Design of an advanced absorption heat pump for minimum payback period
Abstract
Absorption heat pumps of the type analyzed here provide process heat from waste heat. A simulation model with optimization capability is now operational for an advanced sodium hydroxide-water absorption heat pump with a regenerative loop. In this type of heat pump, increasing the area of the heat exchangers increases the dollar value of the process heat output, but it also increases the capital cost. The designer is then faced with the decision of how to allocate the heat exchanger area among the several heat pump components for optimal economic benefits. The optimization feature of the program allows the user to minimize the payback period for recovery of the capital investment in the heat pump. The computer program employs proprietary software for the optimization. The program is relatively short, about 400 lines of FORTRAN, and can readily be used with different optimization subroutines if desired. Results from the model indicate that the payback period is short, about 1 to 2 years for the standard case. These predictions make this regenerative-loop heat pump an attractive cycle for further investigation.
- Publication:
-
Presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Winter Annual Meeting
- Pub Date:
- November 1985
- Bibcode:
- 1985asme.meet.....P
- Keywords:
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- Absorbers (Equipment);
- Computer Programs;
- Heat Exchangers;
- Heat Pumps;
- Mathematical Models;
- Regeneration (Engineering);
- Cost Analysis;
- Optimization;
- Sodium Hydroxides;
- Thermodynamic Cycles;
- Waste Heat;
- Waste Utilization;
- Water;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer