Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System
INTRODUCTION
Vapour absorption refrigeration system is one of the oldest methods of producing refrigerating effect. John Leslie in 1810 kept H2SO4 and water in two separate jars connected together. H2SO4 has very high affinity for water. It absorbs water vapour and this becomes the principle of removing the evaporated water vapour requiring no compressor or pump. H2SO4 is an absorbent in this system that has to be recycled by heating to get rid of the absorbed water vapour, for continuous operation. Windhausen in 1878 used this principle for absorption refrigeration system, which worked on H2SO4.
Ferdinand Carre invented aqua-ammonia absorption system in 1860. Water is a strong absorbent of NH3. If NH3 is kept in a vessel that is exposed to another vessel containing water, the strong absorption potential of water will cause evaporation of NH3 requiring no compressor to drive the vapours. A liquid pump is used to increase the pressure of strong solution. The strong solution is then heated in a generator and passed through a rectification column to separate the water from ammonia. The ammonia vapour is then condensed and recycled. The pump power is negligible hence; the system runs virtually on low- grade energy used for heating the strong solution to separate the water from ammonia. These systems were initially run on steam. Later on oil and natural gas based systems were introduce. In 1922, Balzar von Platen and Carl Munters, two students at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm invented a three fluid system that did not require a pump. A heating based bubble pump was used for circulation of strong and weak solutions and hydrogen was used as a non-condensable gas to reduce the partial pressure of NH3 in the evaporator. Geppert in 1899 gave this original idea but he was not successful since he was using air as non-condensable gas. Commercial production began in 1923 by the newly formed company AB Arctic, which was bought by Electrolux in 1925. In
Vapour absorption refrigeration system is one of the oldest methods of producing refrigerating effect. John Leslie in 1810 kept H2SO4 and water in two separate jars connected together. H2SO4 has very high affinity for water. It absorbs water vapour and this becomes the principle of removing the evaporated water vapour requiring no compressor or pump. H2SO4 is an absorbent in this system that has to be recycled by heating to get rid of the absorbed water vapour, for continuous operation. Windhausen in 1878 used this principle for absorption refrigeration system, which worked on H2SO4.
Ferdinand Carre invented aqua-ammonia absorption system in 1860. Water is a strong absorbent of NH3. If NH3 is kept in a vessel that is exposed to another vessel containing water, the strong absorption potential of water will cause evaporation of NH3 requiring no compressor to drive the vapours. A liquid pump is used to increase the pressure of strong solution. The strong solution is then heated in a generator and passed through a rectification column to separate the water from ammonia. The ammonia vapour is then condensed and recycled. The pump power is negligible hence; the system runs virtually on low- grade energy used for heating the strong solution to separate the water from ammonia. These systems were initially run on steam. Later on oil and natural gas based systems were introduce. In 1922, Balzar von Platen and Carl Munters, two students at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm invented a three fluid system that did not require a pump. A heating based bubble pump was used for circulation of strong and weak solutions and hydrogen was used as a non-condensable gas to reduce the partial pressure of NH3 in the evaporator. Geppert in 1899 gave this original idea but he was not successful since he was using air as non-condensable gas. Commercial production began in 1923 by the newly formed company AB Arctic, which was bought by Electrolux in 1925. In