Optimization of solution circulation rate and heat transfer area distribution for hot-water driven LiBr/H2O absorption chillers

The heat transfer area of an absorption chiller’s component deTermines the performance and manufacturing cost of the device. Therefore, optimizing the heat transfer area is critical in designing an absorption chiller. In this study, a new systematic optimization method for the solution circulation rate and the heat transfer area distribution was proposed to maximize the system performance of single-effect absorption chillers. The total performance improvement ratio (IRtotal) was introduced so that the improvement of the cooling capacity and the COP could be considered together. To validate the optimization method, an exemplar optimization process was carried out for a commercial single-effect absorption chiller. In this example, about 4 % improvement in the IRtotal was possible by just reducing the solution circulation rate and re-distributing the heat transfer area among the system components. The optimization method presented in this study is expected to play an important role in maximizing the system performance of single-effect absorption chillers.