A general thermodynamic framework for understanding the behaviour of absorption chillers

In this article, a general definition of the process average temperature ha s been developed, and the impact of the various dissipative mechanisms on 1 /COP of the chiller evaluated. The present component-by-component black box analysis removes the assumptions regarding the generator outlet temperatur e(s) and the component effective thermal conductances. Mass transfer resist ance is also incorporated into the absorber analysis to arrive at a more re alistic upper limit to the cooling capacity. Finally, the theoretical found ation for the absorption chiller T-s diagram is derived. This diagrammatic approach only requires the inlet and outlet conditions of the chiller compo nents and can be employed as a practical tool for system analysis and compa rison. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.