Refrigeration in a world without CFCs

In an era of heightened awareness of energy efficiency and the associated environmental impacts, many industries, worldwide, are exploring ``environmentally friendly`` technologies that provide equivalent or improved performance while reducing or eliminating harmful side effects. The refrigeration and air conditioning industry, due to its reliance on CFCs and HCFCs has invested in research in alternatives to the industry standard vapor compression machines. One alternative technology with great promise is chemical absorption. Absorption chillers offer comparable refrigeration output with reduced SO{sub 2}, CO{sub 2}, and NO{sub x} emissions. Additionally, absorption chillers do not use CFCs or HCFCs, refrigerants that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction for those new to absorption technology as well as a discussion of selected high efficiency cycles and environmental impacts for those familiar with absorption. The introduction will include a brief history of absorption and a description of the basic refrigeration cycle, while the advanced sections will discuss triple-effect technology and a life-cycle or ``systems`` approach to evaluating global warming impacts