period two
Absorption Chiller Types
notes
refrigerant | | hot |
vapor | |
| water |
| |
auxiliary heating bundle
high-temperature generator
Figure 35
Chiller/Heater
One of the benefits of a direct-fired absorption chiller is that it can be used to provide both cooling and heating. These chillers, therefore, can be installed in systems to supplement, or even replace, primary heating or domestic hot water equipment. This can free up equipment-room space that was required for this heating equipment.
In the direct-fired absorption chiller shown here, an auxiliary heating bundle can be added, allowing the chiller to make hot water as well as chilled water. The auxiliary heating bundle draws in a portion of the refrigerant vapor leaving the high-temperature generator. Water flowing through the tubes absorbs heat from this hot refrigerant vapor, causing the refrigerant to condense on the tube surfaces. This transfer of heat warms the water to a temperature where it can be used for comfort heating, domestic hot water needs, or process heating loads.
The key advantage of this design is that it can be configured to operate in cooling only, heating only, or simultaneous cooling/heating modes. For simultaneous operation, however, two separate sets of pipes are needed to deliver chilled and hot water to the system.