Air conditioning using an air-cooled single effect lithium bromide absorption chiller: Results of a trial conducted in Madrid in August 2005

Trials were conducted to determine the performance of a commercial (Rotartica 045v) 4.5-kW air-cooled, single effect LiBr/H2O absorption chiller for residential use. The experiments were run at La Poveda, Arganda del Rey, Madrid, in August 2005. Three typical August days, with different outdoor temperatures, were chosen for the study. The hot water inlet temperature in the generator varied throughout the day from 80 to 107 °C. Thermal demand was calculated, along with period energy balance and COP. Variations in machine component temperatures were recorded and chilling power and the daily COP calculated for each of the three days. The results for the period as a whole showed that cooling power tended to decline with rising outdoor dry bulb temperatures. At temperatures from 35 to 41.3 °C the chilled water outlet temperature in the evaporator climbed to over 15 °C. The average COP for the period, when auxiliary equipment was included into the calculations, was 0.37.