Performance enhancement of ejector–absorption cooling cycle by re-arrangement of solution streamlines and adding RHE

• COP enhancement of a flash tank-ejector–absorption cooling cycle by efficient heat recovery.
• Overall COP enhancement is 12.2%, COP increment with the new arrangement of solution streams is 8%.
• COP increment and cooling capacity with added RHE are 4.2% and 4.85%, respectively.
• After modification, the cycle shows a lower generator thermal load and higher evaporator thermal load.
• Applying a statistical paired t-test, an extremely significant “cycles performance difference” is confirmed.

Performance of ejector-flash tank-absorption cooling system working with NH3/H2O is still subject for further enhancement. The aim of this study is to optimize the utilization of the internal heat recovery of the system. Two modifications are considered, namely, a new arrangement of solution streamlines between the absorber and generator and adding a refrigerant heat exchanger (RHE) between the condenser and evaporator. Energy balance analysis is performed to compare the COP enhancement of the proposed cycle before and after modification. The COP of the proposed cycle after modification showed a significant COP enhancement about 12.2%. The COP increment with the new arrangement of the solution streamlines and adding RHE are 8% and 4.2% respectively. The results show that the cooling capacity increment of the proposed cycle with added RHE is 4.85%. Moreover, the results showed that the proposed cycle significantly reduced the generator thermal load and increased slightly the evaporator thermal load (i.e., cooling effect) compare to the cycle before modification.