Preliminary experimental characterization of a three-phase absorption heat pump

In this paper a recently commercialized three-phase absorption heat pump that is capable of storing energy internally in the form of crystallized salt (LiCl) with water as refrigerant has been experimentally investigated during summer period. The tests have been performed with the aim to investigate the operation logic of the machine and to highlight both the reliability and the efficiency of the system over an operating conditions range of great practical interest.The measured performance have been compared with those of a conventional electrically driven vapor compression refrigerating system from an energy, environmental and economic point of view in order to assess the suitability of the absorption heat pump: this comparison showed that the absorption system is potentially able to guarantee an energy saving, a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and a lower operating cost only in case of the most part (at least 70%) of required thermal energy is supplied by solar collectors.

► Performances of a thermally driven chiller have been experimentally evaluated.
► Absorption chiller operation has been compared with that of a conventional chiller.
► Data have been analysed from an energy, economic and environmental point of view.