.40 to 1.54 (concentration 58%
L/G = 0.66). For the heat exchanger EXCH. 4, which is a gas-gas one, a 0.60 efficiency was
assumed. In Fig. 5 the thermal powers exchanged in the heat exchangers and in the condenser are
given as a function of concentration. The heat exchanger EXCH. 4 apart, both EXCH. 1, EXCH. 3
and the condenser show a strong variation with the concentration.
A higher efficiency in the gas-gas exchanger EXCH. 4 can improve appreciably the PER as
illustrated in Fig. 6. This efficiency is varied from 0.50 to 0.70 for the three efficiencies of the
liquid-liquid heat exchanger (0.80-0.85-0.90) with EXCH. 1 at 0.70.

PER GCV P ER NCV

1.40

Exh*nller 2
Effickllcy
1.48
!.30,

120 J . J , , .

0.8 O.e 0.7


Exhanller 4 Efficilmcy

Fig. 6. PER as a function of the EXCH. 4 efficiency for three EXCH, 2 efficiencies. (EXCH. 1 efficiency
at 0.70).
396 R.M. LAZZARINel al.

T h e P E R exceeds 1.55, a r r i v i n g at 1.60, w h e n all the h i g h e s t efficiencies c o n s i d e r e d here


(0.70-4).80-0.90 respectively) are selected.

REFERENCES
1. H. M. Factor and G. Grossman, A packed bed dehumidifier/regenerator for solar air conditioning with liquid
desiccants. Solar Energy 24, 541-550 (1980).
2. P. Gandhidasan, C. F. Kettleborough, M. Rifat Ullah, Calculation of heat mass transfer coefficients in a packed tower
operating with a desiccant-air contact system. J. Solar Energy Engng 1 ~ , 123-128 (1986).
3. P. Gandhidasan, C. F. Kenleborough, M. Rifat Ullah, Analysis of heat and mass transfer between a desiccant-air
system in a packed tower. J. Solar Energy Engng 109, 89-93 (1987).
4. S. Patanaik, T. G. Lenz, G. O. G. L6f, Performance studies for an experimental solar open-cycle liquid desiccant air
dehumidification system. Solar Energy 44, 123-135 (1990).
5. M. Bolzan and R. Lazzarin, Comparison between two absorption cooling systems of the 'open' type under different
climatic conditions. Int. J. Refrg. 2, 143-149 (1979).

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