Experimental study on LiCl solution falling-film generation process outside a vertical tube

For the purpose of the development of a generator with higher performance utilizing LiCl/H2O as the working pair in a two-stage absorption refrigeration system, an experimental investigation of LiCl solution falling film generation outside a vertical tube as the high-pressure stage solution cycle was conducted. An experimental setup was established to study heat and mass transfer process in a falling-film generator for LiCl/H2O using low-temperature heat source. The experiments showed effect of the flow rates of hot water and falling film solution, temperature of heat source, concentration of the solution and generation pressure on the LiCl/H2O generation process. To compare with conventional LiBr/H2O solution, some comparative experiments of falling film generation were tested in order to discuss the mass transfer performance of two different working pairs in a high-pressure generator. The results showed that the two working pairs had similar mass transfer rate. The LiCl/H2O solution had a similar mass transfer rate to that of the LiBr/H2O solution, while the concentration of LiCl/H2O solution was much lower with smaller circulation ratio of the solution, and it could make for possible improvement in the thermal performance of the absorption refrigeration system.