Novel air-coupled heat exchangers for waste heat-driven absorption heat pumps

A detailed investigation of novel air-coupled absorbers for use in a diesel engine exhaust-driven ammonia-water absorption system operating in extreme ambient conditions was conducted. Electrically driven vapor-compression systems are under scrutiny due to the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants and the exacerbation of electric utility loads during peak demand periods. One alternative to vapor-compression systems is the absorption heat pump that uses environmentally benign working fluids and can be driven by a variety of heat sources, including waste heat and solar thermal processes. Direct air coupling of the absorber and condenser instead of indirect hydronic coupling can reduce absorption system size, complexity, and inefficiency, but materials compatibility issues with ammonia-water and the poor heat transfer properties of air present challenges. Heat and mass transfer modeling was used to predict the performance of round-tube corrugated-fin and compact tube-array absorbers designed for a 2.64-kW absorption chiller operated in high ambient temperature (51.7°C) conditions. A single-pressure ammonia-water test facility was constructed and used in conjunction with a temperature- and humidity-controlled air-handling unit to evaluate the absorbers at design and off-design operating conditions. Absorber performance was recorded over a range of air temperatures (35-54.4°C), air flow rates (0.38-0.74 m3 s-1), inlet solution temperatures (92-102°C), concentrated solution flow rates (0.006-0.010 kg s-1), and concentrated solution concentrations (38-46%). At design conditions, round-tube corrugated-fin absorbers of 394 and 551 Fins Per Meter (FPM) demonstrated comparable performance (Q394-FPM,exp = 4.521±0.271 kW; Q551-FPM,exp = 4.680±0.260 kW), and measured heat transfer rates were 0.7-1.9% AAD higher than those predicted through modeling. The measured heat transfer rate in the prototype tube-array absorber was significantly lower than the values predicted at design conditions (Qprot,exp = 2.22±0.24 kW; Qprot,mod = 4.33 kW). Maldistribution of the two-phase flow in the tube array is the probable cause of the disparity between the prototype absorber data and model predictions. Results from this investigation can be used to guide the development of air-coupled heat and mass exchangers for compact absorption heat pumps.M.S