Experimental study of an absorption heat transformer with heat recycling to the generator

•An experimental study of an AHT – a distillation process was analyzed.•The new absorber of 18 graphite disks with a heat transfer area of 0.180 m2 was used.•The best performance of the absorber was searched using a solution flux of 0.014 kg/s.•The latent heat of water distillation process was applied only in the generator.•The heat and temperature of the generator increased up to 586 W and 0.9 °C.

An experimental study of an absorption heat transformer-water purification system with a single effect evaporation was carried out. The distillation process is able to recover heat for the generator; therefore, the initial operating conditions change to improve the performance of the absorption equipment. The working solution was LiBr–H2O in a concentration range from 54.9% to 55.8%. On the other hand, an absorber of graphite disks was used to diminish the leaks caused by the working solution corrosion. The best performance of the absorber happened for a mass flux of a working solution of 0.014 kg/s, obtaining a heat transfer up to 635 W. The coefficient of performance was improved because the absorption process was done with a higher mass flux of refrigerant, strong working solution, and temperature, obtaining more useful heat. The maximum heat recovered from the distillation process was of 541 W with a flow of distilled water of 888 mL/h and coefficient of performance of 0.391, searching a useful heat of 1157 W, a strong working solution concentration of 55.5% and a temperature increment of 0.92 °C.