A perennial problem with waste heat is the capital cost of plant requi
red to make its utilisation justifiable. A good example of this is the
use of waste heat to power absorption refrigerators. The capital cost
of absorption refrigerators rises sharply as the temperature of the h
eat source falls, making waste heat recovery and use uneconomic. This
paper describes and evaluates the potential of the jet-pump cycle as a
low capital cost option for providing refrigeration utilising low gra
de waste heat. A brief literature review is provided. An experimental
jet-pump refrigerator is described, experimental results are presented
and evaluated and the cost benefits of jet-pump refrigerators compare
d with vapour compression systems are discussed.