Simulation and experimental research of start-up characteristics of single-effect absorption refrigerators driven by waste hot water

Recently, the absorption refrigerator has attracted much attention because it does not use freon as the coolant and it can be driven by waste heat. The absorption refrigerator contains much solution and coolant in it. Therefore, it requires a long start-up time because of the large heat capacities of the solution and the coolant. Moreover, it is known that much more heat is necessary at start-up than in steady-state operation. If it is driven by waste hot water of e.g. a combustion gas engine, the hot water return temperature becomes low at the start-up which adversely affects the engine. The purpose of this study is to construct an analytical model of the start-up characteristics of the single-effect absorption refrigerator driven by waste hot water, which can be used as a tool for investigating the problem of the start-up. Moreover, the validity of this model is confirmed by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results.